Christiansted is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

, a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

of the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The town is named after King

Christian VI of Denmark Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

History

The town was founded by Frederick Moth after he was made governor of St. Croix in 1733. Departing from St. Thomas, Capt. Moth's party had cleared a space for Fort Christianswærn by 5 September. In a ceremony next to this fort on 8 Jan. 1734, the French formally handed over the island to the Danes in the form of the

Danish West India and Guinea Company The Danish West India Company () or Danish West IndiaGuinea Company (') was a Dano-Norwegian chartered company that operated out of the colonies in the Danish West Indies. It is estimated that 120,000 enslaved Africans were transported on the comp ...

. The island was to be allotted 300 plantations, 215 for sugar and the remainder for cotton. The plantations surveyed were 3000 feet by 2000 feet. In addition, the company established a sugar refinery and distillery. The fort was completed by 1740. The 1742 census listed 120 sugar plantations, 122 cotton plantations, and 1,906 slaves compared to about 300 Englishmen and 60 Danes. By 1743, the island had a hospital and in 1745, the number of slaves had increased to 2878. By 1754, the town included 83 "white inhabitants", "each of whom owned from a single slave to sixty-six of them," according to Westergaard. Total slaves on the island had increased to 7566. It is a former capital of the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

and home to the

Christiansted National Historic Site Christiansted National Historic Site commemorates urban colonial development of the Virgin Islands. It features 18th and 19th century structures in the heart of Christiansted, the capital of the former Danish West Indies on St. Croix Island. T ...

. Christiansted has preserved the 18th-century Danish-style buildings constructed by

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Solid stone buildings in pastel colors with bright red tile roofs line the cobblestone sidewalks, adding a touch of 18th-century European architectural style. Because the town was constructed by African slaves, there are many African influences in Christiansted's design as well, making it one of the few "African-Danish" towns in the world. The town's symmetry, with streets running at right angles to the waterfront, makes it popular for walking tours. The commercial area centers on King and Company streets, adjacent to the

. The residential area, including portions that were originally settlements for free blacks, extends inland and uphill from the commercial area. The botanist

Julius von Rohr Julius Philipp Benjamin von Rohr (1737–1793) was a Prussian-born botanist and plant collector, naturalist, medical doctor and watercolourist, in Danish service who sent many plants to Europe from South America and the West Indies. He collected mal ...

started a botanic garden in the 18th century and produced a number of landscapes of the island. The town has small hotels and many restaurants. Several

scuba Scuba may refer to: * Scuba diving ** Scuba set, the equipment used for scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving * Scuba, an in-memory database developed by Facebook * Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, either of two in ...

shops operate in the town, as the

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

has easy access to many diving attractions on the north side of the island. A small point of interest is

Protestant Cay Protestant Cay is a four-acre triangular islet in the Christiansted Harbor, 200 yards north of Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands, Christiansted. The island is home to a resort, the Hotel on the Cay, which is home to a protected sand beach, small ...

, a cay near Christiansted.

Economy

With a small population, the economy of Christiansted is not extremely vast. Christiansted as of 2004, had a population of about 3,000. The 2000 census population of the town was 2,637; that of the larger sub-district was 2,865.

Seaborne Airlines Seaborne Virgin Island Inc, operating as Seaborne Airlines, is a FAR Part 121 airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico, near the territory's capital of San Juan. It operates a seaplane shuttle service between St. Croix and St. Thomas. O ...

previously had headquarters in Christiansted.Contact Seaborne Airlines
().

. February 7, 2006. Retrieved on April 18, 2015. "Postal Address: Seaborne Airlines Attn: Feedback 34 Strand Street Christiansted, VI 00820 "

Transportation

The city of Christiansted is served by one commercial airport,

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport Henry E. Rohlsen Airport is a public airport located six miles (10 km) southwest of Christiansted on the island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. The airport is named after Henry E. Rohlsen, a St. Croix native who was one ...

, with flights on several airlines, including

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

from the United States.

A ferry serving the Hotel on the Cay resort runs between Christiansted and

Education

Public schools serving the community are operated by the St. Croix School District.

Climate

Christiansted features a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

( Koppen Aw/As).

Notable people

Judah P. Benjamin Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...

, a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

politician and a seminal figure in the

United States Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, was born in Christiansted while it was still a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

. *

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

(two-time

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, five-time

NBA champion The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is the championship series for the NBA held at the conclusion of its postseason. All Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Eastern Con ...

) is a native. *

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

was a resident in 1765 after leaving his birthplace of

Charlestown, Nevis Charlestown is the capital of the island of Nevis, in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Leeward Islands, West Indies. Charlestown is situated on the leeward side of the island of Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean ...

at age 11. Upon reaching 17 years old, he moved from the then-Danish Virgin Islands to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and never returned to the Caribbean. *

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...

was a long-time resident of Christiansted *

Audre Lorde Audre Lorde (; born Audrey Geraldine Lorde; February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was an American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," who ...

died in Christiansted on November 17, 1992 at the age of 58. She was a famous poet. * Carolyn Carter was born in Christiansted and is a model and beauty queen. * "Queen" Mary Thomas one of the leaders of the fireburn riots, was imprisoned here from 1887 to 1905. * Casper Holstein, a mobster involved in the Harlem "numbers rackets", was born in Christiansted in 1876.

Gallery

File:Government House in Christiansted.jpg, Government House in Christiansted File:Street in Christiansted.jpg, Street in Christiansted File:View at National Historic Site.jpg, View at National Historic Site File:Christiansted Street.jpg, Street in Christiansted Image:Christiansted, US Virgin Islands, from Recovery Hill.jpg, Christiansted, looking north. Image:Christiansted-1-.jpg, Christiansted, looking westward. Image:Protestantcaystcroix.jpg, Protestant Cay Image:Fort Christiansvaern, Company Street vicinity, Christiansted, St. Croix County.png, Fort Christiansværn in the 1930s. Image:Fort_Christiansvaern.jpg, An 1836 plan of Fort Christiansværn, a historic building in Christiansted.

Notes

References

* Lonely Planet's ''Cities Book: A Journey Through the Best Cities in the World'' p. 159.

External links

Christiansted National Historic Site (National Park Service)
* {{Authority control Populated places in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Towns in the United States Virgin Islands Sub-districts of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Populated places established in 1744