Chimneys at East Point

Submitted by stephenD on

There is an image in the Wellcome Collection (29773i) by Floyd, dated to 1873 though not firmly, that shows THREE chimneys. It can be seen that The Mint-become sugar refinery is on the right (the roofline exactly matches a contemporary water colour painting of The Mint when it was a mint), then there is an unidentified chimney, and then, close down on the water front, a spanking new building that one assumes is pretty new distillery. Does anyone have any ideas what the middle chimney might have served?

StephenD

distillery and sugar house 1873, by danielwettling

I've labelled them in the photo below:

  • A - Sugar Refinery
  • B - Mystery
  • C - Distillery
c.1873 East Point chimneys, by Admin

 

I think they were built in the order A, B, C, because in this photo dated to 1869, A is complete, I think I can see the scaffolding where B is under construction, but there is no sign of C.

1869 East Point chimneys, by Admin

 

B was definitely finished by 1874 when this photo was taken after the typhoon. It also shows that A had collapsed in the storm and needed to be rebuilt.

1874 East Point chimneys, by Admin

 

I'm not sure what chimney B was used for, but looking at its location next to a large, unlabelled building on this 1901 map, I wonder if it was part of an extension to the sugar refinery.

1901 East Point chimneys, by Admin