Saint John (; ) is one of the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

and a constituent

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

(USVI), an

unincorporated territory Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions and dependent territory, dependent territories overseen by the federal government of the United States. The American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indi ...

of the United States. Saint John () is the smallest of the three main US Virgin Islands. It is located about four miles east of Saint Thomas, the location of the territory's capital, Charlotte Amalie. It is also four miles southwest of

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

, part of the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

. Its largest settlement is Cruz Bay with a population of 2,652. Saint John's nickname is Love City. Since 1956, approximately 60% of the island is protected as

Virgin Islands National Park The Virgin Islands National Park is a national park of the United States preserving about 60% of the land area of Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as more than of adjacent ocean, and nearly all of Hassel Island, just off the Charlott ...

, administered by the

United States National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational ...

. The economy is based predominantly on tourism and related trade. Saint John is in area with a population of 3,881 (2020 census). As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of the US Virgin Islands territory was 87,146, comprising mostly persons of

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

descent.

History

Petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s and artifacts found at

Cinnamon Bay Cinnamon Bay is a body of water and a beach on St. John island, within Virgin Islands National Park, in the United States Virgin Islands. Geography The bay is just east of Trunk Bay, and is about a mile west of Maho Bay beach. The shallow, clea ...

indicate a

Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

presence on Saint John from about 700 to the late 15th century.

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

sailed past Saint John on his second voyage in 1493, but did not come ashore. He named the northern Virgin Islands ''Las Once Mil Virgenes''.

Colonization and settlement

The

Danish West India 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 ...

resettled Saint Thomas in 1671, and an African slave market was established in 1673. Saint John was claimed as a part of the

British Leeward Islands The British Leeward Islands was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, consisting of the English overseas possessions, English (later British) overseas possessions in the Leeward Islands. It ceased to exist from 1816 to 1833, during which time it ...

in 1684 when it was leased to two English merchants from Barbados, yet they were removed by Governor Stapleton. It was uninhabited when 20 Danish planters came over from Saint Thomas in 1717, and the island was claimed again by Denmark in 1718. They grew

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, cotton, and other crops. Annaberg sugar plantation was built in 1731, and became one of the island's largest sugar producers by the 19th century. By 1733, there were 109 plantations on the island, 21 of which were producing sugar. The islands were made a crown colony in 1754, and the British relinquished their claims to the island to the Danish in 1762. The 1733 slave insurrection on St. John started when a small group of slaves entered Fort Frederiksvaern, on Fortsberg Hill in Coral Bay, with cane bills concealed within bundles of wood. The slaves, led by those formerly from

Akwamu The Akwamu Empire was a powerful Akan state that rose to prominence in the 17th century in what is now southeastern Ghana. According to oral tradition, the Akwamu traced their origins to the Twifo-Heman area, but the earliest historical records p ...

, overpowered and killed 5 of the 6 soldiers within the Danish fort. Firing the fort's cannon, the signal was given for the start of a six-month revolt, which only ended when French troops were brought in from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. Instead of submitting to captivity and slavery, more than a dozen men and women, including Breffu, one of the leaders, shot and killed themselves before the French forces reached them.

Moravian Brethren The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original U ...

built the first church at

Emmaus Emmaus ( ; ; ; ) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus. Although its geograp ...

in 1749. Cruz Bay was established in 1766, and includes The Battery. By 1804, the slave population reached a peak of 2,604. Denmark emancipated the slaves in 1848, and by 1850, many of the plantations were abandoned. By 1901, Saint John's population was 925, and the last sugar factory ceased operation in 1908. Between 1845 and 1945, the population declined by 70%.

Purchase

In 1917, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

purchased the U.S. Virgin Islands for $25 million from the Danish government in order to establish a naval base. It was intended to prevent expansion of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

into the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

. As part of the negotiations for this deal, the US agreed to recognize Denmark's claim to

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, which they had previously disputed. During the 20th century, private investors acquired properties on the island, redeveloping some plantation houses as vacation resorts, such as Laurence Rockefeller's

Caneel Bay Caneel Bay was a resort set on a 170-acre peninsula in the Virgin Islands National Park. The resort, near picturesque beaches, is a vacation destination in the Caribbean. It is located on the northwest side of St. John, US Virgin Islands. The ...

Resort. The islands became popular and tourism and related service jobs developed as a major part of the economy.

Hurricane Irma

In September 2017, Saint John was hit by

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Hurricane Maria, Maria two weeks later. At the time, it was considered ...

. The category 5 storm forced roughly half of the island's 4,500 residents to evacuate and caused power outages that lasted for months.

Government

Since 1917, the U.S. Virgin Islands are an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. Its residents are U.S. citizens, but they cannot vote in

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

. Until 1970, governors of the territory were appointed by the US president. Since that year, residents of the island have elected a territorial governor and lieutenant governor, and fifteen senators to the legislature, representing all three islands. Seven are elected from the district of Saint Croix, seven from the district of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and one senator at-large (who must be a resident of Saint John) are elected for two-year terms to the unicameral Virgin Islands Legislature. Residents of the Virgin Islands also elect a delegate to the US Congress, who has non-voting status in that body. Saint John has no local government; however, the Governor appoints an administrator for the island. Having no official powers, this figure acts more as an advisor to the Governor and as a spokesperson for the Governor's policies. The main political parties in the U.S. Virgin Islands are the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands, the Independent Citizens Movement (ICM), and the Republican Party of the Virgin Islands. Additional candidates run as independents. LeinsterBayTrailMap

Voting

Saint John is divided into the following

subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...

s (with population as per the 2020 U.S. Census): # Central (pop. 470) # Coral Bay (pop. 724) # Cruz Bay (pop. 2,652) # East End (pop. 35) Activists filed a lawsuit on September 20, 2011 in the federal US District Court of the Virgin Islands seeking the right to be represented in Congress and to vote for U.S. president. The case is Civil No. 3:11-cv-110, ''Charles v. U.S. Federal Elections Commission et al.'' The case alleges the 1917 Congress, with all-white members, denied the right to vote to island residents due to racial discrimination, as the island had a majority of people of color. The case was dismissed on August 20, 2012.

Economy

The main export of Saint John used to be

, which was produced in great quantity using African

slave labor Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. However, this industry declined after the abolition of slavery, as it was dependent on slave labor to be profitable. In addition, in that period, it had to compete with sugar produced in other areas, including by the use of sugar beets in northern locations.

Tourism

The economy of Saint John is almost entirely dependent on tourism. The island has hundreds of rental villas as well as hotels and resorts. Numerous shops and restaurants serving both residents and tourists are located in Cruz Bay and Coral Bay. Saint John is a popular stop for day and term boat charters from the

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, and the

. Individual and group boat charters are widely available on Saint John and island hopping is a favorite local and visitor activity. Popular day excursions include bar hopping or snorkeling at Christmas Cove, Jost Van Dyke, Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge,

Norman Island Norman Island is an island at the southern tip of the British Virgin Islands archipelago. It is one of a number of islands reputed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate novel '' Treasure Island''. History It is said tha ...

Virgin Gorda Virgin Gorda () is the third-largest island (after Tortola and Anegada) and second-most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Geography Located at about 18 degrees, 30 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area o ...

, Water Island, Lovongo Cay, Cooper Island, and

Peter Island Peter Island is a private island located in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). It is about south-west (195 degrees true) from Road Town, Tortola. The island was named after Pieter Adriensen (nicknamed "The Commander") who was the brother of A ...

. Mooring and anchoring locations are available in most bays around Saint John for both day use and overnight stays.

Virgin Islands National Park

In 1956,

Laurance Rockefeller Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004) was an American businessman, financier, philanthropist, and conservationist. Rockefeller was the third son and fourth child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. ...

donated his extensive lands on the island to the United States'

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, under the condition that the lands had to be protected from future development. The remaining portion, the Caneel Bay Resort, operates on a lease arrangement with the NPS, which owns the underlying land. The boundaries of the

include 75% of the island, but various in-holdings within the park boundary (e.g., Peter Bay) reduce the park lands to 60% of the island acreage. Much of the island's waters,

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s, and shoreline have been protected by being included in the national park. This protection was expanded in 2001, when the

Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument The Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located off Saint John, Virgin Islands. The clear waters surrounding Saint John support a diverse and complex system of coral reefs. The health of these reefs is closel ...

was created.

Transport

While Saint John does not have an airport, the island is served by

Cyril E. King Airport Cyril E. King Airport is a public airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district in the town of Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, St ...

on nearby Saint Thomas. There used to be a

seaplane base An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

in the town of Cruz Bay. Antilles Airboats provided regular service until it was sold by

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

. The Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle also used to offer services to that seaplane base using

Grumman Mallard The Grumman G-73 Mallard is a medium, twin-engined amphibious aircraft. Many have been modified by replacing the original Pratt & Whitney Wasp, Pratt & Whitney Wasp H radial engines with modern turboprop engines. Manufactured from 1946 to 1951, ...

air boats prior to

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread destruction across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. The eleventh tropical cyclone, eighth Tropical cyclone naming, named st ...

. A

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service runs hourly from Red Hook, Saint Thomas, thrice daily from Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, and daily from

; regular ferries also operate from

, Jost Van Dyke and

Anegada Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It lies about north of Virgin Gorda. Anegada is the only inhabited British Virgin Island formed from ...

. Cars and cargo are transported to the island via barge. Two companies offer barge service between Red Hook, Saint Thomas and Cruz Bay, Saint John. The barges operate hourly during daylight hours. Although prohibited by Virgin Islands law, some rental car companies allow their vehicles to use the car ferry. This is because the U.S. District Court deemed the law to violate the Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. However, as of 2017, the unconstitutional law is still technically on the books, but the Government of the Virgin Islands does not enforce it. Car rental companies are located throughout Cruz Bay, most within easy walking distance of the ferry dock. Taxis are widely available on Saint John to provide transport to beaches, hotels, and vacation villas. Water taxi service is also available from Dolphin Water Taxi. VITRAN public bus service runs hourly on weekdays between Cruz Bay and Salt Pond Bay via Centerline Road.

Major port town

In the colonial era, Coral Bay was the hub of economic activity on the island. Its natural port offered protection to the sailing ships of the day. In addition, it was an easy sail by smaller boats, with minimal tacking, to the nearby British Virgin Islands. Until the late 20th century, the residents of Coral Bay and East End had easier and more frequent access to Tortola than did those of either Cruz Bay or Saint Thomas. Today, Cruz Bay is the port of entry to Saint John. Cargo and car barges use The Theovald Eric Moorehead Dock and Terminal. Domestic ferries use the Loredon L Boynes Dock in central Cruz Bay. International ferries use the United States Customs and Immigration dock at the Victor William Sewer Marine Facility. Cruise ships visit Cruz Bay regularly during the winter, although they must anchor and deliver guests via tender. Saint John is also a popular day excursion for cruise ship passengers at port in Saint Thomas or Tortola. The waters surrounding the US Virgin Islands are patrolled by

United States Coast Guard cutters The United States Coast Guard Cutters were a senior amateur ice hockey team operated by the United States Coast Guard Yard on Curtis Bay, Baltimore. The team played in the Eastern Hockey League, Eastern Amateur Hockey League for parts of two s ...

out of

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

Notable people

* Breffu, an

leader of the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John * Myrah Keating Smith (1908–1994), a pioneering nurse and midwife * John Campbell (born 1962), and daughter Jasmine Campbell (born 1991), alpine skiers, moved to US in 2000 *

J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (born Julius Robert Oppenheimer ; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World ...

, the 'Godfather of the Atomic Bomb', starting in 1954, Oppenheimer lived for several months of each year on the island. From 1957 onwards, he owned a home on Gibney Beach.

Education

St. Thomas-St. John School District St. Thomas-St. John School District is one of two school districts in the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States.Home
" U.S. ...

operates schools for the island residents. Saint John has one public school, Julius E. Sprauve (pronounced "Sprow" and referred to as 'JESS'). Private and parochial schools include Gifft Hill School (formerly Pine Peace and Coral Bay), Saint John Christian Academy, Saint John Methodist School, and the Saint John Montessori School. The only school that includes a high school is Gifft Hill, along with their programs in elementary and middle school. The only other middle school on the island is the 'JESS,' which also has an elementary program. The public high school for Saint John students is

Ivanna Eudora Kean High School The Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, is one of the public high schools located on the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. It serves students that live in what is colloquially called the "country" or countryside area of the ...

located in Red Hook, Saint Thomas. In October, 2020, the Trump administration signed a non-binding preliminary agreement to pursue a land swap between the National Park Service and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and Government of the Virgin Islands (GVI) agreed to work together for 12 months to evaluate a proposed exchange that, if successful, would allow local officials to construct the first K-12 public school on Saint John. Public education on Saint John is currently only available through the eighth grade. The National Park Service issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the potential land exchange. The final 45-day public comment period on the land exchange was opened from January 8, 2023 until Feb. 21, 2023.

In literature

* ''Grandma Raised the Roof'' by Ethel Walbridge McCully. Author's own story of building her dream home on Saint John and defending it from being acquired by the National Park Service, in the early 1950s.

Gallery

File:Caneel Bay Turtle Bay Beach 4.jpg, Turtle Bay Beach at Caneel Bay File:Caneel Bay Sunset at Turtle Bay Beach 1.jpg, Sunset at Turtle Bay File:Virgin Islands National Park Reef Bay.jpg, Reef Bay and Virgin Islands National Park from Cocoloba Point File:Stjohntrunkbeahjan2020.jpg, Mid day Trunk Beach, Saint John Virgin Islands National Park File:A view from the ocean on Gibney Beach.jpg, Gibney Beach on Hawksnest Bay File:Trunk Bay (2677414468).jpg, Trunk Bay

References

''St. John Tradewinds''
��major Saint John newspaper, est. 1972 * Rankin, D.W. (2002). ''Geology of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands''. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1631. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

(2006). ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Jon Rust
"Why I Gave Up a $95,000 Job to Move to an Island and Scoop Ice Cream"
��2015 ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' article by Noelle Hancock
Checklist: St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Stephanie Burt, ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

''
"House Hunting on ... St. John"
��Marcelle S. Fischler, ''The New York Times''

External links

{{Authority control Islands of the United States Virgin Islands Virgin Islands National Park