Christiansted is the largest town on
Saint Croix
Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...
, 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 com ...
. 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 colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The ...
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.
Th ...
. Christiansted has preserved the 18th-century
Danish-style buildings constructed by
African slaves. 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
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.
Th ...
. 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, 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. ...
previously had headquarters in Christiansted.
[Contact Seaborne Airlines]
(). 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. ...
. 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, with flights on several airlines, including
American 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
Protestant Cay.
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 '' metropolitan state' ...
.
*
NBA 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) is a native.
*
Alexander Hamilton 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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
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," wh ...
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