St. George Botanical Gardens Photo courtesy of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Division for Archaeology & Historic Preservation; T. Vanterpool, photographer

The Estate St. George Historic District represents a successful late 18th-century sugar plantation. Owned by the Heyliger family during the era known as the "Golden Age of Sugar" (1770 to 1782), the estate continued to process sugar until 1916. After the closing of the largest sugar concern, Bethlehem Sugar Central in 1930, the estate became a cattle ranch. Presently used as a botanical park, the district includes factory ruins, a blacksmith shop, a two-story overseer's house, an early 19th-century slave/worker village, a lime kiln, cemetery and a water system with wells and an aqueduct.

The Estate St. George Historic District is located on Centerline Rd., approximately four miles east of Frederiksted, in Prince Quarter, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The estate has become the St. George Village Botanical Garden and many of the buildings have been restored. The gardens are open daily 9:00am to 5:00pm; there is a fee for admission. For further information, call 340-692-2874 or 877-840-1815 or visit the garden's website.