Christiansted National Historic Site
One of the highlights of our visit to St. Croix was exploring Christiansted National Historic Site. Standing atop the walls of Fort Christiansted, overlooking the harbor and surrounded by the distinctive yellow buildings of the Old Danish colonial town, it was easy to imagine the importance this port once held in the Caribbean.
Christiansted National Historic Site preserves the heart of the historic waterfront district of Christiansted, a town established by Denmark in the eighteenth century when St. Croix was part of the Danish West Indies.
Completed in 1749, Fort Christiansted was constructed to protect the harbor, safeguard trade routes and defend the island from rival European powers. Built from locally produced yellow ballast brick, the fort remains one of the best-preserved Danish colonial fortifications in the Western Hemisphere. From these walls, soldiers watched over ships arriving from Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Like much of the Caribbean during this period, the prosperity of St. Croix was tied to the sugar industry and the labor of enslaved Africans. The wealth generated by sugar plantations made Christiansted one of the most important trading centers in the Danish West Indies.
One of the significant events in the island’s history occurred in 1848 when Governor-General Peter von Scholten proclaimed the emancipation of enslaved people in the Danish West Indies following a large uprising on the western side of St. Croix. That declaration ended slavery throughout the Danish colonies.
Recognizing the importance of preserving the collection of these colonial-era buildings, Christiansted National Historic Site was established in 1952. The National Park Service preserves one of the finest surviving examples of Danish colonial architecture in the Americas.
Read More From Nancy
Dry Tortugas National Park
What an adventure it was to reach Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. I made this journey with Erin in 2012, as a way to celebrate our birthdays. This was an unforgettable trip to one of the most remote places in the National Park System. Located about 70 miles west of Key West, the Dry Tortugas sit […]
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore stretches along the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina, protecting 56 miles of underdeveloped barrier islands. It feels wonderfully remote where ocean, dunes and marsh create a landscape that moves with the wind and tide. The seashore was authorized by Congress in 1966 and officially established in 1976, preserving the fragile barrier […]
Virgin Islands National Park
One of the highlights of our family vacation to St Thomas, was visiting the Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John. While we were staying on nearby St. Thomas, we took the ferry across the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean to spend a day exploring this unique national park. Virgin Islands National Park is a place […]
