The Danish West India and Guinea Company Warehouse is a historic building located at Church and Company Streets in

Christiansted Christiansted is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States of America. The town is named after King Christian VI of Denmark. History The town was founded ...

U.S. 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 ...

. Built in 1749 for the Danish West India and Guinea Company, the building served as the center of

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 ance ...

commerce 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 unincorpo ...

during the 18th and early 19th centuries. At the time, the U.S. Virgin Islands were known as the Danish West Indies, and Saint Croix had the most successful economy of the three islands. The building is representative of Danish colonial architecture and features

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

walls made of yellow brick imported from Denmark, an inner courtyard, and several

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

s. After its use as a warehouse ended in the 19th century, the building served as a telegraph office; it became a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

and customs house after the United States purchased the islands in 1917. . The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on October 9, 1974. It is part of the Christiansted National Historic Site.

References

Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States Virgin Islands Commercial buildings completed in 1750 1750 establishments in North America 1750s establishments in the Caribbean 1750 establishments in Denmark Warehouses on the National Register of Historic Places {{VirginIslands-NRHP-stub