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Maria Hope Trail

In the last few years, the Maria Hope Trail has become a popular hiking venue. Passing through shady lush tropical forest, this old Danish Road provides Maho and Cinnamon Bay campers with convenient access to the Reef Bay Trail, historically significant ruins and a scenic overlook with bird’s eye views of Maho and Francis Bays and vistas extending eastward to West End Tortola and beyond.

There have been some complaints, however, about the fact that the trail runs over private land at the lower elevations. There is now a cure for that. Down on the lower section, just before the wire fence that crosses the trail, there is a nice trail that switchbacks down the hill and comes out at Maho Beach, just east of the green building on the beach.

Alternate entrance to the Maria Hope Trail

There is a road sign (West  RT. 20) where it comes out.

This new section of trail passes through the flats just inland from Maho Beach before the it begins its steep uphill climb.

Maho Bay Flats

The low lying flats present a unique forested environment without thick or thorny undergrowth making it easy to pass though and enjoy.

Overlook on the Maria Hope Trail

Maria Hope Ruins

Just a few hundred feet off of Centerline Road in the vicinity of the Reef Bay Trail, lies the ruins of the Maria Hope Estate, apparently totally hidden in the bush until it was rediscovered by local hikers early in 2009.

Historically speaking these ruins have the distinction of being the site of the first sugar works on St. John.

The Maria Hope Estate was also the setting for the following story of murder and deceit.

The Story
We’ll begin our story in 1671, when the British kicked out all the Dutch settlers on Tortola. Lucas van Beverhoudt, a  Dutchman born in the Netherlands Antilles, was one of these previously successful planters given one of those unfortunates who were given their walking papers. (Not as unfortunate as the slaves who had been working his land, I might add here)

Von Beverhaut took his cane slips and whatever equipment he could carry and sailed to St. Thomas, where the Danes were welcoming foreign settlers and even offering religious freedom of sorts. Setting up shop again, he established St. Thomas’ first sugar works.

When the Danes claimed St. John as their own, Van Beverhoudt took up a plantation there, which he named Maria Hope, and established the first sugar works on that island as well.

Von Beverhaut died in 1728 and Maria Hope was taken over by one William Vessup.

Vessup subsequently stabbed Karl Henry Kuhlmann to death on St. Thomas over a land dispute. Wanted for murder Vessup fled the island in 1732 leaving the Maria Hope Estate  abandoned when rebellious slaves took over the island of St. John.

While still on the lamb from authorities on St. Thomas, Vessup was approached by messengers who led him to understand that his help in putting down the slave rebellion could lead to a government pardon.

Vessup put forth a plan to trick the rebels. He would lure the leaders aboard his ship with the promise of supplying them with badly needed guns and ammunition. He then planned to capture the rebel leaders and turn them over to the Danes. Vessup made contact with rebel leaders saying that he would supply them with guns ammunition and gun powder in return for slaves. The rebels reportedly offered him ten slaves in payment for ten barrels of powder.

With each side scamming the other and with the well deserved wariness and skepticism by both Vessup and the rebels, all deals fell through. No ammunition powder guns or slaves changed hands. The rebels did not fall into Vessup’s trap and Vessup remained a fugitive.

Vessup’s family remained in the Virgin islands, but under very poor circumstances.