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NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service____ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: FORT CHRISTIAN Other Name/Site Number: Christians Fort 2. LOCATION Street & Number: N/A City/Town: Charlotte Amalie State: US Virgin Islands County: Not for publication:N/A Vicinity:N/A St. Thomas Code: 030 Zip Code:_00802_ 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Private: Public-local: Public-State:_X_ Public-Federal: Category of Property Building (s) :_2£_ District: Site: Structure: Obj ect: Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 1 Noncontributing 1 buildings sites ______ structures objects 1 Total Resources Previously Listed in the National Name of related multiple property listing: N/A Number of Contributing Register: ^ NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Par); Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination ____ request for of eligibility meets the documentation standards for determination registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property Register criteria. meets does not meet the National Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I, hereby certify that this property is: Entered in the National Register Determined eligible for the _____ National Register Determined not eligible for the National Register Removed from the National Register Other (explain) : National Historic Landmark. Boundary Study CjLuA jO • 0A000 Signature of Keeper Date of Action •. ,)■ NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Government Defense Sub: government office fortification Current: Recreation and Culture Sub: museum DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Other Late Victorian - Gothic - 17’"*’ and 18"* Century Danish Military; MATERIALS: Foundation: Walls: Roof: Other: stone Stone Stone, Plaster covered Fired Brick, supported by wooden beams Fired Brick paving in courtyard ■dv * ■A. ■' ‘a# ■ :i • A.A ;V 4‘- -M'A '’A ■ i’- '■■A .i. .fs' 4, ■V- '4’ ^4 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Parl< Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction: Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the 1670s to protect the Danish colony on St. Thomas. The fort is a rubble masonry seventeenth-century fortress consisting of curtain walls enclosing a square, with an irregular diamond-shaped bastion on each corner. The fort is typical of fortresses of the Baltic area of that century. Behind the curtain walls and bastions are rooms formerly containing gun batteries, government offices, the residence for the colonial governor, and the colony's first church. The interior courtyard of the fort is a brick-paved open area that once contained a large thick-walled tower along the north side of the courtyard. In 1874, this tower was demolished and the northern curtain wall was replaced with a Gothic Revival style building incorporating a prominent clock tower (see Figures 1 and 2). Environmental Settingi The harbor of St. Thomas, with its easily defended narrow entrance, large roadstead to accommodate numerous ships, and broad flat beach on the north side of the harbor to land supplies and load plantation produce, was an ideal location for the establishment of a colony that would depend upon seaborne trade. Along the eastern side of the beach was a slightly elevated rectangularly shaped rocky peninsula that jutted some 700 feet into the harbor. In the 1670s, the colonists built their stone fort on the neck of this peninsula to take advantage of its natural defensive characteristics (see Photograph 1). The east and west approaches to the fort were protected by a barrier of water and, later, by triangular-shaped stone fortifications (ravelins) projecting out from the curtain walls of the fort (Crain 1994:153). The south side of the fort was also protected by water, but did not have a ravelin. Additional protection on the south side of the fort was provided by the construction of a water battery. On the north, or land side, which was the traditional approach into the fort, the elevation was not so steep. Therefore, the Danes enhanced the defense of this approach by constructing a wooden palisade across the neck of the peninsula. During the seventeenth century a barrier of prickly pear cactus was maintained between the wooden palisade and the stone walls of the fort to further impede attackers. This approach area to the north of the fort was always maintained by the Danes as an open defensive area, and today consists of two small park areas (see Figure 1). The wooden palisade was replaced with a stone ravelin projecting from the north side of the fort in the 1720s (see Photograph 2). The site of Fort Christian "commanded the flanking beaches of the peninsula, the entrance to the harbor, and all parts of the bay" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). By the 1820s, when Fort Christian was rendered obsolete by improvements in the range and power of naval gunnery, it no longer was deemed necessary for the defense of the island. The NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form soldiers were relocated from the fort and quartered in a barracks building (the present-day Territorial Legislature) constructed on the peninsula between the fort and the water battery. Throughout the nineteenth century, the water areas east and west of the fort were filled in to create flat land surfaces upon which open park space and dock facilities were constructed. In the 1870s, the ravelins on the north, east, and west sides of the fort were removed, although portions of the east ravelin are extant. Within the fortification was a square brick-paved open space. Along the north side of the open space was a squat three-story high stone tower, or keep, called Trygborg. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference, the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Fort Christian (see Photograph 3). The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. In 1874, Trygborg, the northern curtain wall, and northern ravelin were torn down. That part of the fort was replaced with a Gothic Revival style building featuring a prominent clock tower (see Photographs 4 and 5). In the mid-twentieth century, further land filling occurred along the whole northern shoreline of the harbor upon which a two lane highway (Veterans Drive) was constructed. This road ran along the south side of the fort, separating it from the water battery and barracks. The reclaimed land on the west side of the fort became Emancipation Garden, while the reclaimed land on the east side of the fort became a parking lot. The northern approach to the fort, which once contained land side defenses, became two small park areas (see Figure 1). Description: From the beginning. Fort Christian was considered the most important structure on St. Thomas, as it provided security for the newly founded Danish colony against attacks by other colonial powers and pirates. According to Robert deJongh and Fred Gjessing: The site selected [for the fort] was a low hill on a small peninsula jutting out at the approximate center of the north shore of the bay of St. Thomas harbor. It was opposite the entrance to the bay and extended 700 feet into it. Immediately behind the rocky shoreline, the peninsula had level ground only a few feet above the sea. The hill occupied the center of the peninsula. It was defined by fairly steep slopes towards the east, south and west. On the landward side, the hill sloped more gently down to the lower terrain to the north that separated the peninsula from the steeper rises further inland [1982:18]. The fort site faced water on the west, east, and south sides of the fort with a water battery on the extreme south face of the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form peninsula for protection against attack. The north side of the fort was protected from attack from the land side with a wooden palisade stretching across the peninsula, and a barrier of prickly pear cactus that surrounded the fort. Later fortifications were added on the exterior of the east, west, and north curtain walls in the form of ravelins (see Photograph 2). The northern palisade, prickly pear cactus barrier, and ravelins (with the exception of partial remains on the east side of the fort) are gone. The land and sea areas surrounding Fort Christian have changed considerably through the gradual in-filling of the water areas on the west and east sides of the fort. The area to the north of the fort, where the Danish military once had a ravelin, is now open space. On the south side the open area between the water battery and the fort has been filled in with a 1820s barracks structure, three mid-twentieth century United States Coast Guard buildings, and Veteran's Drive. On the east side most of the ravelin was removed, as were numerous buildings constructed by the U.S. Navy (1917-1931). The area east of the fort is now a parking lot. On the west side, the ravelin has been removed and a fire station was built in the area in the 1950s (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). The extant portions of the seventeenth and eighteenth fort structure consist of: the east, west, and south curtain walls; all four diamond-shaped bastions; and the interior rooms built within the bastions and against the curtain walls. The nineteenth century portion of the fort consists of the northern curtain wall and rooms built behind this curtain wall, and the Gothic Revival clock tower. All of these historic features are intact (see Figure 2). Recent restoration efforts by the Territorial Government have resulted in the restoration of the roof, or gun deck, of the fort and the gun batteries within the west curtain wall of the fort (see Photographs 7 and 8). This work has also removed the twentieth century frame additions to the south side of the fort and a concrete roof installed over the historic gun deck or roof by the U.S. Navy, between 1917 and 1931. The area of the fort that has seen the greatest change is the interior space formed by the curtain walls and bastions. Originally, the mass and height of the exterior curtain and bastion walls formed the defense for the cannons of the fort and served as the back wall for a number of structures built within the fort, some of wood and some of stone. Changes in the function of the fort and deterioration of structures necessitated numerous rearrangements of the interior. By the 1730s most of the fort had reached its present shape. The southeast part of the fort, due to the irregularity of the rocky outcrop on which it was constructed, was the only two-story area. The height of the outer walls allowed for the construction of a lower series of masonry rooms in this area. Above this was a second tier of masonry rooms built against the outer curtain NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, Nationai Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form walls (see Photograph 9). At the same time the southeast and southwest bastions had been completely filled in with rooms. The northwest and northeast bastions were only partially filled in, leaving small spaces open in the middle of these bastions. The roof of the masonry rooms behind the curtain walls and bastions formed a continuous gun deck for the cannons. Two stone guard posts were built at the tips of the northwest and southwest bastions (see Photo 2). In 1874 the seventeenth-century north curtain wall between the northeast and northwest bastions and the internal tower (Trygborg)were removed. A Gothic Revival style entrance and clock tower were constructed, between 1874 and 1878 (see Photographs 4 and 5). The only non-contributing building within the boundary of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark is a 1950s fire station along the west side of the fort (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). ; - - ■r NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 8. statfmfnt of significance Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: Nationally:_X_ Statewide:___ Locally:— Applicable National Register Criteria: AX B Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) : A_ B NHL Criteria: NHL Theme(s): Criterion 1 I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Areas of Significance: Period(s) of Significance: Significant Dates: Significant Person(s): Cultural Affiliation: Architect/Builder: Historic Context: Exploration/Settlement, Military 1671-1917 N/A N/A N/A Governor Jorgen Iverson II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) -. v.* -. - V ' n ■-4 '■■■ r ,T-: SC NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form State Significance of Property, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. Summary Statement of Significance; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the latter part of the seventeenth century (1672-1680) to protect the Danish colony of St. Thomas. The fort served as the center for Danish colonial community life during much of the nearly 250 years of Danish rule of St. Thomas, until the transfer from Danish colonial rule to American authority in 1917. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governor's residence, governmental offices of the colony, the prison, and was the principal fortification protecting the settlement of Charlotte Amalie from attack by other colonial Caribbean powers. Background History On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus took a more southerly course across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to encounter the islands of the Caribs he had been told about on his first voyage. Columbus took this route as he wanted to chart a quicker route from Spain to the Indies. On November 3, 1493, only 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands, his fleet sighted the island of Dominica, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles (Highfield 1995:52). Traveling northward among the Lesser Antilles, Columbus landed at an island he called Guadalupe (present-day Guadeloupe Island). He spent eight days on this island and found the first evidence of the Caribs (Highfield 1995:52). On the morning of November 10, 1493, the fleet left Guadalupe and cruised northward naming various islands after Catholic saints. They reached the island of Saba, on November 12th, whence they turned to the west in the direction of St. Croix Island (Morison 1939:80; Highfield 1995:54). Arriving at St. Croix on the morning of November 14th, Columbus coasted along the north side of the island looking for a place to debark and meet with the native peoples. Dr. Chanca, the expedition's physician, noted they could see the present-day American (St. Thomas and St. John) and British Virgin Islands north of St. Croix at this time (Highfield 1995:58). Following brief and bloody contact with the Native Americans on the north side of St. Croix, at Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960), on the afternoon of November 14, 1493 the fleet raised anchor and sailed north to St. Thomas and St. John. The fleet did not land on either of these islands. However, it was during this part of the voyage that St. Thomas, called Santo Thomas by Columbus, was named. During the first decades of the sixteenth century the native peoples on the present-day American Virgin Islands were beset by Spanish slavers (Highfield 1995:132-133) attempting to acquire labor for the Puerto Rican gold mines. In January of 1511 the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form St. Croix Caribs joined with Puerto Rican Tainos to attack and destroy a Spanish settlement on the Afiasco River, in Puerto Rico (Caron 1988:1). By Spanish decree the Caribs became enemies of the crown who were to be exterminated (Cissell 1993:3; Highfield 1995:76). Thereafter, Spanish expeditions from Puerto Rico regularly raided the American Virgin Islands for Carib slaves. By 1515, Juan Ponce de Leon, Governor of Puerto Rico, described these islands as deserted (Sauer 1969:192). Throughout the rest of the sixteenth century the American Virgin Islands were for the most part abandoned. They were too close to Spanish Puerto Rico for native peoples to maintain a safe permanent settlement, while the Spanish had no interest in using the islands as a colony. Instead, they became staging areas for almost annual Carib raids on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in the 1520s and 1530s (Highfield 1995:134). In all probability the American Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, were sporadically inhabited by Caribs until the beginning of the seventeenth century (Highfield 1995:134). The first European attempt to permanently settle St. Thomas was an ill-fated colonial effort by Denmark, in 1666. Under Governor Erik Smit a small colony was established on St. Thomas, presumably in the area of the present fort, but that attempt ended when the Dutch attacked the colony and the colonists elected to return to Denmark after only eighteen months (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2). To prevent foreign interference with any future colonization attempt. King Christian V in 1670 signed a treaty of alliance and commerce with Great Britain. In that way, the British -- the most powerful colonial presence in the Lesser Antilles -- would not oppose Danish efforts to colonize St. Thomas (Dookhan 1974:37). In 1671 the Danes' second attempt to colonize St. Thomas began with the establishment of the Dansk vestindisk-guineisk Kompagni or Danish West India and Guinea Company, "to carry on business in the West Indies" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1). In the following year (1672) St. Thomas was successfully colonized (Westergaard 1917:31-32). The Danes later acquired the rights to the island of St. John through the founding of plantations on that island in 1717. The Danish West India and Guinea Company purchased the practically abandoned French island of St. Croix in 1733. The Danes took possession in the following year completing Danish colonial holdings in the New World (Westergaard 1917:37, 128, 208) . The Danish, like other European colonial powers in the Caribbean, used imported African slave labor to produce tropical products, such as sugar, rum, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. All of these products were in great demand internationally. By the late eighteenth century, the plantations on St. Thomas were predominately given over to the raising of sugar cane, and the production of molasses, rum, and brown sugar for export. However, the expense of transporting, maintaining, and policing a NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form captive labor population would prove to be less economically profitable for St. Thomas than inter-island trade. The Danish West India and Guinea Company was under contract to the Danish government to organize the Lesser Antilles islands into profitable colonies. To this end the Company established slaving stations along the Guinea coast of Africa. Between 1698 and 1754 the Company transported over ten thousand slaves from Africa to the Danish Virgin Islands. It is estimated that over one quarter of the slaves perished at sea. This was a much higher loss rate than suffered by other European slavers (Boyer 1983 :17) . When the contract of the Company ended in 1754 the Danish government continued the transport of African slaves with a similar loss ratio. In 1803 the Danish slave trade officially ended. The end of the trade was recommended by the Great Negro Trade Commission which illustrated the trade as equally unhealthy to Danish sailors. Of the 2,004 Danish sailors who sailed in the Danish slave ships in the twelve-year period of 1777 to 1789, a total of 691, or more than one-third, died during the voyages [Boyer 1983:37]. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, the King's edict of March 16, 1792 set the date of the end of the slave trade at December 31, 1802, "in order to permit the planters time to stock up on the number of slaves" (Boyer 1983:37) . As early as 1690 Governor Johan Lorentz of the Virgin Islands proclaimed a policy of execution or mutilation as punishment for runaway slaves (Boyer 1983:24). Within the Danish islands . . . a special tax was levied on planters to indemnify those among them for any legally killed or injured slaves, thus removing a powerful economic constraint against the maiming and killing of slaves [Boyer 1983:24-25]. Throughout the eighteenth century, and into the early decades of the nineteenth century, the Danish slave laws were still being enforced, although they were considerably relaxed during the two British occupations of the islands in the early nineteenth century (1801 and 1807-1815) (Boyer 1983:28) . Added to this was a growing free-colored class that served in the Free-Colored Militia, owned property, ran businesses, and even possessed slaves, and that was petitioning the Danish King for their full rights as citizens (Boyer 1983:42). After emancipation of the slaves in 1848, sugar cane production dropped off to practically nothing on St. Thomas. As the importance of tropical products grown on St. Thomas declined, the major economic aspect of the island became the transit trade of goods that were traded in the neutral port of Charlotte Amalie. This trade had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form following its designation as a free port in 1764 (Cinquino 1996:30-31). The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growing prosperity for St. Thomas. The excellence and size of its harbor and the location of St. Thomas, midway between North and South America and within cruising range of the new steam-powered ships from Europe and the United States, made St. Thomas an ideal transhipment point. The island was not only prospering, it was also optimistically predicting further growth and development. The prosperity of St. Thomas began to taper off in the last half of the nineteenth century, due to natural disasters and technological changes. In late 1867 St. Thomas was beset by two major natural disasters in rapid succession. In October a devastating hurricane hit the island, followed in November by a tidal wave, both of which destroyed great numbers of ships in the harbor. These two natural catastrophes did great damage to the town, the harbor, shipping facilities, and St. Thomas' reputation as a safe harbor (Bronsted 1952:299). Advances and improvements in the steamships of the period eliminated the need for using St. Thomas as a coaling station for ships from North America and Europe on their way to South America. St. Thomas' transit trade and usefulness as a coaling station was coming to an end. The gradual loss of population that resulted from the declining economy of the island also affected the St. Thomas community. Following World War II, with the increase in air transportation and the development of tourism, the population of St. Thomas has again grown in numbers. History of Fort Christian As early as the 1620s Danish merchants developed trading companies along the lines of the British, Dutch, and French West India Companies to trade Danish goods for tropical products available only from the Caribbean. Danish trading ventures of this time usually consisted of sending individual ships sponsored by the merchant companies to trade at ports in the New World, trade practice which usually produced substantial profits for these companies. By mid-century the Copenhagen based West India Company proposed the creation of a Danish colony in the Caribbean. In 1665 the company secured permission from the crown to settle a colony on St. Thomas in the West Indies. The first Danish colonization effort reached St. Thomas on March 30, 1666, under the command of Erik Smit who had been appointed Governor for the new colony by the West India Company. Governor Smit and numerous other colonists soon died. The remaining settlers were not able to complete a defensive fortification, believed to have been located in the vicinity of Bluebeard's Castle on a hill east of the present location of Fort Christian (Lightbourn 1973:1; deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1-2, 17). The loss of settlers due to illness meant the colony did not have NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the manpower to construct a defensive structure for its protection. The newly founded colony soon found itself embroiled in international politics that would doom its existence without the means to protect itself from other colonial powers and pirates. According to deJongh and Gjessing, In 1665 war had broken out between England and Holland in which France joined on the side of the Dutch. By the following year it had spread to the Caribbean. Initially this appeared to offer the Danish colony an advantage. Dispossessed individuals from English and Dutch possessions sought refuge on St. Thomas and augmented the depleted labor force of the Danes. However, it provided the justification of French, Dutch and English freebooters to raid the new colony, ostensibly to capture the refugees but in reality also to secure such supplies and equipment the small force could not defend. After eighteen months of harassment and deprivation the survivors of the expeditionary force, who since the death of Erik Smit had been led by the Lutheran minister Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, decided to abandon the settlement. They made their way back to Denmark by stages [1982:2]. In early 1671 a rechartered West India Company was created to attempt to reestablish a Danish colony on the island of St. Thomas. The Company selected as the Governor of the colony Jorgen Iversen. Iversen had gone to the British Caribbean Island of St. Christopher (present-day St. Kitts) at the age of 13 as an indentured servant in 1651. Over the next fifteen years he rose to become a full partner in a Dutch trading concern in the Caribbean, from which he learned the lessons necessary for a successful colony (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2-3). Between Iversen's arrival on St. Thomas in May 23, 1672 until July 4, 1680, when he was relieved, he succeeded . . . in creating a community out of the multinational and racial components of the colony and steer it towards a promise of prosperity while building Christians Fort, carrying out an inter-island trade for the company and establishing plantations on St. Thomas [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3] . Iversen understood the threats facing a new colony in the far off Caribbean, and how the lack of a fort had doomed the first Danish colonization attempt. He appears to have given a high priority to the construction of the fort. Shortly after landing on St. Thomas, Iversen issued orders that "all [colonists] should assemble to [militia] service on Sundays in the Fort by beat of NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form drum," the penalty for non-compliance being 25 lbs. of tobacco (Lightbourn 1973:1). The completion date of the fort is unknown but is presumed to have been mostly finished in time for the French attack of 1678. It was during Governor Iversen's tenure that he not only had Fort Christian constructed, but also one of its outlying hilltop gun and watch towers -- Skytsborg in 1679 (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). According to Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing An Army Lieutenant had been included amongst the Company's functionaries of the proposed colony. He was to advise Governor Iversen in all military matters and provide the technical knowledge needed for the design and construction of a fort. To insure that this was done according to the standards of the times, a copy of Admiral Freitag's treatise on the construction of forts was included among the books that Jorgen Iversen brought out to guide him in his duties as the governor. This 17th century work provides layout[s] of fortifications, explanations of the military functions of their different parts and served as a design handbook for military engineers [1982:17]. Unfortunately, the Lieutenant died on the voyage from Denmark to the Virgin Islands, so "Iversen was left to make his own decision[s] regarding the fortification" location and shape (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). Iversen probably used Admiral Freitag's book in planning the layout of Fort Christian. Later governors of St. Thomas, and even Iversen, would acknowledge the disadvantages of the site he chose for Fort Christian, however, the "sense of urgency that an adequate if not ideal fort had to be erected rapidly for the defense of the colony, must have been the basic considerations of the decision" to site the fort on a slightly elevated area on the beach, rather than higher up out of the range of any seventeenth-century artillery fire from ships and from hills to the north and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:19). To help defend the exposed location of Fort Christian, two gun towers were later built on hilltops above the fort, a technique pioneered by the seventeenth century Scandinavian military architects Gottfried Hoffmann and Erik Dahlberg. As to the style of the fort, Iversen chose to construct a typical seventeenth-century thick-walled square fortification with projecting diamond-shaped, or Vauban, bastions at each corner. The irregular shape of the hill on which the fort was constructed required that the bastions not be uniform in size (see Figure 2). In the interior courtyard was constructed a fortified tower (Trygborg), or keep, that was a story higher than the main fort (see Photograph 3). This type of fortification with internal keep would have been familiar to Iversen and had played an important role in military engineering in the Baltic Sea region. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form where during the seventeenth century the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden fought over control of the sea lanes leading into the Baltic. The two preeminent military engineers during this conflict, Gottfried Hoffmann of Denmark and Erik Dahlberg of Sweden, utilized low thick-walled fortifications to protect towns and key defensive points, often in combination with outlying fortified towers (Dahl 1992:6; Duffy 1985:191). As noted by Christopher Duffy, in The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, The surest signs of [Erik] Dahlberg's presence were, however, his idiosyncratic multi-storeyed casemated towers, which he employed variously as island batteries, hilltop forts and inner keeps [1985:195- 196] . Gottfried Hoffman, during the mid-seventeenth century, also constructed fortresses with outlying and internal tower works at Fredericia and Helsingborg, Denmark (Dahl 1992:6). Throughout the troubled seventeenth century, the contenders for control of the Baltic - Denmark and Sweden - also undertook efforts to establish colonies in the New World. Sweden established a military outpost called Fort Christina (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961) in the vicinity of present day Wilmington, Delaware, where they traded for furs until the colony was captured by the English in 1664. The Danes were more successful in establishing and holding a colony in the Caribbean. The Seventeenth Century We do not have a clear picture of the original seventeenth- century fort built under Iversen's direction. However, it is believed the outer walls of all four bastions of the present fort, internal tower or keep (removed in 1874), and the south, east, and west curtain walls can be attributed to the first building phase (see Figure 2) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982). Housing for the governor, the troops, and government officials, and the colony's church appear to have been accommodated in wooden and stone structures in the interior of the fort. To provide additional soldiers for the defense of St. Thomas, Iversen, in 1674, secured from the island planters an agreement "to perform guard duty on a rotating basis at the fort in return for easement of taxes" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:20). Accounts kept by Governor Iversen between 1672 and 1680 tend to indicate that by 1676 the internal tower, the outer curtain and bastion walls, and buildings within the fort were substantially finished. These accounts also indicate that between 1676 and 1680, the majority of the work on the fort consisted of carpentry and finishing work (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21). One of the main features of Christians Fort was a squat three- NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Story high tower, called Trygborg, on the north side of the fort. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Christians Fort. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. This was the first military tower that can be documented on St. Thomas. The push by Governor Iversen to complete the work on the fort would shortly be rewarded. In the fall of 1676, the United Kingdom of Denmark- Norway became involved in a European war with France as one of the adversaries. The conflict had been expected for a couple of years and had been the reason for securing the planters agreement to perform guard duties at the fort. With the outbreak of the war in Europe an attack on St. Thomas by forces from the older, more populous and better established French colonies was anticipated and feared. In preparation for the attack the guard duties of the planters and other inhabitants of St. Thomas at the fort were stepped up and planters and their families were allowed to live in the fort [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21]. In February of 1678 a force of some 60 French settlers from neighboring St. Croix launched an attempt to seize St. Thomas Island. Fortunately, Governor Jorgen Iversen's fort proved too strong to storm. As the attackers did not have any siege cannon Fort Christian was easily able to withstand the brief siege imposed by the French from St. Croix. The French were forced to retreat after capturing a number of slaves which were carried back to St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:22) . The defeat of the French in 1678 proved Fort Christian was a strong defense for St. Thomas against an attacking force without siege guns or enemy ships approaching from the sea. However, Governor Iversen realized that the French attacking force could have pounded Christians Fort into submission by erecting an artillery battery on the high ground east and north of the fort. For this reason Iversen ordered a tower fortification similar to Trygborg erected on Baggaertsbjerg Hill, a hilltop north of Christians Fort, in 1679 called Skytsborg or Sky Tower (Blackbeard's Castle) (see Photograph 1). Such a tower would not only deny the high ground to an attacking force, but also serve as a watchtower providing a vantage point high enough to peer over Hassel Island to scan the open ocean, thereby providing Fort Christian early warning of an approaching enemy (see Photograph 10). Later in 1689 one of Iversen's successors had Schmitberg (Bluebeard's Castle) constructed on a hill east of the fort. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Par)c Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Iversen's letter of February 2, 1680 to the directors of the Danish Westindia Company indicated that Skytsborg had been erected at Baggaertsbjerg by that date. In it he wrote "Since I had the (Skytsborg) Watchtower erected at Baggaertsbjerg I did not fear a hasty attack so much." A 1687 English map of St. Thomas harbor depicts and describes a "small white tower" on Baggaertsbjerg Hill to the north of Fort Christian (see Photograph 1). It is possible that Iversen used the Company stone mason Simon Lamare, who had worked on Fort Christian and Trygborg tower, to construct Skytsborg in 1679. According to deJongh and Gjessing In August, 1674, Jargen Iversen acquired for the Company a mulatto slave by the name of Simon Lamare. He was a mason and was to serve as the clerk of the works, for the construction of the fort [Fort Christian]. The phrasing in the account book of this transaction is of interest. It states "brought Simon Lamare to serve the Company for seven years" [1674-1681], implying some sort of contractual agreement with Simon Lamare for his manumission after an agreed upon period of service [1982:20]. In July of 1680, Nicolai Esmit assumed the governorship of the island from Iversen and moved into the completed fort. According to deJongh and Gjessing, Iversen left a description of the fort which is summarized in the following manner. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west walls nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east- west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the land side of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickly pears had been cultivated in the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. The principal entrance to the fort was the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sally port was the demi-lune, a scjuat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east. The postern gate in the west curtain was [a] simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. On the exterior the walls varied in height. Since the fort was built around a hill that had its apex in the approximate center of the fort [the] projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls (see Photograph 9). Towards the east north and south the variations in the exterior heights were not great. Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its height of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliberately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby give Christiansfort its irregular outline on the bayside. Between the salient angles of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea, all had a width [or thickness] of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Par)c Service 0MB NO. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the west face of the southwest bastion 4 feet 3 inches. The same dimensions is shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. All other walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while others were separated by passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtyard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these [courtyard] structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:24-26]. Nicolai Esmit's tenure as governor would be short, as his own brother Adolf confined him in the prison in the fort on July 7, 1683 and took over the governorship. Apparently Adolf "openly aided and trafficked with known freebooters and allowed them to sail under the Danish flag" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Adolf continued this commerce with freebooters and illegally traded with the French colony of St. Croix, with whom his country was still officially at war (Caron 1988:27-28). Adolf's downfall was caused by his seizure of British property. Governor William Stapleton, of the British Leeward Islands sent complaints to Denmark of the conditions in St. Thomas which had become in his words a "den of pirates" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Probably the best evidence of Adolf Esmit's connection with pirates was the La Trompeuse affair. La Trompeuse was commanded by the French pirate Jean Hamlin, who had stolen the ship from English merchants of Jamaica in 1682. Throughout 1682 and 1683 Hamlin seized over three dozen ships, many English, and resold them and their cargos in St. Thomas. On July 27, 1683 the English vessel H.M.S. Francis, under the command of Captain Charles Carlile, caught up with La Trompeuse in St. Thomas harbor lying under the guns of Fort Christian. As the Francis approached the pirate ship, she found herself under the fire of both La Trompeuse and Fort Christian. Carlile backed off, but that night his men boarded La Trompeuse and burned her. Later it was learned that Hamlin had been the guest of Governor Esmit in NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the fort during this action (Dookhan 1974:109-111). He [Hamlin] has eaten and banqueted with Esmit and has slept with Esmit in a room. He has brought much gold. Esmit would not deliver the said Hamlyn to the English. Furthermore, Esmit sent Hamlyn together with his comrades and pirates out of the harbour with a barque . . . belonging to the company [Dookhan 1974:111] . In spite of his problems Governor Esmit did cause some improvements at the fort to be accomplished, . . . [he] built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification; each of the rooms having two doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks (see Figure 2). The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted biblio-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the beams red [Lightbourn 1973:3]. Adolf Esmit also had the western curtain wall height raised by some four or five feet and caused the water battery to be constructed during his governorship (1683-84) (Lightbourn 1973:4). Governor Esmit had good reason to strengthen his fortification as the British Governor of Nevis "had driven the Danes from St. John, taken away all the cattle from Buck Island and Water Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas" and "an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island (of St. Thomas) and taken off 60 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). Eventually, the West India Company's concern over the Esmit family caused them to send out a new governor, Gabriel Milan, in 1684. According to Lightbourn The Company seem[s] to have had some fear of trouble on Milan's arrival, for in his instructions he is charged to "proceed carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and in the event of A[dolf] Esmit raising any difficulty, or refusing to give over the fort, he is to take over the command of the island by force. He is further to guard against Esmit's cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he has secured the power Esmit and family must be confined and sent home by the first opportunity" [1973:3]. Milan would carry out his orders and transport both of the Esmit brothers and their families back to Denmark. However, foreign intrigues would continue to plague the colony. Milan wrote the Company in July 1685 of the British cutting lignum vitae trees on St. John and that the Spanish from Puerto Rico had "landed on St. Thomas and taken off 54 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). In the same letter, Milan complained about the state of Fort Christian, claiming it NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form . . . "is a bad fortification, for every one who moves [about] in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;" he admits that "the fort itself is composed of strong wall[s]," but that "it is built disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of," and that "the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and consequently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night" [Lightbourn 1973:4]. Governor Milan's tenure lasted until September 27, 1687, when Adolf Esmit and his family returned to assume the governorship of St. Thomas. In this year the first complete description of the fort was made and later reprinted by Lightbourn. The S.W. point or [King's] Bastion. The Southern Curtain.-Here are: One room, called the flathouse, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron rails [bars]. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. On the western side is a dungeon. By the small cistern is a small apartment with door and window, the partition being of boards. The small cistern. The S.E. point, or [Company's] Bastion-to which there is a railing [barred] door with hinges and bolts on the top of this is a small room (see Photograph 9). A new house stands in the center of the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire-bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain-A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof and 2 windows. A large gate, called Landgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate with a wood roof. The large cistern. The N.E. point or [Prince's] Bastion (see Photograph 11), The Northern Curtain.-Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The [Trygborg] tower. The N.W. point, or [Queen's] Bastion-on top of which there is a solid sentry box (see Photograph 12). In the Bastion there is an oven. The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician's room, with 1 window with iron [bars] rails. Next to his [room is] a kitchen, roofed with red tiles, near the kitchen a small tobacco store room and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. ■ Ml NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Four small apartments [the ones built by Adolph Esmit against the inside of the west curtain wall] (see Photograph 8 and Figure 2). In the largest there are a large window and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally halfway up. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with bolt, leading to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of which the one is iron railed and the other supplied with wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored with Dutch fire­ bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window. In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead. Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of masonry work. A water battery is erected [by Adolf Esmit] at the water's edge. The large Landgate has 1 and the small Watergate 2 railing doors. All the Prickly Pear around the Fort is overgrown by weeds, and has mostly died out [Lightbourn 1973:4-5]. Adolph Esmit's return as Governor of St. Thomas lasted a mere 24 days before his unpopularity with the colonists caused him to return to Denmark. In 1688 another crisis occurred in response to dynastic wars in Europe. The Spanish from Puerto Rico occupied Crab Island (Vieques) and Anguilla thereby surrounding St. Thomas. This action made the Danes in St. Thomas very concerned as the Spanish had never abandoned their claim, by right of discovery by Christopher Columbus, to St. Thomas. Governor Christopher Heins, who had replaced Esmit, undertook a program of upgrading the fortifications of Christiansfort and Skytsborg. To provide more security he had the Landgate located in the Eastern Curtain wall closed up (Lightbourn 1973:6). Heins also had embrasures cut in the walls of Skytsborg tower for two large cannons capable of covering the harbor. He also erected a third tower to the east on Schmidtberg Hill, today called Bluebeard's Castle. The erection of this last tower in 1689 completed the seventeenth- century defenses of St. Thomas (Gjessing and Gardner 1958:1-3) . Throughout the 1680s supporting defenses around the fort were constructed. Within the fortification several of the buildings that cluttered the central courtyard were demolished and replaced by structures against the [inside of the] curtain walls. This was to set a trend for future developments. The gradual levelling of the interior of NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the fort by overbuilding the structures against the east curtain and in the southeast bastion, thereby converting them into basements, was also initiated [in] these years and set a pattern for the later building activities [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:35]. In peacetime no soldiers were stationed at Skytsborg or Schmidtberg, while a skeleton force was maintained at Fort Christian. If an attack by other colonial forces or a slave rebellion was anticipated an alarm was sounded by firing a predetermined number of cannons at Fort Christian. This signal would call out all able bodied whites and free blacks to take up arms and report to one of the three fortifications. According to Lightbourn, "each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men; Frederiksfort (Schmidtberg) was to have 25 men and the northern tower (Skytsborg) 9 men" (1973:7). Such an alarm occurred in May of 1694 when a slave insurrection was anticipated from the newly established plantations in the New Quarter, or present-day Tutu, an eastern suburb of Charlotte Amalie. The Eighteenth Century In spite of the modifications and work done on the fort in the latter part of the seventeenth century, by the first decade of the eighteenth century, the island government complained to the Company "that the thick walls of the tower in the fort admitted moisture, thus injuring the [gun]powder, and recommending that the tower be cased with boards, as there was no place for building a powder magazine in the fort, excepting under the Church," which occupied the southwest bastion of the fort (Lightbourn 1973:9). The governor also recommended moving the church out of the southwest bastion as "such sacred services need not be done in such a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future time, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals between the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to" (Lightbourn 1973:9). The Lutheran Church, which served the St. Thomas community had always been located within the fort, "sometimes quarters were set apart especially for the service of the Church, at other times we read of divine services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms" (Lightbourn 1973:9). In 1706 a wooden church was erected in the interior courtyard of the fort against the eastern curtain. This building, according to measurements made in 1724, was 49 feet by 25 feet (Lightbourn 1973:9). The fort continued to deteriorate causing Governor Erik Bredal and then the Lutheran clergyman to leave the fort and move into dwellings in the surrounding town of Charlotte Amalie in 1716 and 1717. The reasons given were that the deteriorated condition of the fort made it unhealthy. Indeed, the first clergyman who inhabited the fort "died within 47 days after his induction and his successor declared his inability to reside in it" (Lightbourn 1973:9). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Pari; Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Finally, in 1724 Governor Otto Jacob Thambsen ordered a structural survey to be made of the fort. The survey convinced the Company to undertake a remodeling of the fort which was completed on April 30th, 1735. According to deJongh and Gjessing, The remodeling of the late 1720s and early 1730s was to result in the complete covering [roofing] of the southern bastions. The northern bastions retained their gorges but in reduced sizes for the rooms between the gorges and the outer walls were widened and enclosed by masonry walls toward the inner courts (see Figure 2). All the curtains and the bastions were furnished with flat masonry roofs that provided a continuous terreplein all around the central courtyard of the fort and served as its principal gundeck (see Photograph 7) [1982:42]. The major changes to the fort consisted of the construction of ravelins (see Photographs 2, 9, and 13) on the outside of the fort and the reorienting of access to the fort. In the plans for the remodeling of Christians Fort during these years an east ravelin was intended and considered to be adequate defense for the old sallyport . . . Within the fort it gave the former gatehouse a greater depth and also provided a passage between the new and old curtain walls from the gatehouse to the southeast bastion at the lower level of the fortification. The plan [of] organization of Christians Fort was reoriented. The postern gate in the west curtain wall . . . was blocked up. The original sallyport [in the east curtain wall] . . . was retained and repaired but was only to serve as the access to the proposed east ravelin. The new sallyport was centered in the north curtain and a postern gate planned for the south curtain. The latter was still under construction in 1733 and when completed during the following couple of years had taken the form it has preserved to the present. As a protection for the new sallyport a ravelin was constructed between the north bastions. At the salient angle of the ravelin a vaulted gatehouse flanked by sentry boxes gave access to the steps and a ramp that led down to the terrain north of the fort and served as the principal entrance to the fortification. Within the ravelin the grade was raised from 4 feet to 6 feet above the outside terrain making the ravelin wall that were 6 feet tall on the interior from 10 to 12 feet tall on the exterior. The east ravelin was started, but by 1733 only half finished. When completed in 1735 the grade within had NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form also been raised above the surrounding terrain and in this process the lower story of the old demi-lune was buried [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:43-44]. According to a 1733 description of the work in progress, in Lightbourn (1973), the new work in the fort is described in more detail in the following manner. The South West, or King's Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision room. The North West, or Queen's Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place for 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince's Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and contains a dungeon. The South East, or Company's Bastion, which is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Governor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arched gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed and is in connection with the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dungeons. Under the Governor's rooms are a small cistern, the Governor's cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 feet in thickness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor's rooms nor the cellars above mentioned were yet finished [in 1733] . the Southern Curtain contains the Governor's pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been taken out of the breadth of the Curtain for a mason work staircase leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor's private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork beside the foundation [this work was never completed]. Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King's (S.W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is neither roofed nor supplied with doors nor windows; it has, however, towards the sea, two oval holes 2 feet high and 3 feet broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non­ commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerk; it is roofed with planks and rock, but leaks already. The Northern Curtain is the corps de garde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the center of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into the fort, and outside of this there is a breastwork, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and form a triangle [or ravelin], their point NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outside. the gate is built in such a manner as to allow a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the North, a lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space in which the water is drawn up from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern is the descent to the gate, which is well supplied with means for closing out towards the Eastern breastwork where the lime is prepared for the building of them; of this breastwork only the foundation on the south side is built. The descent alluded to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to the Cantine, and, further on to the passage which goes round the foundation of the church, of which previous mention was made, in to the powder magazine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the east end of the church and over the gate previously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary's office; it has a door to the yard next to the space in which water is drawn, and another door to the passage which runs behind the church over the passage to the Governor's rooms, but neither floor, windows nor doors are yet finished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the passage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the church was built of wood in 1706, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Southern side as far as the Governor's rooms go, the defective wood work had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood work of the Church, which is still left is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, according to the custom of the place, is of planks and shingles. The hospital and oven are outside the South West Bastion and the open space on the Western side towards the harbor where the lime kiln is [Lightbourn 1973:10,12]. Throughout the eighteenth century Denmark maintained a policy of strict neutrality in all European wars. This policy, coupled with the establishment of a free port in St. Thomas, proved more of an economic boon to the Danish West Indies than the planting of sugar cane. The commerce between belligerent nations was attracted to the island to transact business. In particular, the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), which involved all of the European colonial powers in the Caribbean except Denmark, proved an economic boon to the island of St. Thomas. All European powers and traders respected the neutrality of St. Thomas as a neutral Caribbean port of trade and to a certain extent encouraged its prosperity, as it provided a means of trade between otherwise belligerent European powers during the war. The colonial government was able to show a profit during the war years from its collection of transit trade taxes and issued a dividend to the Danish West India Company's investors (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:10). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form As the warehouses and trading houses of Charlotte Amalie expanded to meet this trade the need for fortifications languished. The fort "area experienced little new construction in the half century between 1730 and 1780, partly because of the need to maintain open space around the fort for defensive purposes and partly because of water barriers" (Cinquino 1996:62). On the interior of the fort it was necessary, probably due to the leaky roof, in 1736 to rebuild the six rooms against the west curtain wall; and in 1752, the Church located in the courtyard was "ready to fall to pieces" and so was demolished (Lightbourn 1973:12). Yet Fort Christian was still significant to the Danish colonial government. During the first half century of its existence the fort served not only as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies, but also the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury, and for most of these years as the place of worship for the Lutheran congregation [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12]. With the acquisition of St. Croix from France in 1733, the West India Company had secured an island large enough to support literally hundreds of sugar plantations. In the following two decades, St. Croix's population surpassed that of St. Thomas. In 1755 the residence of the Governor of the Danish West Indies was moved from Fort Christian on St. Thomas to the more prosperous colonial island town of Christiansted on St. Croix Island (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). By the 1750s, in spite of the extensive remodeling of Fort Christian completed in 1735, it was recognized that the fort was no longer adequate to the task of defending the island from attack. Various proposals for upgrading the fortifications were proposed but not acted upon (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:13-14) . Outside the fort the growth of Charlotte Amalie necessitated, in 1781-1782, the lagoon east of Fort Christian being drained, filled in, and parceled out to settlers (Cinquino 1996:62). Lt. Peter Lotharius Oxholm, who studied Fort Christian, had made the recommendation to fill in the lagoon. Its existence he claimed, and probably correctly, was in part the cause of the garrison's poor health condition. He comments on the stench that emanates from it during dry periods and was carried all through the town on the easterly breezes [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:58]. The Nineteenth Century By the beginning decades of the nineteenth century there had been no major changes to the fort since 1735. When the British occupied St. Thomas in 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 [to deny Napoleon's fleets use of the islands], they fortified and established their garrison on the peninsula on the west side of the harbor as a more suitable location for its defenses than Christians NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev, 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Fort. The latter was never again considered seriously as a defensive position [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:14] . Most of the changes in the nineteenth century occurred in the area surrounding the fort. A fire that swept through the town of Charlotte Amalie on New Years Day of 1826 destroyed the old West India Company warehouses, which according to von Meley's town plan of 1807 were located where the Grand Hotel and Emancipation Gardens now stand, northwest of the fort. The only new building erected in this area was the Grand Hotel built in 1839, followed three decades later by the construction of Emancipation Garden in 1873, to the west of the fort on land reclaimed from the sea (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). South of the fort, a military barracks for enlisted men and non­ commissioned officers was built in 1827-28, which today serves as the Territorial Legislature Building (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). The troop's rooms in the old fort were converted to prison cells. The old water battery immediately south of these buildings was demolished shortly after the barracks were built. During the 1820s several other military structures were added to this area, but they were torn down after 1845 (Cinquino 1996:63). In 1871 the capital of the Danish West Indies was again relocated. Charlotte Amalie once more became the seat of colonial government. The military functions of Fort Christian were practically nil. A proposal to convert the fort from a military installation to a police station, a function more in keeping with the times, was made and entertained. In 1874 it was acted upon and was the first major change to the structure in 140 years. The major change to the fort itself was the blowing up of Governor Iversen's internal tower (Trygborg) on June 19, 1874. This was followed by the removal of the north curtain wall, northern ravelin, and north gate house, and the tearing down of most of the ravelin off the eastern side of the fort (see Photograph 9). In demolishing part of the eastern ravelin the demi-lune constructed by Governor Iversen was uncovered, drawn, and then torn down. All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and in their stead a new building of an entirely different appearance was erected with a clock tower over the entrance. To the East and West of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastions [Lightbourn 1973:13]. By 1875 the northern curtain wall had been "replaced by a new one in the then popular style of gothic revival" (see Photograph 4, 5, and 14 and Figure 2) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15). The Twentieth Century When the United States acquired the Virgin Islands in 1917, there had been no additional changes to the fort and its surrounding NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form area by the Danish, although the historical importance of Fort Christian was noted by its being at the center of the transfer ceremony in 1917. The Virgin Islands were administered by the U.S. Navy during the early period of American control (1917- 1931). The Navy took over Fort Christian and the land areas to the south and east of the fort. Shortly thereafter, a Marine Corps barracks was constructed east of the fort on harbor lands reclaimed in the 1780s. In the following years a number of new structures were added to it. They included, among other, two steel radio towers, a communication center, an ice and refrigeration plant, cisterns, garages, a mess and a recreational hall, shops, storage buildings, etc., crowding the grounds of the fort and partly obscuring it and the old barracks building [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. All of these twentieth century buildings to the east of the fort would be removed in the 1950s, with the construction of Veteran's Drive, and the area was converted to a parking lot which is its present use (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:62). Veteran's Drive, which runs east-west along the filled-in shoreline of Charlotte Amalie, was built to run between the south side of the fort and the old Danish barracks. This construction required the in filling of more land to the west and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:16). Within Christians Fort work was confined to minor additions, repairs and to the installation of new utilities. Generally, it was done with faint regard to the historic fabric of the structure and lessened its architectural integrity [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. During the period from 1917 to 1983 Fort Christian continued to serve the Virgin Islands as a police station and prison. However, in the early 1960s the island community began to voice concern about the preservation of the old fort, reflected in the Secretary of the Interior designating Fort Christian as the St. Thomas National Historic Site in 1960. At this time the fort served as the Virgin Islands' prison facility. In November of 1971, "with community support, the first elected governor (of the Virgin Islands), Melvin H. Evans, opened a small museum of local history in four (lower) rooms of the southeast bastion. The museum shared the fort with the prison, which occupied all the rest of the fort with the exception of the southwest bastion, which housed the Civil Defense office of the Virgin Islands (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1974, under the terms of PL 92-4351 (The Submerged Lands Act), title to Fort Christian passed to the Virgin Islands government. The St. Thomas National Historic Site was never activated as a unit of the National Park System, although the Secretary of the Interior did designate Fort Christian as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. A National Historic Landmark nomination NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Parle Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form form was not required for the reaffirmation of a finding of national significance for the fort. In June of 1982 the firm of Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing was retained by the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a historic structures report of Fort Christian, entitled Fort Christian Historic Structure Report, which . . . gave a complete history of the fort from the Royal Archives in Copenhagen and the National Archives in Washington and other sources. Included in the report were measured drawings of how the building looked at various periods, [and] photographs especially taken during that prison period [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. In 1983 the police and jail moved out of the fort. The Virgin Islands government provided funds to the Fort Christian Museum to clean up the fort and remove the prison bars from the prisoners' cells. A gift shop and reception area were created in the rooms to the west of the north entrance, and a museum office and kitchen were installed in the rooms to the east of the entrance, allowing the majority of the fort to be opened up as a historic site (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1985, with funding from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the government of the Virgin Islands contracted with the firm of deJongh and Gjessing to develop overall plans and a scope of work for the restoration of Fort Christian. Based on their earlier historic structures report (1982), the restoration plan was "to retain the features still existing from the 1600's, the mid 1700's expansion and the 1874 north entrance and incorporate these into the museums plans" (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 the Civil Defense office, located in the southwest bastion, moved out of the fort and the first phase of restoration work commenced using $500,000 in HUD CDBG monies and $60,000 from the Virgin Islands Enhancement Fund (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 a contract was awarded to Coastal Construction with the firm of deJongh/Gjessing drawing specific plans and specs for funds allocated and their supervision of the project. This phase took in demolition of [twentieth century] interior walls in the courtyard which formed corridors into prison cells and certain [police] offices in the west and south [curtain walls]. Demolition of [modern cinder block] walls in the narrow west [curtain wall] side cells, returning them to their 1730's appearance, new plumbing and bathrooms, [and] a handicapped ramp by the right side of the 1874 entryway [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. 1% f rr NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This first restoration project of the west and south curtain walls lasted from 1990 until 1992 (see Photograph 8). A second phase of restoration saw $200,000, funded by HUD CDBG, go into the fort. The contractor was H & M Systems under the supervision of deJongh/Gjessing. Work included repair of the large rooms behind the east curtain wall and the rooms in the southeast bastion. It also repaired the roof/gun deck of these rooms and bastion. The work lasted from 1993 to 1994 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1994 the Fort Christian Museum was informed that a major Intermodal State Transportation and Enhancement Act project for work on Veteran's Drive had been approved and funds from this project would be used to complete the restoration of Fort Christian, probably commencing work in 1997 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). 3 1 . . . J ' . ’ .. ...■' C'■ .-’‘r ■ ' J, V- fen v: . ' ; ' I ■" 1-- ■^1 "1 NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Boyer, William W. 1983 America's Virgin Islands, A History of Human Rights and Wrongs. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Bronsted, Johannes (editor) 1952 Vore Gamble Torpe Kolonier. Copenhagen. Volume II. A.G.H. Forlag, Caron, Aimery 1988 St. Croix under French Dominion. Paper for the 10th Annual Conference of Caribbean Historians. St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. March 28-April 2. Cinquino, Michael A. (Principal Investigator) 1996 Phase lA Cultural Resource Investigation for the Proposed Veterans Drive Improvements, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Prepared for: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc., Maitland, Florida. Cissell, William F. 1993 A Synopsis of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Salt River, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its Special Relevance to the Columbus Quincentennial. Paper on file National Park Service, Atlanta. Crain, Edward E. 1994 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Dahl, Bjorn W. 1992 The Military Engineer Gottfried Hoffmann and his Works in Denmark 1648-1687. Fortress, No. 13, pp. 3-12, May. deJongh, Robert and Frederik J. Gjessing 1982 Fort Christian Historic Structures Report. The Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Dookhan, Isaac 1974 A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Canoe Press, Kingston, Jamaica. Duffy, Christopher 1985 The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. 1 ■& NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Gjessing, Frederik C., and William P. MacLean 1987 Historic Buildings of St. Thomas and St. John. Macmillan Publishers, Limited. Gjessing, Frederik C. and Philip E. Gardner 1958 Historic Architecture of the Virgin Islands. Sections from the Historic American Building Survey, Number 1. On file with the National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta. Highfield, Arnold R. 1995 St. Croix 1493, An Encounter of Two Worlds. The Virgin Islands Humanities Council, United States Virgin Islands. Jowers, Dolores 1996 Letter to Mark Barnes describing the restoration of Fort Christian from the 1970s to 1996. Letter on file with the National Register Programs Division, National Park Service, Atlanta. Lightbourn, Jno. 1973 The Story of Fort Christian, 1672. Reprinted Walloe's St. Thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881. Museum Leaflet Series No. 1, Bureau of Libraries and Museums, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Morison, Samuel E. 1939 The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cadiz to Hispaniola and the Discovery of the Lesser Antilles. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sauer, Carl 0. 1969 The Early Spanish Main. Press, Berkeley. University of California Westergaard, Waldemar 1917 The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754) The Macmillan Company, New York. Previous documentation on file (NPS): ___ Preliminary Determination of Individual Listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. ___ Previously Listed in the National Register. ___ Previously Determined Eligible by the National Register. _X_ Designated a National Historic Landmark. May 5, 1977 ___ Recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey: # ___ Recorded by Historic American Engineering Record: #___________ NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Primary Location of Additional Data: _X_ State Historic Preservation Office US Virgin Islands ___ Other State Agency ___ Federal Agency ___ Local Government ___ University _X_ Other(Specify Repository): Mrs. Delores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Acreage of Property: 1.92 acres UTM References: Zone Northing Easting Zone Northing Easting 20 2029040 296040 Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary for Fort Christian is based on an on-site visitation to the fort in April 1996, in the company of Mr. Myron Jackson of the Virgin Islands SHPO Office and Ms. Dolores Jowers, Curator of Fort Christian. The boundary description is keyed to the enclosed sketch map (see Figure 1). A datum point was set at the base of the point of the southwestern bastion of Fort Christian. A line was projected in a generally southwest direction to the outside edge of the sidewalk. This is Point A. The boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk for 246 feet to Point B. From Point B the boundary goes due north for 356 feet to Point C (along the east side of a small road). From Point C the boundary goes across the small road and along the outside edge of a stone lined gutter bordering a open park area for 200 feet to the mid-point of the road leading to the entrance of the fort (Point D). From Point D, the boundary continues along the outside edge of the stone lined gutter of the other open park area for 100 to Point E. From Point E the boundary goes due south along the outside eastern edge of the street for 257 feet to Point F. Point F is located along the outside edge of the intersection of Fort Pladsen and Veteran's Drive. From Point F the boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk on the north side of Veteran's Drive some 37 feet to connect with Point A. Boundary Justification: Fort Christian was originally sited on a small peninsula which projected into St. Thomas Harbor. The boundary for Fort Christian includes the fortification area of this peninsula which contains extant seventeenth to nineteenth century standing remains of the fort. The boundary includes areas to the east, west, and north sides of the fort, which once contained ravelins that projected out from the curtain walls of the fort. On the northern side of the fort the boundary includes two small open park spaces. This area once held the ravelin that projected from the north side of the fort and other landside defenses which protected the fort when the fort was sited on a small peninsula. The open water or lagoon areas which once existed on the west and east sides of the peninsula were reclaimed from the sea and filled in between the late 18*''^ and later part of the 19*^^ century are not included in this boundary. The only non contributing building in the boundary is a 1950's fire station (see Photograph 6) that occupies the area to the west of the fort on which the west ravelin once stood. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Reg.i5tration Form 11. FORM PREPARED BY Name/Title: Org. : Street/#: Mark R. Barnes, Ph.D. Senior Archeologist . . .r* - ■ t A: National Register Programs Division National Park Service, SERO 1924 Building 100 AlcQoama Street, SW City/Town: State: ZIP: Telephone: Atlanta Georgia 30303 (404) 562-3173 Mark Barnes@nps.gov Date: November 29, 1999 Revised by with the assistance of: Mrs. Dolores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 (809) 776-4566 Virgin Islands Preservation Office Staff Department of Planning and Natural Resource Foster Plaza, Anna's Retreat 396-1 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00802 (809) 776-8605 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form .'yST, ICE ng Area Parking , Area North Drive Veterat^ .rsQ ATURE ING Figure 1. Site map showing the bo\indaries of Fort Christian and the layout of the surrorinding area. Provided by M. Slater. 4 Virgin Islands Fire Department Building (1950s) noncontributing building luter wall of northwest Bastion (1670s) Interior Rooms SW Bast! V±FJ). ROOF ROOF on 1730s along .lot: rooms Location of the 17thc stone tower removed in 1874 Mam Courtyard Interior Rooms along the south and east walls constructed ca. 1730s Remains of the ravelin for tlje east wall I 5 1999 JUL -I 4 2000 Outer walls of Southwest and Southeast Bastions and South Curtair^r Outer wall- (1670s) \\ Fort Christian Historic Structures Report daJONOH /QJESSmO. AUk. ARCHITECTS S PLANNERS ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRQM ISLANDS MAIN LEVEL FLOOR PLAN MEASURED DRAWING Figure 2. Site Plan of Fort Christian as it presently exists. Information is provided on the dates of various elements of the fort. Interior rooms of northwest Bastion (c. 1730s) Gothic Revival (1874-1878) Bell Tower and northern lentrance. Interior rooms of northeast Bastion (c. 1730s) Outer wall of northeast astion (1670s) Outer wall of east curtain 1670s Interior Rooms SE Bastion 1730s PREPARED FOR the dept of conservation a COLTURiy. AFFAIRS JUNE, 1081 NORTH 16 FT i. ArrAifIB \M2 Notices Sent: NATIONAL mSTORIC LANDMARK BOUNDARY STUDY PROJECT AUG 4 2000 ' Com ment Period Ends:_/p]QJO Designated: '4^0. NHL: Name: Address: CW)r\o*i^t (A.^ ) rn City County * State ELECTED OFFICIALS CJ . ‘ ^ CITY: Name; 2.1 -7‘2. \Zoi^n/>c^^ ^ COUNTY; Name; ) Gode Title; ^ Title: Address: C ^r-A- f^og- o:^ Address; Source; (TUrhs4gK^^</->‘S O 0-TCP Date; ____________ Source; Date: HOUSE: District No.: U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 VeitqaH- SENATE: U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 U.S. Senate Wellington, DC 20510 Source; ^Q l/vQ . OiT f~f M . < U SHPO; REGION; Date: *yf2jD/OQ r?Po\ • of PfCk *■ /Yc ^ QiaC^J" (TKot In \-h Av^r\ Ifp (A n 'bO^O'2., FPO; -ffl • <^^4- OWNER(S): Source; Date; tAr. Oacsi^ ■plas’Wi^, r- Pgph of '^y^oi^rol '^S'cin^^q F- /irrpi>r'<^ P/€>cn^ s\. u^vr D^ro 2. S /A9. ZPohrre joo<^^s ^d“ C^r^*sVf(>*^ p. Sox fo I C^orlP^e Ay^ohe, Comments; Interviewer: /^TN/pi NPS Fr -n 10-900 {>52'. United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries—complete applicable sections 1. Name ONB No. 1024-001B Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use only received date entered historic Christian National Historic Landmark__ and or common 2. Location street & number aty, town Charlotte AmalJ.e, St. Thoma^J^'cinity^f state Virgin Island code 005 county not for publication code 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use district X public X occupied ___agriculture X museum building(s) private unoccupied commercial park structure both work in progress educational private residence __site Public Acquisition Accessible entertainment religious object in process yes; restricted _X_ government scientific being considered SL yes. unrestricted industrial transportation __no military other: 4. Owner of Property name Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs street & number Box 2606 city, town Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas___vicinity of state Virgin Island 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. street & number city, town state 6. Representation in Existing Surveys title has this property been determined eligible? date federal state county___local depository for survey records city, town state 7. Description Condition ___ excellent _^ good fair Check one deteriorated __ unaltered . ruins X altered .unexposed Check one X original site __ moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance The original fort consisted of a few buildings and a wooden palisade. By the end of the decade of the colonies existence the fort had taken on much of the form it would keep for the next centuries. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west walls nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The south wall formed an acute angle with the west wall projecting the southwest section of the fort, well south of the southeast one. Each corner had projecting bastions, the flanks of the bastion were of different lengths from 13 to 17 Dani-ih feet (13.9 to 18.19 English measure), but all perpendicular or nearly so to the adjoining curtain walls. The angle between the flanks and the faces of the bastions varied and gave the four bastions considerable difference in projection and size. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively, 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east-west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. In the description there seems to be a discrepancy in the dimensions given for the southeast bastion. The east face according to J.I. has an outside dimension of 49.22 feet and an inside one of 29.96 feet. The sum of the width of the flanking walls is 8.56 feet, a discrepancy of 10.7 feet. The same difference between inside and outside dimensions occur on the south face of the bastion. The walls of the S.E. bastion faces were taller than any of the other outside walls and their lower sections may have been battered as they are now. If they were, it would explain the discrepancy in the dimensions shown in the 1680 descriptions. In plan concept Christians Fort was a conventional 17th century citadel. It departed from the norm by the irregular alignments of its outer walls and the unconventional shape of its outworks. NPS Porm tC-900;8 (3-S2iV 0MB No. 1024^00ie Expires JO-3I-fi7 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form _ ___ _: Continuation sheet Item number A departure that in the plan organization of the interior was even more emphatic. The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the landside of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickiv pears had been cultivated in the land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. The principal entrance to the fort was the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sallyport was the demilune, a squat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east. Inside it had a width of 14.5 feet and a greater but unknown length. It was roofed in ash shakes, 17 loopholes in the walls provided small arms coverage of the approaches. A wall connected the demi-lune to the east curtain just south of the sally-port, and shielded the access path and the 16 steps that led up to the sallv-port. The palisade gate was approximately 50 feet north east of the demi-lune. The gate of the sallyport was 6.5 feet wide with two wings that closed on a center post. They were made from three layers of iron bound planks and equipped with three pairs of hinges, hooks, shacl<les, rings, and a large padlock. It led into a small gate house with the interior dimensions of 8 bv 8.5 feet that had a second inner gate 5 feet wide that opened on the fort proper and the seven steps leading up to the center vard. NOS fom 1C.900.8 0-B2i United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number OMB No. 1024-001S Expires 10-31-B7 The poster gate in the west curtain was simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. It was equipped with 3 hinges, 3 sliding bolts, a ring, a shackle, and a padlock. There were no outer defenses covering the path from the posterior to the palisade gate below and was not considered necessary since the narrow strip of land between the shoreline and the fort was dominated by the west curtain and its flanking bastions. On the exterior the walls varied in height. Since the fort was built around a hill that had its apex in the approximate center of the fort projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls. Towards the east north and south the variations in the exterior heights were not great. Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its height of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliber­ ately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby gives Christiansfort its irregular outline on the bayside. Between the salient angles of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea, all had a width of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the west face of the southwest bastion 4 feet 3 inches. The same dimensions is shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. NPS Form iC-90fra (3'd2i OMB No, 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-8? United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number Page All other walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while othe.-s were separated bv passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtvard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard. In plan it was roughly elliptical and on the exterior was 31 feet 2 inches east by west and 22 feet 6 inches north by south with wall thickness at the ground floor level of 4 feet 3 inches. It had 3 tiers. The lower one was divided into two sections; a wood lined powder room and the storage room for provisions. The second floor was 9 feet 8 inches above grade level and like the floor below divided into two rooms. It had a floor of 2.5 inch planks over heavy beams (the size is not given) and contained 3 four pounder cannons, 7 embrasures of which the door was one and 12 loopholes. Access to the second floor was by a rope ladder. With wood treads and a very solid door 9'8' above ground constructed from 3 lavers of planks covered on the exterior by iron; with appropriate hardware for locking it. The third floor was also supported on heavy beams, and planks which contained two four and two three pounder cannons. This level of the tower, in addition to 9 loopholes for small arms had 7 embrasures allowing the 5 artillerv pieces to be shifted to different arcs of fire. The embrasures on both tiers had two sets of shutters; one that appears to have been top hinged made from grigri planks and some lighter exterior shutters made from fir. The third level of the tower, as the second one had an exterior door and was accessible by rope ladders. Above each of the exterior doors were heavy beams set in the masonry with large staples, ropes, and pulleys for hoisting artillery pieces and equipment to the upper levels. In addition there NPS Form ‘C-900-a 3-82} 0MB No. 1024-0016 Expires 10-31-97 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number Page were trapdoors over the two rooms of the ground level and over the second and third tier of the tower that allowed for raising provisions and supplies to the top of the tower within its walls. The third tier was covered by a saddle roof of closely spaced 4 inch rafters supported on heavy beams and covered with roofing tile set in mortar. The description specifically mentions that, the rafters were secured to their supports with 6 inch spikes. Straddled across the ridge was a hexagonal guard house surrounded by a four foot catwalk. The size of the guardhouse is not given, but it must have been large enough to have had a trap door on one or the other side of the ridge beam. The guardhouse had two doors and supported a copper weathervane with the insignia of the Company. A small flagpole was attached to one of the sides of the guardhouse. It was not the main flagstaff of the fort which then was placed in the southwest bastion. The roof of the upper level had a barricade of heavy gri-gri planks of sufficient thickness to stop penetration by small arms fire. presumably this was placed along the outer edges of the masonry since 4 pieces firing grapnel shots were located at the four "corners" of the tower on posts set in its walls. The barricade had 15 loopholes in addition to the embrasure for the grapnel shot pieces. The actual height of "Trygborg" is not mentioned, but from the heights given for the different tiers added to the estimated dimensions of the floors and roof. The masonry walls of the tower could not have been less than thirty feet. The guardhouse and the gri-gri barricade added further height to the structure. It was the most conspicuous single feature of the fort and highly visible from the harbor and the landside. It added a medieval touch to the 17th Century fortification. It had the appearance of a keep, a tower that provided the defenders a possibility of a last stand against aggressors. By the name given to it by Governor Jorgen Iversen, "Trygborg" it may well have been conceived as such. In terms of the period it also added additional firepower to Christiansfort and by the elevation of its gundecks, a slight edge on range of the artillery pieces it contained. NPS Forrr iC-900-8 :>«2> 0MB No. 1024‘001B Expires iO-J2-d7 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number Existing Conditions The site in the seventeenth and eightieth centuries was a peninsula jutting out into the harbor. The original shoreline has been preserved immediately to the south of the fort while to the east and west landfills of the 11 and twentieth centuries have projected the shoreline into the bay and reduced the peninsula character of the site. Christians Fort for nearly a century marked the eastern edge of the town of Charlotte Amalie. As the town grew, it spread north, west, and east. The fort now literally and figurativelv is in the center of the urban area. Veteran's Drive, St. Thomas' main east-west traffic artery, runs immediately belovr the south walls of the fort and separates it from what remains of the peninsula which served as the parade and barracks area of the fort garrison as late as 1917. East and west of the fort Veteran's Drive follows the present shoreline. The peninsula is now shared between the legislature housed in the former barracks building and the U.S. Coast Guard Station situated on the side of the peninsula. From the south end of the Coast Guard Station, a jetty extends 300 feet westward into the harbor forming a small boat basin southwest of the fort. The area immediately adjoining the fort is defined by two south- north streets. Hospital Gade and Tolbods Gade and the previously mentioned Veteran's Drive and Nome Gade, another east-west street to north which is the eastern extension of Charlotte Amalie's main street. A large paved public parking space stretches east from the fort to Hospital Gade. It takes in about two-thirds of the area between Veteran's Drive and Nome Gade and at one point extends to Nome Gade between the built-up lots facing on the latter street. Directly north and northwest of the fort there is a small city park, "Emancipation Garden", and two small city blocks facing on Nome Gade. South of Emancipation Garden and west of the fort is the Charlotte Amalie Fire Station, built against the west wall of the fort and partly obscuring it, and a paved parking lot that extends to Veteran's Drive and Tolbods Gade to the south and west, respectively. SPS Porrr ‘C-MO-a ::-82» . United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number OHB No. 1D24-001B Expires i0-32-fi7 Page The area has three short north-south streets, two of which, Fortets Straede and Kirke Straede start at Norre Gade and end at the fort, the former at the tip of the northeast bastion and the latter at the main entrance to the fort. The third separates the fire station and parking lot west of the fort and connects Veteran's Drive with the two east-west streets of the area. Both of these starts at Tolbods Gade. One runs along the south side of Emancipation Garden and then along the north walls of Christians Fort to Fortets Straede and the parking lot east of the fort. The other along the north side of the park crosses Kirke Straede and then swings northward to terminate at the junction of Fortets Straede and Norre Gade. The extensive amount of paving of Streets and parking lots that surround Christians Fort gives it a high visibility but does not otherwise enhance the fort. The setting is somewhat relieved bv the landscaped grounds of the V.I. Legislature and Coast Guard Station to the south, and Emancipation Garden to the north and by the architectural interest of the buildings facing on Emancipa­ tion Garden. Viewed from the north Christians Fort still retains a dignity worthy of its historical and architectural importance. To a lesser degree this is also true when viewed at a distance from the west. The fort towers above the fire station and dominates it. At close range the fire station and its non-compatible buildings are more in evidence and detract from its appearance. From the east Christians Fort is seen across a large expanse of blacktop pavement, and in the daytime cars, flanked on the right by the back yards of the building still standing on the south side of this section of Norre Gade and Veteran's Drive on the left. CHRISTIANS FORT In plan Christians Fort proper is an irregular rectangle with protecting bastions at each angle. The bastions as well as the curtains are built up and surround an irregular roughly L-shaped courtyard in the center of the fort. The courtyard has a slight slope downward to the north. The southern bastions are completely filled in with modified casemates while the northern bastions have gorges, interior courts, opening up to the central place of arms. NPS for-r ‘:-90q-8 O 82)’ 0MB .Vo. 1024^00ie Expires 10-31-67 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number Towards the east and southeast the fort has a basement story and centered in the north curtain a four-tiered tower, but is otherwise a one-story structure. All the bastions and the east, south and west curtains support paved gundecks that on the east side of the fort are covered with low pitched roofs with corrugated metal roofing. The overall dimensions of the fort (excluding the fire station) are from north to south along the east side measured from tip to tip of the bastions at grade 194 feet 9 inches and a gundeck level 178 feet 0 inches and along the west side 209 feet 8 inches and 194 feet 6 inches respectively. From east to west also measured at grade and at gundeck level from tip to tip of bastion, the dimensions towards the south are 167 feet 10 inches and 151 feet 3 inches and towards the north 184 feet 4 inches and 170 feet 3 inches. From exterior center points of opposite curtain walls the dimensions of the fort are from east to west, 114 feet and from south to north to 153 feet 8 inches. The heights of the outer walls vary considerably mainly due to the difference of grade of the surroundings and to a lesser extent to the differences of height of the breastwalls of the gundeck. This has slight slopes for drainage purposes but within a margin of 5 inches has a uniform elevation above sea level with the exception of the northeast bastion which has a 1-1/2 foot lower elevation. Excluding the tower centered in the north curtain the bastions without exception have outer walls of greater height than their adjoining curtains. The heights of outer walls range between the low of 21 feet 3 inches at the sides of the tower of the north curtain and the high of 35 feet 6 inches at the southwest angle of the salient southeast bastion. On the exterior the height of the curtains and bastions measured from the grade of the courtyard vary between 13 feet 8 inches at the southwest corner of the courtyard and 16 feet 4 inches at the northern section of the east curtain. Christians Fort is essentially a rubble masonry structure but with a liberal use of brick in vaulting, pavements, roofs and framing of door and window openings, copings and in decorative NP£ For*n lC-900-8 □ S2) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number OMB ffo. 1024-0026 Expires 20-32-67 dstft entered Page features of the north curtain. Concrete has also been used in structural repairs to the east curtain and the northeast bastion and concrete block for most of the more recent addition and altera­ tions to the interior and courtyard of the fortification. The exterior of the outer walls are all battered except for the north and east curtain and the north wall of the northwest bastions have the appearance of additions intended to buttress the original masonry. On the interior the walls are all vertical. * NORTHEAST AND NORTHWEST BASTION Both the north bastions have smaller inner courts or gorges walled off from the main courtyard of the fort and accessible only through gateways with heavy iron grill doors. Both gorges are also covered with steelbars and hurricane fencing that in part has been covered with corrugated roofing sheets. Each has in its north face three small window openings with pointed arch heads and protecting voussoir in exposed yellow brick with molded brick brackets at the springline. The openings have a steel grills and mesh in-fill. The northeast bastion has on its east face three semi-circular headed small window openings with steel grills set in the openings and perforated steel cover plates anchored to the masonry of the exterior. It contains three rooms separated by masonry parti­ tions all accessible from the gorge by doors with elliptical headed arches. Four small window openings on the gorge provide ventilation and modest amount of day-light to the interiors. The windows like the doors have elliptical heads and have recessed outer edges for shutters which are now missing. Both doors and windows have iron grills. The gorge and the interiors are paved in concrete and all walls, interior and exterior are plastered. A 6 bv 9-foot concrete block structure is built against the wall that separates the bastion and the east curtain in the western section of the gorge. It has a corrugated metal roof on wood rafters, two small metal louvered windows and a door. It contains the toilet and bath facilities for the inmates of the bastion's three rooms. These are roofed with a reinforced concrete slab replacement of the earlier brick gundeck. due to leaks in the concrete slab a second roof of corrugated metal on wood rafters has been placed over the concrete slab. NPS Form lC-900-a (342) , United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number OHB So. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-37 The former gundeck level has an embrasure in each flank and four embrasure in the north face of the parapet walls of the exterior. The east face had three embrasures, traces of these can still be seen, but the central section of the parapet wall has been removed down to the base of the embrasures and only the end sections have retained their former height. At the salient angle of the bastion the parapet walls have been raised to provide a guardhouse in the shape of a niche facing the former gundeck. Towards the east and south the parapet walls of the gorge have been heightened 4 feet by concrete block walls to discourage attempts to throw articles into the gorge from outside the fort. The northwest bastion has in addition to the previously mentioned windows in its north face a window in each flank and four in the west face. All are very small, have arched heads and are furnished with bars and wire netting in-fill. It also has an arched headed doorway with an iron grill door in the south flank at its junction with the west curtain. The bastion has four rooms all accessible from the gorge and two of the rooms each have a small window opening on the gorge. Doors and window openings all have arched heads and iron grills that in the case of the windows are fixed and anchored in the masonry. Two of the partitions between the cells are masonry, while the partition between the cells of the salient angle of the bastion is masonry and wood. The northwest cell which takes in the salient angle proper has retained masonry remains of a oven and cooking range. The cells all have barrel vaults constructed in brick. They and the gorge are paved in concrete. All walls interior and exterior are plastered except for the cell in the eastern part of the bastion where the materials of the masonry are exposed. Within the gorge a wall roughly paralleled to the end wall of the west curtain provides a passageway 3 to 4 feet wide from the gate in the wall towards the main courtyard and the gate in the south flank of the bastion theat gives access to the triangular court wedged between the outer wall of the west curtain of the Christians Fort and the rear walls of the fire station. ,‘n.. NPS50fTi 1C-90P.-8 (3 22) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-32-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 7 This passageway which is only partially roofed also serves as a forecourt to the cell blocks of the northwest bastion and the west curtain. It is connected to them and the main courtyard by arched gateways with iron gates in the separating walls. Within the main section of the gorge two shower stalls and a toilet in concrete blocks have been constructed against the wall of the passageway dividing the gorge. They are roofed with corru­ gated metal but have no door or walls facing on the gorge. On the gundeck level the northwest bastion has four embrasures in the parapet wall of its north face, three in its west face and one in its south flank. A guardhouse circular in plan is located near the tip of the salient angle. It is constructed in plastered brick and has a doorway facing on the gundeck with a semicircular head and a projecting cap molding, also semicircular. The wood door that at one time provided protection for the doomed interior is now missing. Two loopholes facing north and west allow for surveillance of the grounds below. A circular vent shaft 2 feet in diameter with built-up masonry sides and cover is located southeast of the guardhouse. It provides an air exhaust from the cell below that at one time contained the Dutch oven and cooking range. The bricks of the gundeck pavement and of the parapet copings of the gorge walls have been covered with cement mortar and are only exposed in the very tip of the salient angle. WEST CURTAIN The west curtain is 22 feet deep for its full 98 foot length and contains six equal sized barrel vaulted casemates. The four northernmost of these have each been divided into two cells by a masonrv partition under the crown of the vault. Seven of these as prison cells and the eighth towards the south as an infirmary. Each cell and the infirmary has a semicircular arched doorway with an iron bar gate in the east wall of the curtain and one 2-foot square iron barred window opening in the west wall. A 10-foot high masonry wall runs parallel to the curtain wall and at its south end by a right angle turn connects with the east wall of the west curtain. It encloses a 7-foot 8-inch wide and 54-foot long yard in front of the prison cells. At its north end it joins the wall that separates the gorge from the main courtyard of the fort. The wall has a coping in brick and is covered with a grid of steel bars and hurricane fencing of the same kind that covers the gorges of the northeast and west bastions. On the courtyard side the wall is enforced by four buttresses. NPS forrr ^:-900.-fi (3-32)* OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number <tete«i*ered iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page In the northeast corner of this elongated prison yard are two shower stalls and a toilet constructed in concrete block. They have no doors and are open towards the prison yard. Also within the prison yard is a leader constructed in brick built against the east wall of the curtain that allowed the water collected from the gundecks of the western section of the fort to flow in a below grade conduit across the main courtyard to the cistern in the east curtain. The leader has a molded and articulated base and a decorative cap. The casemate south of the infirmary has most recently served as a cell for solitary confinement. It has a door and a window towards the courtyard both with semicircular arched heads and one 4 by 6-foot square headed window in the west wall. The windows have fixed iron bar grills and the window towards the courtyard wood shutters. The door has a heavy iron grill gate with a steel plate cover over the lower section. The south end casemate of the west curtain has a semicircular arched door and a blocked in window towards the courtyard and a square headed 4-foot by 6-foot window in the west wall with glazed sash and exterior double board wood shutters. The casemate has been converted into toilet facilities intended for prisoners but now used by the visiting public. Toilet stalls in concrete block with fronting wood doors have been built against the south wall of the casemate. A brick vaulted 4-foot wide passageway leading from this casemate into the southwest bastion has been blocked up on the casemate side. The terreplein of the west curtain is on the same level as those of the flanking bastion and the south curtain. It has a slight slope inward towards the courtyard and down from both flanking bastions to the masonry leader built against its east wall of the curtain. The brick pavement of its original condition is partially exposed but in most areas has an overlay of cement plaster. The parapet of the east wall has a brick coping that is carried around the north wall of the south curtain. SOUTHWEST BASTION The southwest bastion has on the courtyard level two brick barrel vaulted casemates that are roughly paralleled to the south face of the bastion. They are interconnected by an arched opening K0$ Forn- ’C-MO-a ;^32; 0MB No. 1024-^0016 Expires iO-J2-E7 United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number iialisslMsgiia iiiiiliiiiiiiii 3 in the approximate center of the dividing wall. Access to the casemates on the court level was provided by the blocked up passageway from the south casemate of the west curtain. From within the fort they are now only accessible from the terreplein by a masonry staircase partially built up within the south casemates From, outside of the fort they can be reached by an arched gateway in the east flank of the bastion at its junction with the south curtain and masonry steps built against the south curtain. Both casemates have been divided into two rooms by masonry partitions with arched doorways equipped with iron grill gates. Both casemates have one small barred window opening or gunslit in the west face of the bastion and 2 foot diameter circular vent shafts to the terreplein above. The north casemates has in addition a window opening in the north flank of the bastion. The terreplein of the southwest bastion has a brick pavement almost entirely covered with a concrete plaster. The parapet walls of the bastions are low and towards the north and south support a safety rail of iron chains set between iron pipe stanchions anchored in the masonry. The bastion has a single embrasure centered in the parapet wall of the west face. There is a sentry box at the salient angle similar in design to the sentry box of the northeast bastion but in better condition and with its plank door still in place. A small wooden structure placed near the center of the terreplein protections the staircase to the casemates below. SOl’TH CURTAIN On the interior of the fort the south and east curtain and the southeast bastion have no clear definition. The east curtain with the greater width of its southern half extends all the way to the south curtains wall and meets it 22 feet west of the curtain's iunction with the west flank of the southeast bastion. The walls of the south curtain on the interior about the west wall of the east curtain and only extends part of the way to the southeast bastions. It is 21 feet wide and to the north faces on a 5-foot 6-inch unroofed passage that is separated from the courtyard by a 7-foot high masonry wall with two gateways to the courtyard, both with iron grill gates. The westernmost room of the curtain has a NPS.Fo'm 'C-900-a .382) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-67 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number plastered brick barrel vault with plastered walls and cement floor. It contains in its southeast corner a masonry cooking each with a brick mantle supported on a wood beam. East of the cooking bench is a 2-foot 8-inche wide barred window opening with a semicircular arched head. The room serves as the kitchen for the prison and is connected to the open passageway north of the curtain by a brick arched doorway with a grill door. The center section of the curtain contains two rectangular inter­ connected rooms. They are roofed by wood beams supporting purloins and three layers of brick that also serves as the pavement of the terreplein. The original finishes of the ceiling, walls and floors are hidden by plywood panelling, a hung ceiling and a new tile flooring. Each room has a modern door headed by a projecting air conditioning unit on the open passageway and two brick steps leading up to the doors. Each has one window opening converted to a doorway in the exterior curtain wall. They give access to a wood addition built against the south curtain that extends to the west flank of the southeast curtain. The addition is raised from 13 to 17 feet above the natural grade south of Christians Fort and is supported by beams set in the masonry of the exterior walls and six lollycolumns. It contains a bath, two closets and three rooms and at the courtyard level is accessible not only from the room in the south curtain but also from the southeast bastion. It has a shed roof with corrugated metal roofing cut into the masonry of the exterior walls. The windows towards the south have glass louvers and glazed awning type sash. In the east end of the open passageway fronting the south curtain is a modern door fitted into an older frame set in a blocked-up archway of even older date. The door gives access to the east curtain and the southeast bastion. In the north wall of the south curtain are two arched doorways with grill gates. One gives access to a two run angle brick staircase leading up to the terreplein of the south curtain. The other further west opens on a landing inside the curtain from which a tunnel-like staircase leads east to the basement story below the southeastern section of the fort; and another similar staircase 4 feet 8 inches wide leads down and south to a posters gate in the south curtain wall. NPS Perm 1C-900-8 0 82) 0MB No. 1024^0018 Expires J0-Ji-S7 United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form .................. mmmM Continuation sheet Item number 7 Page On the exterior the elliptical headed archway of the double planked poster gate is flank by heavy pilasters with articulated and molded bases and capital bands that support a triangular pediment. The gateway opens up on a pyramidal staircase constructed in yellow brick above a stepped concrete path leading down to the street below. The small irregular space left in south curtain between the center rooms, the west wall of the east curtain and behind the staircase leading up to the terreplein contain a room at an intermediate level between the courtyard and the terreplein. It is reached bj' an arched doorway opening on the landing of the staircase leading up to the terreplein and is built over the tunnel leading down to the poster gate. It has concrete plastered masonry floor supported by wood boards and beams exposed in the basement area below and a low ceiling of wood beams and purlines covered by three layers of brick. A blocked-up window in the south curtain wall once provided daylight to the room. A doorway and three very tall stairs lead down to a 5-foot by 7-foot 4-inch room in the east curtain. This small space is completely walled off from the rest of the east curtain. It has a blocked-up wall in the south curtain that still contains the interior wood louvered sash and exterior shutters of its prior condition. The terreplein of the south curtain has a 9-foot tall chimney, measured from the pavement of the terreplein, located at the iunction of the south curtain and the flank of the southwest bastion. It exhausts the smoke from the cooking range below. On the wall around the terreplein stairway is a truncated pillar w'ith a molded cap and base that one time carried a sundial. The brick pavement of the terreplein is exposed on its western half. The eastern half is covered by a secondary roof of corrugated metal on a wood frame resting on the pavement of the terreplein. The secondary roof has a very slight pitch and is set below the parapet walls. The decks of the east curtain and the southeast bastion have been covered by roofs of corrugated metal similar to the one of the south curtain. NPS Form 1C-9O0-B (3-82; 0MB No. 1024^0018 Expires iO-Jl-E7 United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item numbe' east curtain and southeast bastion The parapet walls of the entire southeast section of the fort have a single embrasure in the north flank of the southeast bastion. The primary roof over the southeast bastion and the southern half of the east curtain is supported on a grid of beams and purloins covered by bricks set in mortar. Over the narrow north end of the east curtain the primary roof is reinforced concrete in very poor condition. On the court level the northern 42 feet of the east curtain is 20 feet wide and contains three rooms. The northernmost is 16 feet wide and has two windows in the exterior curtain wall with glass louvered sash and a door with exterior shutters. The room serves as the prison's pantry. The central room is 8 feet wide and separated from the flanking rooms by masonry partitions with an arched opening in the one to the south. The room has a blocked-up loopehole in the east wall and an arched doorway with a double plank door on the court and within the doorway three steps leading up to the raised floor level of this room. It contains a trap door to the vaulted cistern that is located against the exterior curtain wall and under all of this section of the east curtain. The room south of it has two windows in the east wall and towards the court a door and a window. The windows all have glazed 4-light casement sash and exterior wood shutters. Two blocked doorways in the south wall of this room at one time allowed for interior communications between the north and south sections of the east curtain. The southern half of the east curtain is 42 feet wide for its entire length. In the jog formed in the west wall of the east curtain bv the different widths of the curtain is an unroofed brick staircase 9 feet wide leading down to the basement level under the east and southeast sections of the fort. The stairway has a 4 foot high masonry wall to the north at court level and a cover and a gate of steel bars and hurricane fencing similar to the cover over the prison yards in the north bastions. The southern half of the east curtain and the southeast bastion before recent remodelling contained 7 rooms or spaces all inter- NPS-^orm 1C 900-8 (3-e2t United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 7 OMB no. 2024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 recsivea connected. The present use of the fort and the assignment to three different agencies of this part of the fort has caused the blocking up of interconnecting doorways and a division of the area in four distinct parts. The large room in the approximate center of the east curtain is still undamaged. On the interior it measures east-west 40 feet and is 24 feet wide. It serves once as a church, more recently as the Municipal Court and now as a recreation room for prisoners. It has two windows towards the east with casemates sash and exterior wood shutters, two windows in the north wall overlooking the above-mentioned stairway and two windows s^nnmetrically placed flanking a central doorway in the west wall. The room has exposed beam and purlin ceiling, plastered walls and a wood floor. In addition to the previously mentioned blocked doorways leading into the northern part of the curtain the former courtroom has three blocked doorways in its south wall. The westernmost of these led into a corridor 8 feet wide that extended all the way to the south curtain and provided access to the rooms south of the former courtroom. It is now divided into four small rooms of which only the two center ones are inter­ connected . The first serves as an entry to the room immediately to the south of the former municipal court. The room has two windows in the east curtain wall with glazed casement sash and exterior double board shutters. Its wall are plastered and the floor and hung ceiling are wood boards. The blocked doorways in the north and south walls have retained their late 19th century trim, a wood stud wall partition of recent date divides the room in two. The center two rooms of the former corridor serves respectively as an entry to the four interconnected rooms of the southeast bastion and as a bathroom. Both rooms and the four rooms of the bastion have modern finishes that completely obscure the earlier conditions of walls, ceilings and floors. The ceiling are hung acoustical title, the floors vinyl tile and the walls furred plyboard panelling that in the bathroom has been supple­ mented with a high wainscoating of ceramic tile. The four rooms of the southeast bastion were ventilated and in the daytime lit by seven windows in the outer walls of Christians Fort. Two were in the north and west flank and two in each of Nf>S Form 1C-900-a 082i 0MB .Vo. 1 024”0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number For «PStts» only the east and south faces of the bastion. A seventh window was in the south curtain since the southwest room extends into the south curtain. The window in the south curtain has been blocked in with masonry and wood panelling and in the flanks they have been converted into doorways. In the north flank it gave access to wood staircase, now demolished that led down into the east ravelin. In the west flank the doorway provides access to raised wood structure that extends at court level across most of the south curtains. The windows in the east face and the eastermost window of the south face have been retained a degree of their original confor­ mation, although the sash door of all the still existing openings are glass louvers of a relatively recent date. The west window in the south face has been covered into a toilet by extending 4 inch block walls 3 feet into the room behind it. The basement story of Christians Fort is reached from the main level of the fort by the previously mentioned staircase in the south curtain and in the courtyard north of the prison recreation room. From the lower landing of the latter staircase a gate in the east wall of the stairway leads into a room against the outer curtain wall. The room lias hung a ceiling and furred out plywood walls completely covering the earlier conditions of the ceiling and walls. A second gate in the curtain wall provides access to the ravlin on the east side wall provides access to the ravlin on the east side of the Christians Fort. From the same landing a gate in the south wall of the stairway leads into two southeast bastions. The rooms have board ceiling on exposed beams and plastered walls. Between them and the outer curtain wall are five narrow brick vaulted cells, each cell has a small barred window towards the exterior and towards the passageway an arched doorway with double board doors and a small barred window. An arched opening in the south wall of the passageway connects it with a third interior room with a vaulted ceiling that towards the east provides entry to the four casemates of the southeast bastion and towards the west the spaces under the south curtain. NPS Form 1C-900-* c«2: United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 0MB .Vo. 1024-0018 Ex pi res 10-31-87 The casemates of the bastion are all vaulted and have plastered walls and ceiling. Three of them are against the east face of the bastion and each has a loophole in the face of the bastion and each has a loophole in the face and a doorway in the wall that separates them from the larger north-south casemate on the west side of the bastion. This is lit by a barred window opening in the west flank of the bastion. To the west of the third interior room is a space that serves both as the lower landing of the staircase up to the courtyard and the entry to the cistern in the southeast corner of the south curtain, to two small irregular shaped calls west of the cistern and a cell parallel to the passageway in the east curtain. The latter cell and the cistern are vaulted. The landing and the two other cells have board ceiling on heavy beams, the floors throughout the basement story are concrete. All finishes are in poor condition and require extensive rehabilitation. Framed by the flanks of the southeast and northeast bastions and the east curtain are the remains of the east ravelin. Its rubble masonry walls are in poor condition and have partially collapsed. Within the ravelin three large concrete buttresses bolster the under-dimensioned east curtain. A small staircase leading up to the gate in the east curtain is built against the north side of the center buttress. NORTH CURTAIN The north curtain is essentially an independent building and is separated from the northeast and northwest bastions by 4-1/2 feet wide passageways and connected to them by a 10 foot high wall with arched gate openings. The north wall of the building is aligned with the junctions of the faces and flanks of the bastions. It is five bays wide and one bay deep with a fourtiered tower over the central bay. The north curtain can be described as a rectangular building 19 feet deep by 66-1/2 feet wide with a central bay projecting 1 foot 8 inches out on the north side and on the court side recessed 7 feet 3 inches or as two identical buildings 19 feet deep by 28 feet 9 inches wide connected by a tower 13 feet deep 6 inches wide and 14 feet 4 inches deep with its bearing walls overlapping the end wall of flanking twins and projecting 1 foot 8 inches out beyond their north elevations. HPS Form 1C-900-a OMB .Vo. 102-i~0018 Expires 10-31-67 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number forlif>Sus»anty Page The lower tier of the tower serves as the gatehouse. It has a vaulted ceiling and a gate towards the courtyard facing the sallyport towards the north. This is reached by a low pyramidal staircase five risers high. An arched doorway provides access to the west section of the north curtain which contains two inter­ connected rooms. The east section the north curtain also contains two rooms, these can only be entered from the courtyard of the fort. The one next to the tower contains the staircase leading up to the second tier and from this level the staircase and ladders to the upper tiers are within the tower rooms. Above the second tier the tower is reduced in dimensions to 8 feet 6 inches by 9 feet 4 inches and had a narrow walkway around all four sides behind a raised parapet. Both the east and west sections of the north curtain have roofs supported on trusses behind parapet walls with flat sheated ceilings on the interior. Both sections have retained in part the original design of an inverted roof with a central gutter allowing water to flow to the flanking passages of the curtain. In the west section it has been retained with the modification of new roofing material. The east section at an unknown date after 1920 was covered by a hipped roof behind the parapet walls which earlier this year (1981) was removed. The original truss with its inverted roof was still in place and was covered with new sheating and roofing materials. The walls of the north curtain are rubble masonry with a liberal use of yellow bricks at corners, windows and doors opening and in all of the decorative features. Some of the interior structural features of the tower are in concrete. On the exterior the rubble masonry is plastered. The brick work on the exterior and as far as door and window openings are concerned has been left exposed. The concrete work which only occurs in the upper tiers of the tower is also left exposed on thee interior but on the exterior is covered by brick and rubble masonry. The architectural style of the north curtain is Gothic revial. Although the architectural ornamentation of the tower is different from the flanking wings they are consistent in their stylistic derivations and similar in execution. NPS Form 1C-9O0-a O^I 0MB So. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number UPS USB only raouved The flanking wings have on all elevations the horizontal feature of an articulated base in exposed brick that on the courtyard side of the north curtain has an average height of 6 inches and on the north side reaches its full height of 3 feet 4 inches. The articulated base is also expressed on the tower. A second horizontal feature is a frieze of bricks in a sawtooth pattern between projecting horizontal courses of brick and a crennelated parapet wall. Both the frieze and the parapet wall terminate against the curtain of the tower. Vertically the bay of the north curtain are defined by projecting quoined pilasters in exposed brick. At the frieze the framing projecting runner courses are articulated around the pilasters. Above the frieze the pilasters terminate in a merlon raised above the parapet wall and capped by two courses of projecting bricks. The greater width and height of the merlons of the pilasters have been given further emphasis by the recessed panel of the brick work above the frieze bands accentuating the vetical divisions of the side wings. On the north elevation where the towers supporting walls overlap the walls of the wing the pilasters and their terminal merlons are bled into the tower wall and are only partially expressed. On the court side the flaking bays have doorways with pointed arches and projecting voussoirs with supporting corbelled and molded brackets in shaped, exposed brick. The doorways have all full length shutters. The westermost bay has fixed louvers in the arched section of the doorway with a frame that appears to be part of the original design. The lower section has a modern half glazed door of a smaller dimension thean the masonry opening with fill-ins at both sides and at the head. All other doorways of the flanking bays have similar adaptations with doors of contemporary design and fill-ins at sides and heads with wood blocking in the arches set with individual air conditioning units. The central bay has a slightly wider and higher pointed archway with the same projecting voussoirs and molded brackets as the flanking bays but without the shutters. It has an iron grill two-wing gate that is backed by wood boarding now fixed in place. NPS Form 1C-900-8 CW2) United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number OHB .Vo. 1024^0018 Expires 10-32-87 ForNFSusaonW . .. . On the north side of the curtain each of the flanking bays have one window headed by a pointed arch with projecting voussiors in brick and with corbelled and molded brackets in cut brick below the spring line of the arches. The windows have projecting brick sills and central recessed mullion in brick dividing the window into two lights. Above the spandrel of the framing arch the two lights have pointed arch heads supporting a circular trefoil with pierced voids forming a simplified bar tracely executed in formed and cut brick. All windows have iron grills within the lights with two vertical and three horizontal bars. On the inside the windows all have modern framed glazing or louvered sash with no uniformity of treatment. The window of the eastermost bay in addition has on the exterior a steel frame fitted within the outer masonry with a small netted steel grill that partially obscures the brickwork of the tracerv. The room behind it now serves as a prison cell for women. The sallyport of the towers has slightly more generous proportions than the arches of the flanking bays but the same decorative features. The gateway is deeply recessed with a flared outer section and an inner section perpendicular to the outer walls. It has a molded spandrel beam in wood set slightly above the springline of the arch. The double gate proper is constructed in two layers of wood planking and opens inward. The inner layer of the planking is aligned diagonally with a tight fit and the outer layer framed to form nine panels, three above three with molded edges. Above the sprandel beam the in-fill of the arch has a bay tracery similar to the windows of the flanking bay but in wood and somewhat more elaborate. In place of the single circular trefoil at the apex of the framing arch the Sallyport has three trefoils with pierced panels in the space above the spandrel beam. The tower has an elevation of A3 feet 9 inches from the top step of the entrance. Measured from the top of the parapet wall to the top parapet wall the section is 14 feet 6 inches high. Both sections are topped by crenelation. The merlons and embrasures have projecting exposed brick caps above a widely projecting cornice and a series of pointed arches resting on corbelled brackets. NPS’Tcfm 1C-90D-3 r:>'82» 0MB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number date entered Page The upper section of the tower has four merlons and seven arches below the cornice and the lower section five merlons and nine arches. To further increase the visual effect of projection of both cornices the arris of both the upper and lower section of the tower have been champhered just below the corbels. Centered in the face of the upper division of the tower is a circular clock disk with a diameter of 4 feet. They are set 1 foot 3 inches below the upper corbel. Below the clock disk on the south and north faces of the tower are two X-shaped decorative wrought iron terminals for tie rods placed symmetrically, on the east and west faces and at the same level are two narrower slits on the masonry providing light and ventilation to the interior. On the south face of the upper division of the tower is a window set low enough to be hidden by the parapet wall of the lower section. This window also provides the only access to the walkway around the upper division of the tower. The slightly domed concrete roof of the fourth interior tier of the tower and carries an electrically activated siren. The four faces of the lower section of the tower have slightly below the corbels two ornamental tie rod terminals of the same design and materials as on the south and north face of the upper division but of larger dimensions. Below these on the east and west face of the tower a vertical slit on the masonry provides ventilation to the second tier of the interior. On the exterior the rubble masonry has been painted an iron oxide red contrasting distinctly with the exposed yellow brick work of the ornamental masonry of the tower and the south curtain. Structurally the north curtain appears to be in a condition of soundness that only requires remedial repairs to insure its preser­ vation. The finishes inside and out have been allowed to deteriorate to a point where extensive repairs are required to maintain its original appearance and a lasting protection of the building. In recent years the passage between the north curtain and the northeast bastion has been walled up and covered over to provide a toilet and washroom for the women prisoners in the east bay of the north curtain. There has also been considerable amount of electrical work connected with the installation of alarm system and radio equipment in the north curtain. NPS Form 10-900-# 0^1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 0MB Mo. 1024-0016 Expires 10-31-87 The addition and the installations of the different kinds of utility lines have been made at the expense of the original fabric of the building and in most cases has affected both its appearance and structural integrity adversely. 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance—Check and justify below _ prehistoric archeology-prehistoric community planning landscape architecture religion ___ 1400-1499 _ _ archeology-historic conservation law science 1500-1599 ___agriculture economics literature sculpture 1600-1699 architecture education X military social __X 1700-1799 1800-1899 _ art engineering ^ . music humanitarian ___commerce exploration settlement philosophy . theater . 1900- _ communications industry invention X politics government . transportation __ other (specify) Specific dates Builder Architect statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Fort Christian is historically the most significant structure on the Island. The Fort served as the center for community life during much of it's 300 years of continued use. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governors residence, all governmental offices for the colony, the prison, and served as the primary fortification protecting the settlement from attack by land or sea. Since 1672 Fort Christian has represented the Danish colonization and occupation of the Virgin Islands by subsequent cultures. Erik Smit first took possession of St. Thomas in 1665 in the name of the King of Denmark and the Danish Westindia company. A high fatality rate and raids by French, Dutch and English Free­ booters plagued the settlement. The little colony survived less than two years, making their way back to Denmark after months of harassment deprivation. 1672 found St. Thomas once again in possession of the King of Denmark and the Westindia Company. This settlement had better planning and supplies than the first. Jorgen Iversen served as the colony's governor steering it toward a promise of pros­ perity. He established a plantation system on St. Thomas and carried out interisland trade for the Westindia company. For protection Iverson began construction of Christians Fort. The colony on St. Thomas struggled during the first years of its existance. Political pressures brought only corrupt governors and competition from other companies added pressure to the settlement St. Thomas did not see any real growth until the war of 1701 - 1713. The war of Spanish succession involved all the West European nations with colonies in the Caribbean except Denmark. Being the only neutral harbor in the West Indies St. Thomas became a prosperous port. Prosperity lead to more demand and continued growth. Expansion brought settlement of St. John Island. NPS Porm lC-900-a 0MB Vo. 1024-0018 Ex pi res 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sh?et Item number g u«» ortty sisiSiSSii iiiiiiiiii Page After the war, the company's prosperity subsided. Much of St. Thomas' profit came from trade channeled through the neutral port. Peace found these sources of income no longer available. In the late 1720's, the Westindia Company purchased the Island of St. Croix from France. With this expansion, the company was able to return to a viable business in a few years. As trade increased in the New World and outside interests began to infringe upon the Westindia Company's profits, the dissension formed between the planters and the company. The dissension reached a point that in 1754 the King of Denmark bought out the Westindia Company making St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix crown colonies. Since St. Croix's purchase, its population surpassed that of St. Thomas. As a consequence, the capitol of the crown colony was shipped to St. Croix in 1755. During the first half-century of its existence, Christian's Fort served not only as the seat of government, but also as the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury, and as a place of worship for tlie Lutheran Congregation. By the mid-eighteenth century, the growth of Charlotte Amalie, increasing prosperity, and greater demands on space and facilities forced many to abandon the Fort for more spacious quarters. Britisli occupation in 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 ended Christian's Fort's use as a serious fortification. Other fortifications provided greater protection. The Fort saw remodeling in the years after the British occupation and use as a military headquarters. The prison facilities were enlarged and expanded on during the remainder of the nineteenth century. Tlic first major change in 140 years to occur to the Fort happened in 1874. The structure was converted from a military installation to a police station. With tlie military uses non-existent, the population growing, and the seat of government back in Charlotte Amalie, this action kept up with the changing times. With the transfer of the Danish West Indies to the United States, the Navy Department took over much of tlie land near the Fort. New structures were added with little regard to the historic fabric. The changes and minor repairs tended to degrade the integrity of the structure. In 1961, in response to the growing concern for historic preservation and future monument to the past. Secretary of the Interior, Seaton, designated Christian's Fort as St. Thomas' National Historic Site and a unit of the National Park Service. It was to be activated as such when quarters for the police force and correctional facilities were found. In 1976 the site lost its status as a National Historic Site due to a bill reverting Federal property to the Virgin Islands' Government. 9, Major Bibiio^ jphicaS Referencei FORT CHRISTIAN HISTORIC STRUCTURES REPORT, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1882 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property--------------±----------------- r> Central Sr. Thomas, V.I. Quadrangle name-------------------------- UTM References I I J__L Zone Easting J__L Northing I J__ 1 J__ L I__ L Verbal boundary description and justification Quadrangle scale 1=24,000 I J__L I Zone Easting Northing D F H I I I 1__L J__L I I J__ L 1__ L SEE CONTINUATION SHEET List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state code county state code county code code 11. Form Prepared By name title Paul Hawke, Historian (froin Fort ChristianHistoric Structure^ Report) organization National Park_Serv^ce ______date4/2/86 street & number 7S Sprinp. St., Suite 1150 _________‘elephone (404) 331-2633 city or town Atlanta state Georgia 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is; national state local As the desiqnated State Historic Preservation Officer tor the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89- 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. State Historic Preservation Officer signature title date ForMPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register date Keeper of the National Register Attest date Chief of Registration GPO 91 »-3e» NPS Form lC-9O0 i Vo. Ex pi y- L. ’ - ' - - S “ United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form mmmliiiiiii Continuation sheet Item number 10 FORT CHRISTINA No boundry available. Owner not co-operative. No U.T.M.'s available. NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NPS Fonn 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Reaislraticpn Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United State* Department of the Interior, National Park Service OMBNo. 1024-001* Page l National Register of Historic Places Registnlkn Fonn 1, NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: FORT CHRISTIAN Other Name/Site Number: Christians Fort 2 . LOCATION Street & Number: N/A City/Town: Charlotte Amalie State: US Virgin Islands County: Not for publication:N/A Vicinity:N/A St. Thomas Code: 030 Zip Code;_00804 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Private: Public-local: Public-State:_X_ Public-Federal: Category of Property Building(s):_X_ District: Site: Structure: Object: Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 Noncontributing 1 buildings Fire station ______ sites ______ structures objects 1 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in Register:_N/A_ Name of related multiple property listing: N/A the National NPS Fomi in-9nnUsni/NrS NRHP Reeistration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service________________________ ________________ OMB No. 1024-001S National Regi.sler of Historic PUcei Regiitfetioii Porm 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act ®f 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination ____ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 3 6 CFR Part 60_. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property Register criteria. meets does not meet the National Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I, hereby certify that this property is: Entered in the National Register _ Determined eligible for the _______ National Register Determined not eligible for the ___ National Register Removed from the National Register Other (explain): _____________________ Signature of Keeper Date of Action NPS Fomi l0-900USm/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ___________________________ OMBNo. 1024-001S National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Government Defense Sub: government office fortification Current: Recreation and Culture Sub: museum DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Colonial, Danish colonial MATERIALS: Foundation: Walls: Roof: Other: Stone Stone j Stone, Plaster covered Fired Brick,/supported by wooden beams Fired Brick paving in courtyard NPS Form HV900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, N.itional P.irk Service ________________________ 0MB No. 1(04-0011 NaUonal Register of Historic PUcea Regiatralioo Ponn Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the 1670s to protect the Danish colony on St. Thomas. The fort is a rubble masonry seventeenth-century fortress with four curtain walls enclosing a square, and four irregular diamond-shaped bastions on each of its corners, typical of fortresses of the Baltic area of that century. Within the curtain walls and bastions were rooms containing gun batteries, government offices, the residence for the colonial governor, and the colony's first church. These interior spaces of the fort were rearranged in the early eighteenth century to meet the changing needs of the colony. The interior courtyard of the fort is a brick-paved open area that once contained a large W>ick-walled tower along the north side of the courtyard. In this tower was demolished and the northern curtain wall wask crtT5TnjeT?^-^te—rrre««:piai:aJte a Gothic-revival style clock tower. Environmental Setting: The harbor of St. Thomas, with its easily defended narrow entrance, large roadstead to accommodate numerous ships, and broad flat beach on the north side of the harbor to land supplies and load plantation produce was an ideal location for the establishment of a colony that would depend upon sea borne trade. Along the eastern side of the beach was a slightly elevated rectangularly shaped rocky peninsula that jutted some 700 feet into the harbor. In the 1670s, the colonists built their stone fort on the neck of this peninsula to take advantage of its natural defensive characteristics. The east and west approaches to the fort would be protected by a barrier of water, and later triangular-shaped stone fortifications (ravelins) projecting out from the curtain walls of the fort (Crain 1994:153). The south side of the fort was also protected by water, but did not have a ravelin. Additional protection on the south side of the fort was provided by the construction of a water battery. On the north, or land side, the elevation was not so steep, so the Danes enhanced the defense of this approach by constructing a wooden palisade across the neck of the peninsula. Behind the palisade was a triangularly-shaped stone fortification (ravelin) projecting from the north side of the stone fort. The site of Fort Christian "commanded the flanking beaches of the peninsula, the entrance to the harbor, and all parts of the bay" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). During the seventeenth century a barrier of prickly pear cactus was maintained between the wooden palisade and stone walls of the fort to further impede attackers. By the 1820s, when Fort Christian was rendered cpbsolete by improvements in the range and power of naval gunnery, it no longer was deemed necessary for the defense of the island. The soldiers were relocated from the fort and quartered in a barracks building (the present-day Territorial Legislature) constructed on the peninsula between the fort and the water battery. Throughout the nineteenth century, the water areas to east and west of the fort FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service iJIOV ^ J • — NPS Fomi 10-900USm/NPSNRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-861 *• • J •— 0MBNo. 1084-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Fomi were fille(3 in to create flat land surfaces upon which open park space and dock facilities were constructed. At this time, the ravelins on the east and west sides of the fort were removed, although portions of the east ravelin are extant. Within the fortification was a square-shaped brick-paved open space. Along the north side of the open space was a squat three- story high stone tower, or keep, called Trygborg. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference, the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Fort Christian. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. In 1874, Trygborg, the northern curtain wall, and northern ravelin were torn down. That part of the fort was changed to incorporate a Gothic Revival style clock tower. In the mid-twentieth century, further land filling occurred along the whole northern shoreline of the harbor upon which a two lane highway (Veterans Drive) was constructed. This road ran along the south side of the fort, separating it from the water battery and barracks. The open spaces on the west (Emancipation Park) and north sides of the fort became park areas, while the area on the east became a parking lot. Description; From the beginning. Fort Christian was considered the most important structure on St. Thomas, as it provided security for the newly founded Danish colony against attacks by other (colonial powers and pirates. According to Robert deJongh and Fred Gjessing: The site selected [for the fort] was a low hill on a small peninsula jutting out at the approximate center of the north shore of the bay of St. Thomas harbor. It was opposite the entrance to the bay and extended 700 feet into it. Immediately behind the rocky shoreline, the peninsula had level ground only a few feet above the sea. The hill occupied the center of the peninsula. It was defined by fairly steep slopes towards the east, south and west. On the landward side, the hill sloped more gently down to the lower terrain to the north that separated the peninsula from the steeper rises further inland [1982:18]. The fort site face water on the west, east, and south sides of the fort with a water battery on the extreme south face of the peninsula for protection against attack. The north side of the fort was protected by attack from the land side with a wooden palisade stretching across the peninsula, and a barrier of prickly pear cactus that surrounded the fort. Later, fortifications were added on the exterior of the east, west, and north curtain walls in the form of triangularly-shaped stone walls, or ravelins. The northern palisade, prickly pear cactus barrier, and the ravelins (with the exception of partial remains on the east side of the fort) are gone. NPS Form 10-900nsni/NPS NRHP Registration Fotm (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of Uie Interior, National Park Service ________________ _____ OMB No. 10244011 Nntionnl Register of Historic PUcea Regiitntioa Form The land and sea areas surrounding Fort Christian have changed considerably through the gradual in-filling of the water areas on the west and east sides of the fort. The area to the north of the fort, where the Danish military once had a ravelin, or projecting defense, is gone and the area is open space. On the south side the open area between the v/ater battery and the fort has been filled in with a 1820s barracks structure and three mid-twentieth century US Coast Guard buildings. On the east side, most of the ravelin was removed, as were numerous buildings constructed by the U.S. Navy (1917-1931). The area east of the fort is now a parking lot. On the west side, the ravelin has been removed and a fire station was built in the area in tte 1950s. The extant portioj^ of the seventeenth-** and eighteenthfort structure, consist^of the east, west, and south curtain walls, all four diamond-shaped bastions, and rooms built within the bastions and against the curtain walls. The nineteenth century portion of the fort consists of the northern curtain wall and rooms built behind this curtain wall, and the Gothic Revival clock tower. All of these historic features are intact. Recent restoration efforts by the Territorial Government has resulted in the restoration of the roof of the fort and the gun batteries within the west curtain wall of the fort. This work has also removed the twentieth century frame additions added to the south side of the front of the fort and a concrete roof install by the U.S. Navy, between 1917 and 1931. The area of the fort that has seen the greatest change was the interior space of the fort formed by the curtain walls and bastions. Originally, the mass of the curtain walls and bastions formed the defense for the cannons of the fort and served as the back wall for a number of structures built within the fort, some of wood and some of stone. Changes in the function of the fort and deterioration of structures necessitated numerous rearrangements of the interior of the fort. By the 1730s, when most of the fort reached its present shape, the southeast part of the fort, due to the irregularity of the rocky outcrop on which it was constructed, would be the only two-story area of the fort. The great height of the outer bastions walls allowed for the construction a lower series of masonry rooms. Above this was a second tier of masonry rooms built against the outer curtain walls. At the same time, the southeast and southwest bastions had been completely filled in with rooms, and the northwest and northeast bastions only partially filled in, leaving a small space open in the middle of these latter bastions. The roof of the masonry rooms behind the curtain walls and bastions formed a continuous gun deck for the cannons. Two stone guard posts were built at the tips of the northwest and southwest bastions. In 1878, the seventeenth-century north curtain wall between the northeast and northwest bastions and the internal tower (Trygborg) NPS Form I0-900USDI/KPS I9RHP Rceiirtration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN Uahed States Dqiartmcnt of the Interior, National Park Service ___________________ OMB No. 10244W18 National Register of Historic Placet Regiatntioo Form were removed and a Gothic-Revival style entrance and clock tower were constructed. The only non-contrihuting building within the boundary of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark is a fire station built in the 1950s along the v/est side of the fort. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regiirtnitiofi Foim (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN Uaited Stetee Department of the Interior, National Park Service ________________________ ___________ OMB No. I02MI01S National Register of Historic PUcei RegiitiHioo Fonn 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Certifying official has considered the significance of this property- in relation to other properties: NationallyStatewide:___ Locally;----- Applicable National Register Criteria: Criteria Considerations (Exceptions): A X B B NHL Criteria: NHL Theme(s): NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. Criterion 1 EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Areas of Significance: Period(s) of Significance: Significant Dates: Significant Person(s): Cultural Affiliation: Architect/Builder: Exploration/Settlement, Military ^7^-1917 /(b 92. f 5(0^ p. N/A Governor Jorgen Iversen olonitt-1 witr- Cr-rVfrto-^ NPS Form in-900IISDI/NFS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) ii'iO/ • 3 i390 PORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service________________________________________ _ OMBNo. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic PUcea Registration Potm State Significance of Property, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. Summary Statement of Significance; . Fort Christian, or Christians - Fort, was constructed in the latter part of the seventeenth century (1672-1680) to protect the Danish colony of St. Thomas. The fort served as the center for community life during much caf the 250 years of Danish rule of St. Thomas. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governor's residence, governmental offices of the colony, the prison, and was the principal fortification protecting the settlement of Charlotte Amalie from attack by other colonial Caribbean powers. NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Background History On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus took a more southerly course across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to encounter the islands of the Caribs he had been told about on his first voyage and also chart a quicker route from Spain to the Indies. On November 3, 1493, only 21 days from leaving the Canary Islands, his fleet sighted the island of Dominica, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles (Highfield 1995:52). Travelling northward among the Lesser Antilles, Columbus landed at an island he called Guadalupe (present-day Guadeloupe Island). He spent eight days on this island and found the first evidence of the Caribs (Highfield 1995:52). On the morning of November 10, 1493, the fleet left Guadalupe and cruised northward naming various islands after Catholic saints, until they reached the island of Saba, on November 12th, whence they turned to the west in the direction of St. Croix island (Morison 1939:80; Highfield 1995:54). Arriving at St. Croix on the morning of November 14th, Columbus coasted along the north side of that island looking for a place to debark and meet with the native peoples. Dr. Chanca, the expedition's physician, noted they could see the present-day American (St. Thomas and St. John) and British Virgin Islands north of St. Croix at this point in the voyage (Highfield 1995:58). Following a brief, but bloody contact with the Native Americans on the north side of St. Croix, at Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960) on the afternoon of November 14, 1493, the fleet raised anchor and sailed north to St. Thomas and St. John, but did not land. It was during NPS Form 10-900nsr)I/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service_______________ _ OMBNo. 10244)01$ Page lO National Register of Historic PUcea Regiftntioo Ponn this part of the voyage that St. Thomas, called Santo Thomas by Columbus, was named. During the first decade of the sixteenth century, the native - - peoples on the American Virgin Islands were beset by Spanish slavers (Highfield 1995:132-133) to acquire labor for the Puerto Rican gold mines. In January of 1511, the St. Croix Caribs joined with Puerto Rican Tainos to attack and destroy a Spanish settlement on the Anasco River, in Puerto Rico (Caron 1988: 1) . By Spanish decree the Caribs became enemies of the crown who were to be exterminated (Cissell 1993:3; Highfield 1995:76). Thereafter, Spanish expeditions from Puerto Rico regularly raided the American Virgin Islands for Carib slaves. By 1515, Juan Ponce de Leon, Governor of Puerto Rico, described these islands as deserted (Sauer 1969:192). Throughout the rest of the sixteenth century the Virgin Islands were for the most part abandoned. They were too close to Spanish Puerto Rico for native peoples to maintain a safe permanent settlement, while the Spanish had no interest in using the islands as a colony. They became instead staging areas for almost annual Carib raids on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in the 1520s and 1530s (Highfield 1995:134). In all probability the American Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, were sporadically inhabited by Caribs until the beginning of the seventeenth century (Highfield 1995: 134) . The first European country to attempt to permanently settle St. Thomas was an ill-fated colonial effort by Denmark, in 1666. Under Governor Erik Smit a small colony was established on St. Thomas, presumably in the area of the present fort, but that attempt ended when the Dutch attacked the colony and the colonists elec:ted to return to Denmark after only eighteen months (deJongh and Gjessing W«>- In 1671, the Danes second atfegmpt~^be^(^oIonize St. Thomas began with the establishment of Danisl\Westindi^and Guinea Company, "to carry on business in the West Indies" (cfe3^ngh and Gjessing 1982: 1)._ In the following year (1672), St. Thomas was successfully colonized (Westergaard 1917:31-32). The Danes later acquired the rights to the island of St. John throiigh-the-4Qunding of plantations on that ^ f f island in 1717. The Danisljf West Indiji and Guinea Company purchasecl T the practically abandoned i^erich"island of St. Croix, in 1733, and took possession in the following year completing Danish colonial( holdings in the New World (Westergaard 1917:37, 128, 208). The Danish, like other European colonial powers in the Caribbean, used imported African slave labor to produce tropical pr<3ducts, such as sugar, rum, cotton, indigo, and tobacco, all of which had a high demand world-wide. By the late eighteenth century, the plantations on St. Thomas v;ere predominately given over to the raising of sugar cane, and the production of molasses, rum, and brown sugar for export. However, the expense of transpiDrting, maintaining, and policing a captive labor population would in the NT’S Pomi l()-900USm/NPS NI?HP RcsislraUon Form (Rev. FORT CHRISTIAN United Stales Department of the Interior, National I’aric .Service _____ _______________ OMB No. 10244WU National Register of Historic Places Reeistntiaa Fonn long run prove to be less economically profitable for St. Thomas than inter-island trade. The DanishWestindia'^nd Guinea Company was under contract to the Danish govetrHaexi±_--tci organize the Lesser Antilles islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John into profitable colonies. To this end the Company established slaving stations along the Guinea coast of Africa, which between 1698 and 1754 transported over ten thousand slaves from Africa to the Danish Virgin Islands, of whom it is estimated over one quarter perished at sea. This was a much higher loss rate than that suffered by other European slavers (Boyer 1983:17). When the contract of the Company ended in 1754, the Danish government continued the transport of African slaves with a similar ratio of loss. In 1803, the Danish slave trade was officially ended. The end of the trade was recommended by the Great Negro Trade Commission which shov/ed the trade was equally unhealthy to Danish sailors. Of the 2,004 Danish sailors who sailed in the Danish slave ships in the twelve-year period of 1777 to 1789, a total of 691, or more than one-third, died during the voyages [Boyer 1983:37]. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, the King's edict of March 16, 1792 set the date of the end of the slave trade at December 31, 1802, "in order to permit the planters time to stock up on the number of slaves" (Boyer 1983:37). As early as 1690, Governor Johan Lorentz of the Virgin Islands proclaimed a policy of execution or mutilation as punishment for runaway slaves (Boyer 1983:24). Within the Danish islands ... a special tax was levied on planters to indemnify those among them for any legally killed or injured slaves, thus removing a powerful economic constraint against the maiming and killing of slaves [Boyer 1983:24- 25] . Throughout the eighteenth century and into the early decades of the nineteenth century, the Danish slave laws were still being enforced, although during the two British occupations of the islands in the early nineteenth century (1801 and 1807-1815) they were considerably relaxed (Boyer 1983:28). Added to this was a growing free-colored class that served in the Free-Colored Militia, owned property, ran businesses, and even possessed slaves, and who were petitioning the Danish King for their full rights as citizens (Boyer 1983:42). After Emancipation of the slaves, in 1848, sugar cane production dropped off to practically nothing on St. Thomas. As the importance of tropical products, grown on St. Thomas, declined in importance, the major economic aspect of the island became the transit trade of goods that were traded in the neutral port of NPS Fomi in-900U.Sm/NPS NRHP Rfsistralion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United SUtes DepArtmenl of the Inlerior, National Park .Service ___________________________________ ______________ OMB No. 1024-00U National Register of Historic Places RegistnUiaa Fonn Charlotte Amalie which had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century, following its designation as a free port in 1764 (Cinquino 1996:30-31). The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growing prosperity for St. Thomas. The excellence and size of its harbor and the location of St. Thomas, midway between North and South America, and within cruising range of the new steam-powered ships from Europe and the United States, made St. Thomas an ^ideal transhipment point. The island was not only prospering, it was also optimistically predicting further growth and development. The prosperity of St. Thomas began to taper off in the last half of the nineteenth century, and 1867 was a year of disaster for St. Thomas. In October a devastating hurricane hit the island, followed in November by a tidal wave. The two natural catastrophes did great damage to the town, the harbor, shipping facilities, and St. Thomas' reputation as a safe harbor (Bronsted 1952:299). Advances in the improvements of the steamships of the period, would eliminate the need for using St. Thomas as a coaling station for ships from North America and Europe on their way to_South America. St. Thqmas' transit trade and usefulness as a coaling station was coming to an end. The gradual loss of population that resulted from the declining economy of the island also affected the St. Thomas community. Following World War II, with the increase in air transportation and the development of tourism, the population of St. Thomas has again grown in numbers. History of Fort Christian As early as the 1620s, Danish merchants developed trading companies along the lines of the British, Dutch, and French West Indies Companies to trade Danish goods for tropical products available only from the Caribbean. Danish trading ventures of this time usually consisted of sending individual ships sponsored by the merchant companies to trade at ports in the New World, a practice which usually produced substantial profits for these companies. By mid-century the Copenhagen based Westindia Company first proposed the creation of a Danish colony in the Caribbean. In 1665, this company secured permission from the crown to settle a colony on St. Thomas, in the West Indies. The first Danish colonization effort reached St. Thomas, on March 30, 1666, under the command of Erik Smit, who had been appointed Governor for the new colony by the Westindia Company. Governor Smit, and numerous other colonists, however, soon died and the remaining settlers were not able to complete a defensive fortification believed to be located in the vicinity of Bluebeard's Castle, on a hill east of the present location of Fort Christian (Lightbourn 1973:1; deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1-2, 17). The loss of settlers due to illness meant the colony did not have the manpower to construct a defensive structure for its protection. And worse, the newly founded colony soon found itself embroiled in FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Sendee NPS Form 10-90nUSDl/NFS NRHF Registration Form (Rev. 8-861 'Otf ' '' ."p OMBNo. 1024-0018 N.itional Register of Historic Place* Regiittmlioo Ponn international politics that would doom its existence without the means to protect itself from other colonial powers and pirates. According to deJongh and Gjessing, - In 1665 war had broken out between England and Holland in which France joined on the side of the Dutch. By the following year it had spread to the Caribbean. Initially this appeared to offer the Danish colony an advantage. Dispossessed individuals from English and Dutch possessions sought refuge on St. Thomas and augmented the depleted labor force of the Danes. However, it provided the justification of French, Dutch and English freebooters to raid the new colony, ostensibly to capture the refugees but in reality also to secure such supplies and eguipment the small force could not defend. After eighteenth months of harassment and deprivation the survivors of the expeditionary force, who since the death of Erik Smit had been led by the Lutheran minister Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, decided to abandon the settlement. They made their way back to Denmark by stages [1982:2]. In early 1671, the rechartered Westindia Company was created to reattempt to establish a Danish colony on the island of St. Thomas. The Company selected as the Governor of the colony Jorgen Iversen. Iversen had gone to the British Caribbean Island of St. Christopher (present-day St. Kitts) at the age of 13 as an indentured servant in 1651. Over the next fifteen years he rose to become a full partner in a Dutch trading concern in the Caribbean, from which he learned the lessons necessary for a successful colony (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2-3). Between May 23, 1672, when the new Governor and his colonists arrived on St. Thomas, until July 4, 1680, when he was relieved, Iversen succeeded . . . in creating a community out of the multinational and racial components of the colony and steer it towards a promise of prosperity while building Christians Fort, carrying out an inter-island trade for the company and establishing plantations on St. Thomas [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3]. Iversen understood the threats facing a new colony in the far off Caribbean, and how the lack of a fort had doomed the first Danish colonization attempt. He appears to have given a high priority to the construction of the fort. Shortly, after landing on St. Thomas, Iversen issued orders that "all [colonists] should assemble to [militia] service on Sundays in the Fort by beat of drum," the penalty for non-compliance being 25 lbs. of tobacco (Lightbourn 1973:1). The completion date of the fort is unknown, but is presumed to have been mostly finished in time for the French attack of 1678. NT’S Fonn U)-tinnnsm/NI>S NRHP Rrsistration Fonii (Rev, S-KM FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Sor\ ice _____ ________ OMBNo. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Pbcca RegistntioQ Fonn It was during Governor Iversen's tenure that he not only had Fort Christian constructed, but also one of its outlying hilltop gun and watch towers — Skytsborg, in 1679 (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994) (deJongfh and Gjessing 1982:12). According to Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing An Army Lieutenant had been included amongst the Company's functionaries of the proposed colony. He was to advise Governor Iversen in all military matters and provide the technical knowledge needed for the design and construction of a fort. To insure that this was done according to the standards of the times, a copy of Admiral Freitag's treatise on the construction of forts was included among the books that Jorgen Iversen brought out to guide him in his duties as the governor. This 17th century work provides layout of fortifications, explanations of the military functions of their different parts and served as a design handbook for military engineers [1982:17]. Unfortunately, the Lieutenant died on the voyage from Denmark to the Virgin Islands, so "Iversen was left to make his own decision regarding the fortification" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18) of Fort Christian using Admiral Freitag's work which provided information on the fortification of coasts utilizing gun towers on hilltops to support major coastal forts, as pioneered by the seventeenth century Scandinavian military architects Gottfried Hoffmann and Erik Dahlberg. Later Governors of St. Thomas, and even Iversen, W(Dul(d acknowledge the disadvantages of the site he chose for Fort Christian, however, the "sense of urgency that an adequate if not ideal fort had to be erected rapidly for the defense of the colony, must have been the basic considerations of the decision" to site the fort on a slightly elevated area on the beach, rather than higher up out of the range of any seventeenth-century artillery fire from ships and from hills to the north and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:19). As to the style of the fort, Iversen chose to construct a typical seventeenth-century thick-walled square fortification with projecting diamond-shaped, or Vauban, bastions at each corner. Although the irregular shape of the hill on which the fort was constructed required that the bastions not be uniform in size. In the interior courtyard was constructed a fortified tower (Trygborg), or keep, that was a story higher than the main fort. This type of fortification with internal keep would have been familiar to Iversen and had played an important role in military engineering in the Baltic Sea region, where during the seventeenth century the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden fought over control of the sealanes leading into the Baltic. The two preeminent military engineers during this conflict were Gottfried Hoffmann, of Denmark, and Erik Dahlberg, of Sweden, both utilized low thick-walled fortifications to protect towns and key defensive points, often in combination with outlying fortified towers (Dahl 1992:6; Duffy 1985:191). NI^ ronn l0-900nsi)I/NPS NRHP Rrsisiralion Fonn (Rev, 8-861 .NOV B OMB No. 10244)011 FORT CHRISTIAN ^*9® 15 United States Department of tlic Interior. NntionnI Park Service ____________________ NMional^^egistcf^ofHrsloric^PlacCT^Regls^ As noted by Christopher Duffy, in The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, The surest signs of [Erik] Dahlberg's presence were, - however, his idiosyncratic multi-storeyed casemated towers, which he employed variously as island batteries, hilltop forts and inner keeps [1985:195-196]. Gottfried Hoffman, during the mid-seventeenth century, also constructed fortresses with outlying and internal tower works at Fredericia and Helsingborg, Denmark (Dahl 1992:6). Throughout the troubled seventeenth century, the contenders for control of the Baltic - Denmark and Sweden - also undertook efforts to establish colonies in the New World. Sweden established a military outpost called Fort Christina (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961) in the vicinity of present day Wilmington, Delaware, where they traded for furs until the colony was captured by the English in 1664. The Danes were more successful in establishing and holding a colony in the Caribbean. The Seventeenth Century We do not have a clear picture of the original seventeenth-century fort built under Iversen's direction. However, it is believed the outer walls of all the outer bastion walls of the present fort, internal tower or keep, and south, east, and west curtain walls can be attributed to his building phase (deJongh and Gjessing 1982). Housing for the governor, the troops, government officials, and the colony's church appear to have been accommodated in wooden and stone structures in the interior of the fort. To provide additional soldiers for the defense of St. Thomas, Iversen, in 1674, secured from the island planters an agreement "to perform guard duty on a rotating basis at the fort in return for easement of taxes" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:20). Accounts kept by Governor Iversen between 1672 and 1680, tend to indicate that by 1676 the tower, the outer walls, and buildings within the fort were substantially finished. These accounts also indicate that between 1676 and 1680, the majority of the work on the fort consisted of carpentry and finishing work (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21). One of the main features of Christians Fort was a squat three-story high tower, called Trygborg, on the north side of the fort. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Christians^ Fort. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. This was the first military tower that can be documented on St. Thomas. The push by Governor Iversen to complete the work on the fort would shortly be rewarded. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NFS NRHP Rfgistration Fonil (Rev. 8-S61 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Serv'ice _______________ _________ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Placet RegittnUioo Fonn In the fall of 1676, the United Kingdom of Denmark-Norway became involved in a European war with France as one of the adversaries. The conflict had been expected for a couple of years and had been the reason for securing the planters agreement to perform guard duties at the fort. With the outbreak of the war in Europe an attack on St. Thomas by forces from the older, more populous and better established French colonies was anticipated and feared. In preparation for the attack the guard duties of the planters and other inhabitants of St. Thomas at the fort were stepped up and planters and their families were allowed to live in the fort [deJongh and G jessing 1982:21]. In February of 167 8, a force of some 60 French settlers from neighboring St. Croix launched an attempt to seize St. Thomas Island. Fortunately, Governor Jorgen Iversen's fort proved too strong to storm. As the attackers did not have any siege cannon Fort Christian was easily able to withstand the brief siege imposed by the French from St. Croix, who were forced to retreat, after capturing a number of slaves, which were carried back to St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:22). The defeat of the French in 1678, proved Fort Christian was a strong defense for St. Thomas against an attacking force without siege guns or enemy ships approaching from the sea. However, Governor Iversen realized that the French attacking force could have pounded Christians Fort into submission by erecting an artillery battery on the high ground east and north of the fort. For this reason, Iversen ordered a tower fortification erected on Baggaertsbjerg Hill, a hill top north of Christians Fort in 1679, similar to Trygborg, called Skytsborg, or Sky Tower (Blackbeard's Castle) . Such a tov;er, would not only deny the high ground to an attacking force, but also serve as a watchtower providing a vantage point high enough to peer over Hassel Island to scan the open ocean; thereby providing Fort Christian an early warning of an approaching enemy. Later in 1689, one of Iversen's successors had Schmitberg (Bluebeard's Castle) constructed on a hill east of the fort. The success of the 1678 defense of St. Thomas convinced Iversen of the usefulness of stone towers for defense. Iversen's letter of February 2, 1680 to the directors of the Danish West India Company indicated that Skytsborg had been erected at Baggaertsbjerg by that date. In it he wrote "Since I had the (Skytsborg) Watchtower erected at Baggaertsbjerg I did not fear a hasty attack so much." A 1687 English map of St. Thomas harbor depicts and a describes a "small white tower" on Baggaertsbjerg Hill to the north of Fort Christian. It is possible that Iversen used the Company stone mason Simon Lamare who had worked on Fort Christian and Trygborg tower to construct Skytsborg in 1679. According to deJongh and Gjessing N?S Form IO-900nsm/NPS NRHP Rreistralion Form (Rev. 8-8(i) FORT CHRISTIAN United Stales Department of the Interior. Nalion.il Park .Service________________________________ < - ‘‘t I ! 3 i<>a5 OMBNo. 1024-001S National Register of Historic Placet Regiitnitioa Ponn In August, 1674, Jorgen Iversen acquired for the Company a mulatto slave by the name of Simon Lamare. He was a mason and was to serve as the clerk of the works, for the construction of the fort [Fort. Christian] . The phrasing in the account book of this transaction is of interest. It states "brought Simon Lamare to serve the Company for seven years" [1674-1681], implying some sort epf contractual agreement with Simon Lamare for his manumission after an agreed upon period of service [1982:20]. In July of 1680, Nicolai Esmit assumed the governorship of the island from Iversen and moved into the completed fort. According to deJongh and Gjessing, Iversen left a description of the fort which is summarized in the following manner. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west wall nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east-west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the land side of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickly pears had been cultivated in the land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. The principal entrance to the fort was the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sally port was the demi-lune, a squat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east. NPS Form in-900IIsni/NPS NRHF Registration Form (Rev. 8-86> FORT CHRISTIAN United Stetes Department of the Interior, N.ational Park Service OMB No. 1024-(X)1S National Register of Historic PUcei RegUtntkia Form The postern gate in the west curtain was simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. On the exterior the v/alls varied in height. Since the fort was built around a hill that had its apex in the approximate center of the fort projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls. Towards the east north and south the variations in the exterior heights were not great. Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its height of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliberately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby give Christiansfort its irregular outline on the bayside. Between the salient angles of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea, all had a width [or thickness] of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the west face of the southwest bastion 4 feet 3 inches. The same dimensions is shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. All other walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built NPS Form 10-900USni/N?S NRH? Rraistration Form (Rev. 8-K6> PORT CHRISTIAN United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park .Service OMB No. 1(Q4-001> National Register of Historic Places Registntioa Ponn against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while others were separated by passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtyard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these [courtyard] structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:24-26]. Nicolai Esmit's tenure as governor would be short, as his own brother Adolf confined him in the prison in the fort on July 1, 1683 and took over the governorship. Apparently Nicolai "openly aided and trafficked with known freebooters and allowed them to sail under the Danish flag" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Adolf, however, continued this commerce with freebooters and illegally traded with the French colony of St. Croix, with whom his country was still officially at war (Caron 1988:27-28). Adolf's downfall was caused by his seizure of British property. Governor William Stapleton, of the British Leeward Islands sent complaints to Denmark of the conditions in St. Thomas which had become in his words a "den of pirates" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). In spite of his problems, Adolf did cause some improvements at the fort to be accomplished, . . . [he] built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification; each of the rooms having two doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks. The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted biblio-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the beams red [Lightbourn 1973:3]. Adolf Esmit also had the western curtain wall height raised by some four or five feet and caused the water battery to be constructed during his governorship (1683-84) (Lightbourn 1973:4). Esmit had good reason to strengthen his fortification as the British Governor of Nevis "had driven the Danes from St. John, taken away all the cattle from Buck Island and Water Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas" and "an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island (of St. Thomas) and taken off 60 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). Eventually, the Company's concern over the Esmit family caused them to send out a new Governor Gabriel Milan in 1684. According to Lightbourn The Company seem to have had some fear of trouble on Milan's arrival, for in his instructions he is ©hmrgffd to NPS Fomi 10-900USD1/NPS NRHP Regislmuon Form (Rev. 8-86) 3 i595 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. N.itional P.irk Service ___________________ Om No. 1024-0011 National Reeistcr of Historic Placea Rcgistratkia Fonn "proceeci carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and in the event of A[dolf] Esmit raising any difficulty, or refusing to give over the fort, he is to take over the command of the -sland by force. He is further to guard against Esmit's cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he has secured the power Esmit and family must be confined and sent home by the first opportunity" [1973:3]. Milan would carry out his orders and transport both of the Esmit brothers and their families back to Denmark. However, foreign intrigues would continue to plague the colony. Milan wrote the Company in July of 1685 the British were cutting lignum vitae trees on St. John and the Spanish from Puerto Rico had "landed on St. Thomas and taken off 54 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). In the same letter, Milan complained about the state of Fort Christian, claiming it . . . "is a bad fortification, for every one who moves in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;" he admits that "the fort itself is composed of strong wall," but that "it is built disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of," and that "the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and consequently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night" [Lightbourn 1973:4]. Governor Milan's tenure lasted until September 27, 1687, when Adolf Esmit and his family returned to the governorship of St. Thomas. It was at this time we have the first complete description of the fort. The S.W. point or [King's] Bastion. The Southern Curtain.-Here are: One room, called the flathouse, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron rails [bars]. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. One the western side is a dungeon. By the small cistern is a small apartment with door and window, the partition being of boards. The small cistern. The S.E. point, or [Company's] Bastion-to which there is a railing [barred] door with hinges and bolt on the top of this is a small room. A new house stands in the center of the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire­ bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain-A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof N?S Form 10-90miSDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ______________________ OMBNo. 1024-001S National Register of Historic Placet Rcgutratiaa Form anci 2 windows. A large gate, called Landgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate with a wood roof. The large cistern ► The N.E. point or [Prince's] Bastion, The Northern Curtain.-Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The [Trygborg] tower. The N.W. point, or [Queen's] Bastion-on top of which there is a solid sentry box. In the Bastion there is an oven. The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician's room, with 1 window with iron [bars] rails. Next to his a kitchen, roofed with red tiles, near the kitchen a small tobacco store room and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. Four small apartments [the ones built by Adolph Esmit against the inside of the west curtain wall]. In the largest there are a large window and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally halfway up. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with bolt, leading to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of which the one is iron railed and the other supplied with wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored with Dutch fire-bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window. In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead. Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of masonry work. A water battery is erected [by Adolf Esmit] at the water's edge. The large Landgate has 1 and the small Watergate 2 railing doors. All the Prickly Pear around the Fort is overgrown by weeds, and has mostly died out [Lightbourn 1973:4-5]. Adolph Esmit's return as Governor of St. Thomas lasted a mere 24 days before his unpopularity with the colonists caused him to return to Denmark. In 1688, another crisis occurred when in response to dynastic wars in Europe, the Spanish from Puerto Rico occupied Crab Island (Vieques) and Anguilla, thereby surrounding St. Thomas. This action made the Danes in St. Thomas very concerned as the Spanish had never abandoned their claim, by right of discovery by NPS Form In-OOOnsDI/NPS NRHI* Rceistration Form (Rev. 8-861 FORT CHRISTIAN Uniled Stales Department of the Interior. N.ntional Park Sei^ ice_____________________ ___________________ OMB No. 1Q24-OOI8 National Register of Historic Places Rtgistiatioo Fonn Christopher Columbus, to St. Thomas. Governor Christopher Heins, who had replaced Esmit, undertook a program of upgrading the fortifications of Christiansfort and Skytsborg. To provide more security he had the Landgate located in the Eastern Curtain wall closed up (Lightbourn 1973:6). Heins also had embrasures cut in the walls of Skytsborg tower for two large cannon capable of covering the harbor. Tn addition, he erected a third tower to the east on Schmidtberg Hill, today called Bluebeard's Castle. The erection of this last tower in 1689 completed the seventeenth- century defenses of St. Thomas (Gjessing and Gardner 1958:1-3). Throughout the 1680s as supporting defenses around the fort were constructed, within the fortification several of the buildings that cluttered the central courtyard were demolished and replaced by structures against the curtain walls. This was to set a trend for future developments. The gradual ^ levelling of the structures against the east curtain and —feh«^in the southeast bastion, thereby, converting them into basements, was also initiated these years and set a >9 pattern for the later building activities [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:35]. In peacetime no soldiers were stationed at Skytsborg or Schmidtberg, while a skeleton force was maintained at Fort Christian. If an attack by other colonial forces or a slave rebellion was anticipated an alarm was sounded by firing a predetermined number of cannon at Fort Christian. This signal would call out all able bodied whites and free blacks to take up arms and report to one of the three fortifications. According to Lightbourn, "each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men; Frederiksfort (Schmidtberg) was to have 25 men and the northern tower (Skytsborg) 9 men" (1973:7). Such an alarm occurred in May of 1694 when a slave insurrection was anticipated from the newly established plantations in the New Quarter, or present-day Tutu, a northern suburb of Charlotte Amalie. The Eighteenth century In spite of the modifications and work done on the fort in the latter part of the seventeenth century, by the first decade of the eighteenth century, the island government complaineci to the Company "that the thick walls of the tower in the fort admitted moisture, thus injuring the [gun]powder, and recommending that the tower be cased with boards, as there was no place for building a poweier magazine in the fort, excepting under the Church," which occupied the southwest bastion of the fort (Lightbourn 1973:9). The government also recommended moving the church out of the southwest bastion as "such sacred services need not be done in such a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future time, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals betv/een the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to" (Lightbourn 1973:9). NPS Ponn 10-9001ISDI/NPS NRHP Rrgislration Foim (Rev. FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, N.ational Park .Service _____________________ T' .i.Jif < Q ■996 OMB No. 1024-001S National Register of Historic PUcei Registratioa Fonn The Lutheran Church, which served the St. Thomas community had always been located within the fort, "sometimes quarters were set apart especially for the service of the Church, at other times we read of divine services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms" (Lightbourn 1073:9). In 1706 a wooden church was erected in the interior courtyard of the fort against the eastern curtain. This building, according to measurements made in 1724, was 49 feet by 25 feet (Lightbourn 1973:9). However, the fort continued to deteriorate, causing Governor Erik Bredal, and then the Lutheran clergyman to leave the fort and move into dwellings in the surrounding town of Charlotte Amalie, in 1716 and 1717, respectively. The reasons given were that the deteriorated condition of the fort made it unhealthy. Indeed, the first clergyman who inhabited the fort "died within 47 days after his induction and his successor declared his inability to reside in it" (Lightbourn 1973:9). Finally, in 1724, Governor Otto Jacob Thambsen ordered a structural survey be made of the fort. The survey convinced the Company to undertake a remodelling of the fort which was completed on April 30th, 1735. According to deJongh and Gjessing, The remodelling of the late 1720s and early 1730s was to result in the complete covering of the southern bastions. The northern bastions retained their gorges but in reduced sizes for the rooms between the gorges and the outer walls were widened and enclosed by masonry walls toward the inner courts. All the curtains and the bastions were furnished with flat masonry roofs that provided a continuous terreplein all around the central courtyard of the fort and served as its principal gundeck [1982:42]. The major changes to the fort consisted of the construction of ravelins on the outside of the fort and the reorienting of access to the fort. In the plans for the remodelling of Christians Fort during these years an east ravelin was intended and considered to be adequate defense for the old sallyport . . . Within the fort it gave the former gatehouse a greater depth and also provided a passage between the new and old curtain walls from the gatehouse to the southeast bastion at the lower level of the fortification. The plan [of] organization of Christians Fort was reoriented. The postern gate in the west curtain wall . . . was blocked up. The original sallyport [in the east curtain wall] . . . was retained and repaired but was only to serve as the access to the proposed east ravelin. The new sallyport was centered in the north curtain and a postern gate planned for the south curtain. The latter was still under construction in 1733 and when completed NI’S Font! m-9nmisni/NPS NRHT Reatstmuon Form (Rev. PORT CHRISTIAN United Stele* Department of the Interior, N.ilion.il I’.irk .Sriviee_____________________________ __ OMBNo. 1024-001S N.ntional Rccistcr of Historic Place* Regutlition Ponn during the following couple of years had taken the form it has preserved to the present. As a protection for the new- sallyport a ravelin was constructed between the north bastions. At the salient angle of the ravelin a vaulted gatehouse flanked by sentry boxes gave access to the steps and a ramp that led down to the terrain north of the fort and served as the principal entrance to the fortification. Within the ravelin the grade was raised from 4 feet to 6 feet above the outside terrain making the ravelin wall that were 6 feet tall on the interior from 10 to 12 feet tall on the exterior. The east ravelin was started, but by 1733 only half finished. When completed in 1735 the grade within had also been raised above the surrounding terrain and in this process the lower story of the old demi-lune was buried [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:43-44]. According to a 1733 description of the work in progress, in Lightbourn (1973), the new work in the fort is described in more detail in the following manner. The South West, or King's Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision room. The North West, or Queen's Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place for 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince's Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and contains a dungeon. The South East, or Company's Bastion, which is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Governor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arched gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed and is in connection with the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dungeons. Under the Governor's rooms are a small cistern, the Governor's cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 fee thickness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor's rooms nor the cellars above mentioned were yet finished [in 1733]. the Southern Curtain contains the Governor's pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been taken out of the breadth of the Curtain for a mason work staircase leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor's private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork beside the foundation [this work was never NPS I'omi in-OnoIlsni/NPS NRHP Rreislralion Fonri (Rev. a i(«> FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ________ OMBNo. 1(Q4-<»1S National Regi.ster of Historic Places Regiitratioo Fonn completed]. Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King's (S.W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is neither roofed nor supplied with doers nor windows; it has, however, towards the sea, two oval holes 2 feet high and 3 feet, broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non-commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerk; it is roofed v/ith planks and rock, but leaks already. The Northern Curtain is the corps de garde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the center of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into the fort, and outside of this there is a breastwork, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and f<prm a triangle [or ravelin], their point of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outside, the gate is built in such a manner as to allow a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the Northa lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space in which the water is drawn up from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern .<^*5 is the descent to the gate, which is well supplied with means for closing out towards the Eastern breastwordj,^ where the lime is prepared for the building of th^^jof this breastwork only the foundation on the south side is built. The descent alluded to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to the Cantine, and, further on to the passage which goes round the foundation of the church, of v/hich previous mention was made, in to the powder magazine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the east end of the church and over the gate previously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary's offiepe; it has a door to the yard next to the space in which water is drawn, and another door to the passage which runs behind the church over the passage to the Governor's rooms, but neither floor, windows nor doors are yet finished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the passage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the church was built of wood in 1706, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Southern side as far as the Governor's rooms go, the defective wood v/ork had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood v;ork of the Church, which is still left is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, according to the custom of the place, is of planks and shingles. The hospital and oven are outside the South West Bastion and the open space on the Western side towards the harbor where the lime kiln is [1973:10,12]. 7 Throughout the eighteenth century Denmark maintained a policy of strict neutrality in all European wars. This policy, coupled with the establishment of a freeport in St. Thomas, proved more of an FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service :r.u t n '■QQp N?S Form 10-9(101 ISDI/NFS NRHF RtEislration Form (Rev. '* ‘ ' OMB No. 1024-0011 National Resisicr of Historic Places Re^istratiao Form economic boon to the Danish West Indies than the planting of sugar cane, because of the commerce between belligerent nations that was attracted to the island to transact business. In particular, the War of Spanish Succession (1702-17.13), which involved all of the European colonial powers in the Caribbean, except Denmark, proved an economic boon to the island of St. Thomas. As a neutral Caribbean port of trade, all European powers and traders respected the neutrality of St. Thomas, and to a certain extent encouraged its prosperity, as it provided a means of trade between otherwise belligerent European powers during the war. The colonial government was able to show a profit during the war years from its collection of transit trade taxes and issued a dividend to the Company's investors (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:10). As the warehouses and trading houses of Charlotte Amalie expanded to meet this trade the need for fortifications languished. The fort "area experienced little new construction in the half c:entury between 1730 and 1780, partly because of the need to maintain open space around the fort for defensive purposes and partly because of water barriers" (Cinguino 1996:62). Although on the interior of the fort it was necessary, probably due to the leaky roof, in 1736 to rebuild the six rooms against the west curtain wall; and in 1752, the Church located in the courtyard, was "ready to fall to pieces" and so was demolished (Lightbourn 1973:12). Fort Christian, however, was still significant to the Danish colonial government. Christians Fort during the first half century of its existence served not only as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies, but also the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury and for most of the years as the place of \(?orship for the Lutheran congregation [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12 1 . With the acquisition of St. Croix from France in 1733, the Westindia Company had secured an island large enough to support literally hundreds of sugar plantations. In the following decades, St. Croix's population surpassed that of St. Thomas. In 1755, the residence of the Governor of the Danish West Indies was moved from Fort Christian, on St. Thomas, to the more prosperous colonial island town of Christiansted, on St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). q/ By the 1750s, in spite of the extensive remodelling of the/Fort Christian, completed in 1735, it was recognized that the fort no was longer adequate to the task of defending the island from attack. Various proposals for upgrading the fortifications were proposed, but not acted upon (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:14-14). Outside the fort, the growth of Charlotte Amalie necessitated, in 1781-1782, the lagoon east of Fort Christian being drained, filled in, and parcelled out (Cinguino 1996:62). Lt. Peter Lotharius Oxholm who studied Fort Christian, had made the recommendation to fill in the lagoon. MPS Porm l()-9nonsm/NPS NRHP lU'cisIration Form (Rev. FORT CHRISTIAN Uoilsd Slates Depanincnl of llic Interior. Nation.al Park Sen'icr ______________ _ OMB No. 1024-001t National Register of Historic Places RegistnOkio Pomi Its existence he claimeci, anti probably correctly, part the cause of the garrison's poor health condition. He coTtiments on the stench that emanates from it during dry periods and was carried all through the town on the easterly breezes [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:58]. The Nineteenth Century By the beginning decades of the nineteenth century, there had been no major changes to the fort since 1735. When the British occupied St. Thomas in 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 [to deny Napoleon's fleets use of the islands], they fortified and established their garrison on the peninsula on the west side of the harbor as a more suitable location for its defenses than Christians Fort. The latter was never again considered seriously as a defensive position [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:14]. Most of the changes to the fort occurred in the area surrounding the fort. A fire that swept through the town of Charlotte Amalie, on New Years Day of 1826, destroyed the old Westindia Company warehouses, which, according to von Meley's town plan of 1807 were located where the Grand Hotel and Emancipation Gardens now stand, northwest of the fort. The only new building erected in this area was the Grand Hotel, built in 1839, followed three decades later by the construction of Emancipation Garden, in 1873, to the west of the fort (Cinquino 1996:63). South of the fort, a military barracks for enlisted men and non­ commissioned officers was built in 1827-28, which today serves as the Territorial Legislature Building (Cinquino 1996:63). The troops rooms in the old fort were converted to prison cells. The old water batterv immediately south of these buildings was demolished shortly after the barracks were built. During the 1820s, several other military structures were added to this area, but they were torn down after 1845 (Cinquino 1996:63). In 1871, the capital of the Danish West Indies was again relocated. Charlotte Amalie once more became the seat of colonial government. The military functions of Fort Christian, were practically nil. A proposal to convert the fort from a military installation to a police station, a function more in keeping with the times, was made and entertained. In 1874 it was acted upon and it was the first major change to the structure in 140 years. The major change to the fort itself was the blowing up of Governors Iversen's internal tower (Trygborg), on June 19, 1874, and the removal of the north curtain wall, northern ravelin, and north gate house, and the tearing down of most of the ravelin off the eastern side of the fort. In demolishing part of the eastern ravelin the demi-lune constructed by Governor Iversen was uncovered, drawn, and then torn down. MI’S Pom 10-9001 ISni/NPS NR HP RrciMntion Pom (Rev. 8-86)- FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of tlic Interior, National Park Seiviec ______________________ __________ OMBNo. 1024-0018 Nnlional Register of Historic Place* Rcgiitnitiaa Ponn All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and in their stead a new building of an entirely different appearance was erected with a clock tower over the entrance. The East and Wj?,st of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastions [Lightbourn 1973:13]. By 1875, the northern curtain wall had been "replaced by a new epne in the then popular style of gothic revival" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15) . The Twentieth Century When the United States aeguired the Virgin Islands, in 1917, there had been no additional changes to the fort and its surrounding area by the Danish. The Virgin Islands were administered by the U.S. Navy during the early period of American control (1917-1931). The Navy took over Fort Christian and the land areas to the south and east of the fort. Shortly thereafter, a Marine Corps barracks was constructed east of the fort on harbor lands reclaimed in the 1780s. In the following years a number of new structures were added to it. They included, among other, two steel radio towers, a communication center, an ice and refrigeration plant, cisterns, garages, a mess and a recreational hall, shops, storage buildings, etc., crowding the grounds of the fort and partly obscuring it and the old barracks building [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. All of these twentieth century buildings to the east of the fort would be removed in the 1950s, with the construction of Veteran's Drive, and the area was converted to a parking lot, which is its present use (Cinquino 1996:62). Construction of Veteran's Drive, which runs east-west along the filled-in shoreline of Charlotte Amalie was built to run between the south side of the fort and the old Danish barracks. This construction required the in fillingof more land to the v/est and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:16). Within Christians Fort work was confined to minor additions, repairs and to the installation of new utilities. Generally, it was done with faint regard to the historic fabric of the structure and lessened its architectural' integrity [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. During the period from 1917 to 1983, Fort Christian continued to serve the Virgin Islands as a police station and prison. However, in the early 1960s, the island community began to voice concern about the preservation of the old fort, which was reflected in the Secretary of the Interior designating Fort Christian as part of^St. Thomas Nat^cfftaT-Sfistoric Site and a unit of the National Park Service, ^ 1961. -!^his new unit of the National Park Service was to be actj\c^ted>wTien the Virgin Island's prison facility moved out of the fort into new quarters. NPS Fonn IO-90nusni/NPS NRHP Rcsistnition Form (Rev. 8-8fi) ,’iOV • 3 <396 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Intenor, National Park Service __________ OMBNo. 1024-0018 National Reeistcr of Historic Placet Registntkn Foim In November of 1971, "with community support, the first elected governor (of the Virgin Islands), Melvin H. Evans, opened a small museum of local history in four (lower) rooms of the" southeast * bastion. The museum shared the. fort with the prison, which - occupied all the rest of the fort with the exception of the southwest bastion, which housed the Civil Defense office of the Virginj^slands (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In a U.S. Congressional Bill that transferred the jurisdiction of submerged lands to the Virgin Islands government contained a rider that would also transferred certain shore property, which included Fort Christian to the Virgin Islands aewernment. As ^pO/iv. result the St. Thomas National Historic Site was n^er activated^adrttrnfrgh'The Secretary of the Interior designate^he fort as a^ational Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. In June of 1982 the firm of Richard deJongh and Frederik Gjessing were retained by the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a historic structures report of Fort Christian, entitled Fort Christian Historic Structure Report, which . . . gave a complete history of the fort from the Royal Archives in Copenhagen and the National Archives in Washington and other sources. Included in the report were measured drawings of how the building looked at various periods, [and] photographs especially taken during that prison period [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. In 1983, the police moved out of the fort. The Virgin Islands government, provided funds to the Fort Christian Museum to clean up the fort and remove the prison bars from the prisoners cells. A gift shop and reception area was created in the rooms to the west of the w^^thern entrance, and a museum office and kitchen were installAin the rooms to the east of the northern entrance, allowing the majority of the fort to be opened up as a historic site (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . In 1985, with funding from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the government of the Virgin Islands contracted with the firm of deJongh and Gjessing to develop overall plans and a scope of work for the restoration of Fort Christian. Based on their earlier historic structures report (1982), the restoration plan was "to retain the features still existing from the 1600's, the mid 1700's expansion and the 1874 north entrance and incorporate these into the museums plans" (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990, the Civil Defense office, located in the southwest bastion moved out of the fort and the first phase of restoration commenced using $500,000 in HUD CDBG monies and $60,000 from the Virgin Islands Enhancement Fund (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 a contract was awarded to Coastal Construction with the firm of deJongh/Gjessing drawing specific plans NPS Pmti lO-WlIISni/NPS NRHP RcEistralion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Sen icc ______________ OMBNo. 1024-0011 National Resiater of Historic Places Rcgistratkia Form and specs for funds allocated and their supervision of the project. This phase in demolition of [twentieth center] interior walls in the courtyard which formed corridors into prison cells and certain [police] offices in the west and south [curtain walls]. Demolition of [modern cinder block] walls in the narrow west [curtain wall] side cells, returning them to their 1730's appearance, new plumbing and bathrooms, [and] a handicapped ramp by the right side of the 1874 entryway [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. This project lasted from 1990 until 1992. A second phase of restoration, saw $200,000 funded by HUD CDBG, go into the fort. The contractor was H & M Systems, under the supervision of deJongh/Gjessing, Work included repair of the large rooms behind the east curtain wall and the rooms in the southeast bastion. It also repair the roof/gun deck of these rooms and bastion. The work lasted from 1993 to 1994 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1994, the Fort Christian Museum was informed that a major Intermodal State Transportation and Enhancement Act project for work on Veteran's Drive had been approved and funds from this project would be used to complete the restoration of Fort Christian, probably commencing work in 1997 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). VPS Form 10-900nSDI/NPS NRHP Rreistration Form (Rev. 8-861 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Dcp.irtmrnt of the Inlcrior. National Park Serv ice ______________ 0MB No. 1(04-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registratioo Fomi 9 . MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Boyer, William W. 1983 America's Virgin Islands, A History of Human Rights and Wrongs. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Bronsted, Johannes (editor) 1952 Vore Gamble Torpe Kolonier. Volume II. Copenhagen. A.G.H. Forlag, Caron, Aimery 1988 St. Croix under French Dominion. Paper for the 10th Annual Conference of-Caribbean Historians. St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. March 28-April 2. Cinquino, Michael A. (Principal Investigator) 1996 Phase lA Cultural Resource Investigation for the Proposed Veterans Drive Improvements, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Prepared for: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc., Maitland, Florida. Cissell, William F. 1993 A Synopsis of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Salt River, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its Special Relevance to the Columbus Quincentennial. Paper on file National Park Service, Atlanta. Crain, Edward E. 1994 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Islands. Dahl, Bjorn w. 1992 The Military Engineer Gottfried Hoffmann and his Works in Denmark 1648-1687. Fortress, No. 13, pp. 3-12, May. deJongh, Robert and Frederik J. Gjessing 1982 Fort Christian Historic Structures Report.^ The Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Duffy, Christopher 198 5 The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London Gjessing, Frederik C., and William P. MacLean 1987 Historic Buildings of St. Thomas and St. John. Macmillian Publishers, Limited. NPS Form 10-900USni/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. g-86> FORT CHRISTIAN Doited States Department of the Interior, National Park .Service _____________________ OMBNo. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Rctistiatioa Fonn Gjessing, Frederik C. and Philip E. Gardner 1958 Historic Architecture of the Virgin Islands. Sections from the Historic .American Building Survey, Number 1. On file with the National ParJ: Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta. Highfield, Arnold R. 1995 St. Croix 1493, An Encounter of Two Worlds. The Virgin Islands Humanities Council, United States Virgin Islands. Jowers, Dolores 1996 Letter to Mark Barnes describing the restoration of Fort Christian from the 1970s to 1996. Letter on file with the National Register Programs Division, National Park Service, Atlanta. Lightbourn, Jno. 1973 The Story of Fort Christian, 1672. Reprinted Walloe's St. thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881. Museum Leaflet Series No. 1, Bureau of Libraries and Museums, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Morison, Samuel E. 1939 The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cadiz to Hispaniola and the Discovery of the Lesser Antilles. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sauer, Carl 0. 1969 The Early Spanish Main. Berkeley. University of California Press, Westergaard, Waldemar 1917 The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754). The Macmillan Company, Mew York. Previous documentation on file (NPS): Preliminary Determination of Individual Listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. Previously Listed in the National Register. Previously Determined Eligible by the National Register. Designated a National Historic Landmark. May 5, 1977 Recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey: # Recorded by Historic American Engineering Record: # NPS Foito 10.900USni/NFS NRHP Rreislnition Foim (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Stetes Dqiartment of the Interior, National Park .Service OMBNo. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Placci Registntioo Form Primary Location of AdcJitional Data: State Historic Preservation Office Other State Agency Fecieral Agency Local Government University Other(Specify Repository): US virgin islantJs Mrs. Delores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. BOX 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 NPS Tomi ia9nOTIsr)I/NPS NRHP Recisiration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service_________________________ OMBNo. 1024-«01S National Register of Historic Places Registntkio Fonn 10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Acreage of Property: 1.92 acres UTM References: Zone Northing Easting Zone Northing Easting A C E B D F Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary for Fort Christian is based on an on-site visitation to the fort in April 1996, in the company of Mr. Myron Jackson of the Virgin Islands SHPO Office and Ms. Dolores Jowers, Curator of Fort Christian. The boundary description is key to the enclosed sketch map (see Figure ___ ). A datum point was set at the base of the point of the southv/estern bastion of Fort Christian. A line was projected in a generally southwest direction to the outside edge of the sidewalk. This is Point A. The boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk for 246 feet to Point B. From Point B the boundary goes due north for 356 feet to Point C (along the east side of a small road). From Point C the boundary goes across the small road and along the outside edge of a stone lined gutter bordering alj open park area for 200 feet to the mid­ point of the road leading to the entrance of the fort (Point D). From Point D, the boundary continues along the outside edge of the stone lined gutter of the other open park area for lOO^^^oPoint E. From Point E the boundary goes due south along the outside eastern edge of the street for 2 57 feet to Point F. Point F is located along the outside edge of the intersection of Fort Pladsen and Veteran's Drive. From Point F the boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk on the north side of Veteran's Drive some 37 feet to connect with Point A. Boundary Justification: The boundary for Fort Christian includes the entire fortification area which contain extant seventeenth to nineteenth century standing remains of the fort. It also includes areas to the east, west, and north sides of the fort, which once contained ravelins that projected out from the curtain walls of the fort. The only non contributing building in the boundary is a 1950's fire station that occupied the area to the west of the fort on which the west curtain ravelin once stood. NPS I-mti lO-qomisni/NPS NRHP Rceislralion Fonii (Rev. 8-86) PORT CHRISTIAN United SUtee Deportment of the Interior, N.itional P.irk .Service ______________ OMB No. 10Z4-001t National Register of Historic Place* Registntkn Form 11. FORM PREPARED BY Name/Title: Mr. Paul Vav)ce, Historian Org. : National Register Programs Division National Park Service - Atlanta Street/#: 75 Spring Street, SW City/Town: Atlanta State: Georgia ZIP: 30303 Telephone: (404) 331-7719 Date: 1986 Revised by: Mark R. Barnes, Ph.D. Senior Archeologist National Register Programs Division National Park Service - Atlanta 75 Spring Street, SW Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 331-2638 November 5, 1996 With the assistance of: Mrs. Dolores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 (809) 776-4566 National Park Service/WASO/History Division (418): November 5, 1996 Property CtArrrf;a^ CCE DATE; Stats ^22, County IZ( SO/96 TECHNICAL Photos _ Maos ^ofi-t^or/^e rt'Ols -adi vox^iM ^ a4Gr>i^(Pc/ historian ^b/;> ^>1?^ y^/9'? ARCHITECTUHAL HISTORIAN ARCHEOLOGlSf BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER Fort Christian National Historic Landmark St. Thomas, VIRGIN ISLAND (Preliminary Review of Boundary Study) Reviewer’s Comments This documentation contains a great deal of detailed information on the evolution of Fort Christian over time, but lacks a description of its present layout and condition and a clear statement of the significance of the property. The nomination, particularly the proposed boundary, is difficult to evaluate without maps and photos. In the future it would be very helpful if documentation submitted for preliminary review included legible Xeroxed copies of these materials. Description We need a clear description of the current appearance and condition of the fort. Since you will need to submit a site map and plan with the final documentation, the description can be based on that. Paul Hawke’s documentation included what seemed to be a good description of the fort in 1986 (much of it apparently taken from the historic structures report)—maybe some of that could be incorporated in the final document. The description of the evolution of the fort over time would be easier to understand if it were keyed to a series of maps showing the fort in three or four different time periods. Presumably the series of historic maps included in deJongh and Gjessing’s Historic Structures Report could be used or adapted for this documentation. Maps showing the harbor and the peninsula in the 1600s, and maybe others showing how the area changed, would also be very helpfiil. I would move much of the detailed description of the various changes in interior arrangements from Section 8 to Section 7, possibly editing out some of the repetitious material. The present text says that there was a ravelin on the west side of the fort, but historic maps in the original NHL file show only the ones on the north and east. Please clarify. Isn’t Emancipation Park north of the fort? Please include a brief description of the non-contributing fire station. Significance Please include a clear statement of why Fort Christian is significant in the summary paragraph at the beginning of Section 8, answering what we generally call the “so what” question. The NHL files here have a copy of a 1969 survey report from Fred Gjessing that has a good summary statement (copy attached), and the 1960 St. Thomas National Historic Site designation also emphasizes the importance of the fort as the hub of early Danish settlement on St. Thomas. Because the landmark focus seems to be on the early Danish period, the period of national significance should reflect that. I think probably the best thing would be to use 1672 (according to the text that is when Iverson arrived and began construction) and 1755, when the capital was moved to Christiansted, as the beginning and end dates. It appears that the military importance of the fort was gone by the 1750s and when the capital returned, the fort was converted to police use. Probably the best way to deal with the 1874 replacement of the north curtain is to claim State or local significance under maybe politics and government for the fort through 1947 (the usual more- or-less arbitrary 50-year cutoff for properties for which you do not want to claim exceptional importance). The summary paragraph can simply differentiate between the two types of significance. I don’t think the Section 8 narrative needs to be changed much if at all. You would then show the period of national significance as extending fi'om 1672 to 1755 and the period of State or local significance extending from 1672 to 1947. I would add the years of major building campaigns under significant dates. Please include a brief discussion of the impact of the 1874 alterations on the ability of the fort as a whole to convey its national significance from the earlier period. If most of the fabric dating from 1735 and before survives elsewhere in the fort, that shouldn’t be hard to do. If some of the detailed descriptive material is moved to Section 7 (see above), it should be easier to emphasize the history that provides the context for establishing the national significance of the property, including such things as Iverson’s building the fort as one of the first things he did on taking over (p. 13), the role of the fort as part of a coordinated harbor defense system on the north European model (pp. 14-15), the importance of the fort in the 1678 French attack (p. 16), the sense that the new governor might have trouble replacing the former governor if the latter refused to give over the fort (p. 20), use of the fort in the case of a rumored slave insurrection (p. 22), and generally the importance of protecting the harbor at a time when trade was the principal source of profits for the colony. I think it would be useful to emphasize that St. Thomas and its harbor were Denmark’s principal holding in the Caribbean until they acquired St. Croix in 1733. Please check consistency in the use of Danish “Westindia Company” and “West India Company.” There seems to be some repetition in Section 8. The status of the St. Thomas National Historic Site designated in 1960 (not 1961) is extremely confusing. Apparently it was never actually part of the Park System, and in 1977 various reports in the files seem to have concluded that the 1960 designation was essentially the same as a landmark designation. You may have more material in your files than we have here, though, so maybe I’m wrong. Boundary Without a map we can’t evaluate the proposed boundary. It does not seem to correspond with the boundary provided in the 1960 designation or with the later reduced version of that boundary that excluded the parking area to the east that apparently shouldn’t have been included in the first place. I have marked a couple of typos, etc., in the text, but I probably didn’t catch all of them. Marilyn M. Harper Historian National Register of Historic Places January 8, 1997 SURVEY REPORT CHRISTIANS FORT Virgin Islands National Park St. Thomas, Virgin Islands Prepared by Frederik C. Gjessing Architect October 1969 U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation I CHRISTIANS FORT Christians Fort is a late 17th century fortification, is the oldest standing structure on St. Thomas and probably in the Virgin Islands. Durixig the early decades of its existence it was the nucleus of the Danish settlement. It served not only as the military and administrative headquarters of the infant colony but for close to a century it also housed the residence of the governor, the courts, the Lutheran church, the hospital, the quarters of the surgeon, the emergency food stores as well as other community services. It was a place of refuge for the settlers during the early troubled years of the colony as well as the setting for all formal activities of consequence. DESCRIPTION The fort is located on a slight rise at the base of a small spit of land projecting into the easternmost of the two deep and well protected bays on the south coast of St. Thomas that now are known collectively as St. Thomas Harbor. It faces tho entrance to the bay between Cawell and Muhlenfels point 1-1/2 mile to the south and is located in the approximate center of the present town of Charlotte Amalie. By type the fort is of a standard 17th century design, rectangular with a central courtyard and projecting bastions nt the salient angles, but in layout it is irregular. The north-south dimensions from tip to tip of bastions are on the west and east side 192 feet and 188 feet respectively, while NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regislraiion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service '____________________________ OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name; FORT CHRISTIAN Other Name/Site Number: Christians Fort 2. LOCATION Street & Number: N/A City/Town; Charlotte Amalie State: US Virgin Islands County: Not for publication:N/A Vicinity;N/A St. Thomas Code: 030 Zip Code:_00804_ 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Private Public-local Public-State Public-Federal Category of Property Building(s):_X_ District: Site; Structure: Object: Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 Noncontributing 1 buildings ______ sites ______ structures objects 1 Total Previously Listed in the National Name of related multiple property listing: N/A Number of Contributing Resources Register:_N/A_ O - ; NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-(K)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination ____ request for dete^Hjii nation of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property Register criteria. meets does not meet the National Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I, hereby certify that this property is: Entered in the National Register Determined eligible for the _____ National Register Determined not eligible for the ___ National Register Removed from the National Register Other (explain): _____________________ Signature of Keeper Date of Action - T NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Government Defense Sub: government office fortification Current: Recreation and Culture Sub: museum 7. DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Colonial, Danish colonial MATERIALS: Foundation: Walls: Roof : Other: Stone Stone Stone, Plaster covered Fired Brick, supported by wooden beams Fired Brick paving in courtyard NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-(X)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the 1670s to protect the Danish colony on St. Thomas. The fort ^ a rubble masonry seventeenth-century fortress of four curtain walls enclosing a square. With four irregular diamond-shaped bastions on each corner the fort is" typical of fortresses of the ocS Baltic area of that century. Within the curtain walls and bastions were rooms containing gun batteries, government offices, the residence for the colonial governor, and the colony's first church. The interior spaces of the fort were rearranged in the early eighteenth century to meet the changing needs of the colony. The interior courtyard of the fort is a brick-paved open area that once contained a large thick-walled tower along the north side of the courtyard. In 187i^, this tower was demolished and the northern v curtain wall was cnanged to incorporate a Gothic Revival style clock tower. Environmental Setting; The harbor of St. Thomas, with its easily defended narrow entrance, large roadstead to accommodate numerous ships, and broad flat beach on the north side of the harbor to land supplies and load plantation produce was an ideal location for the establishment of a colony that would depend upon sea borne trade. Along the eastern side of the beach was a slightly elevated rectangularly shaped rocky peninsula that jutted some 700 feet into the harbor. In the 1670s, the colonists built their stone fort on the neck of this peninsula to take advantage of its natural defensive characteristics (see Photograph 1). The east ard west approaches to the fort were situated to be protected by a barrier of water, and later triangular-shaped stone fortifications (ravelins) projecting out from the curtain^walls of the fort (Crain 1994:153) . The south side of the fort, al^o protected by .water, but did not have a ravelin. Additional protection on the south side of the fort was provided by the construction of a water battery. On the north, or land side, the elevation was not so steep. Therefore, the Danes enhanced the defense of this approach by constructing a wooden palisade across the neck of the peninsula. Behind the palisade was a ravelin projecting from the north side of the stone fort (see Photograph 2) . The site of Fort Christian "commanded the flanking beaches of the peninsula, the entrance to the harbor, and all parts of the bay" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18) . During the seventeenth century a barrier of prickly pear cactus was maintained between the wooden palisade and stone walls of the fort to further impede attackers. By the 1820s, when Fort Christian was rendered obsolete by improvements in the range and power of naval gunnery, it no longer was deemed necessary for the defense of the island. The soldiers were relocated from the fort and quartered in a barracks building (the present-day Territorial Legislature) constructed on the peninsula between the fort and the water battery. Throughout the nineteenth century, the water areas east and west of the fort were NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form filled in to create flat land surfaces upon which open park space and dock facilities were constructed. In the 1870s, the ravelins on the north, east, and west sides of the fort were removed, although portions of the east ravelin are extant. Within the fortification was a square brick-paved open space. Along the north side of the open space was a squat three-story high stone tower, or keep, called Trygborg. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference, the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Fort Christian (see Photograph 3). The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. In 1874, Trygborg, the northern curtain wall, and northern ravelin were torn down. That part of the fort was changed to incorporate a Gothic Revival style clock tower (see Photographs 4 and 5). In the mid-twentieth century, further land filling occurred along the whole northern shoreline of the harbor upon which a two lane highway (Veterans Drive) was constructed. This road ran along the south side of the fort, separating it from the water battery and barracks. The open spaces on the west (Emancipcition Park) and north sides of the fort became park areas, while the area on the east became a parking lot (see Figure 1). Description; From the beginning. Fort Christian was considered the most important structure on St. Thomas, as it provided security for the newly founded Danish colony against attacks by other colonial powers and pirates. According to Robert deJongh and Fred Gjeasing: The site selected [for the fort] was a low h:.ll on a small peninsula jutting out at the approximate center of the north shore of the bay of St. Thomas harbor. It was opposite the entrance to the bay and extended 700 feet into it. Immediately behind the rocky shoreline, the peninsula had level ground only a few feet above the sea. The hill occupied the center of the peninsula. It was defined by fairly steep slopes towards the east, south and west. On the landward side, the hill sloped more gently down to the lower terrain to the north that separated the peninsula from the steeper rises further inland [1982:18]. The fort site faced water on the west, east, and south sides of the fort with a water battery on the extreme south face of the peninsula for protection against attack. The north side of the fort was protected by attack from the land side with a wooden palisade stretching across the peninsula, and a barrier of prickly pear cactus that surrounded the fort. Later, fortifications were added on the exterior of the east, west, and north curtain walls in the form of ravelins (see Photograph 2). The northern palisade, prickly pear cactus barrier, and ravelins (with the exception of partial remains on the east side of the fort) are gone. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service ' 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The land and sea areas surrounding Fort Christian have changed considerably through the gradual in-filling of the water areas on the west and east sides of the fort. The area to the north of the fort, where the Danish military once had a ravelin, is gone and the area is open space. The south side the open area between the water battery and the fort has been filled in with a 1820s barracks structure and three mid-twentieth century United States Coast Guard buildings. On the east side most of the ravelin was removed, as were numerous buildings constructed by the U.S. Navy (1917-1931). The area east of the fort is now a parking lot. On the west side, the ravelin has been removed and a fire station was built in the area in the 1950s (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). The extant portions of the seventeenth and eighteenth fort structure, consist^ of: the east, west, and south curtain walls; all four diamond-shaped bastion walls; and rooms built within the bastions and against the curtain walls. The nineteenth century portion of the fort consists of the northern curtain wall and rooms built behind this curtain wall, and the Gothic Revival clock tower. All of these historic features are intact. Recent restoration efforts by the Territorial Government ha^ resulted in the restoration of the roof, or gun deck, of the fort and the gun batteries within the west curtain wall of the fort (see Photographs 7 and 8) . This work has also removed the twentieth century frame additions added to the south side of the front of the fort and a concrete roof installed by the U.S. Navy, between 1917 and 1931, over the historic gun deck roof. The area of the fort that has seen the greatest change is the interior space of the fort formed by the curtain walls and bastions. Originally, the mass and height of the exterior curtain and bastion walls formed the defense for the cannons of the fort and served as the back wall for a number of structures built within the fort, some of wood and some of stone. Changes in the function of the fort and deterioration of structures necessitated numerous rearrangements of the interior of the fort. By the 173 0s most of the fort reached its present shape. The southeast part of the fort, due to the irregularity of the rocky outcrop on which it was constructed, would be the only two-story area of the fort. The height of the outer bastions walls allowed for the construction a lower series of masonry rooms in this area. Above this was a second tier of masonry rooms built against the outer curtain walls (see Photograph 9) . At the same time the southeast and southwest bastions had been completely filled in with rooms. The northwest and northeast bastions were only partially filled in, leaving a small space open in the middle of these bastions. The roof of the masonry rooms behind the curtain walls and bastions formed a continuous gun deck for the cannons. Two stone guard posts were built at the tips of the northwest and southwest bastions. In the seventeenth-century north curtain wall between the northeast and northwest bastions and the internal tower (Trygborg) NPS Form 10-900USD1/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form were removed. A Gothic Revival style entrance and clock tower were constructed (see Photographs 4 and 5). The only non-contributing building within the boundary of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark is a 1950s fire station along the west side of the fort (see Photograph 6). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park SeiVice 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: NationallyStatewide: Applicable National Register Criteria: A_X_ Criteria Considerations (Exceptions): A NHL Criteria: NHL Theme(s): NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. B B Criterion 1 EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Locally: Areas of Significance: Period(s) of Significance: Significant Dates: Significant Person(s): Cultural Affiliation: Architect/Builder: Exploration/Settlement, Military 1671-1917 —'5^6' Cc>L^i— N/A :: GoveiiiUT cir— Danish eolrenlal- N/A NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service > 0MB No. 1024-(X)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form State Significance of Pioperty, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. SummaT-v Statement of Significance; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the latter part of the seventeenth century (1672-1680) to protect the Danish colony of St. Thomas. The fort served as the center for Danish colonial community life during much of the 250 years of Danish rule of St. Thomas. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governor's residence, governmental offices of the colony, the prison, and was the principal fortification protecting the settlement of Charlotte Amalie from attack by other colonial Caribbean powers. NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Background History On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus took a more southerly course across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to encounter the islands of the Caribs he had been told about on his first voyage. Columbus took this route as he wanted to chart a quicker route from Spain to the Indies On November 3, 1493, only 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands, his fleet sighted the island of Dominica, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles (Highfield 1995:52) . Travelling northward among the Lesser Antilles, Columbus landed at an island he called Guadalupe (present-day Guadeloupe Island). He spent eight days on this island and found the first evidence of the Caribs (Highfield 1995:52). On the morning of November 10, 1493, the fleet left Guadalupe and cruised northward naming various islands after Catholic saints. They reached the island of Saba, on November 12th, whence they turned to the west in the direction of St. Croix Island (Morison 1939:80; Highfield 1995:54). Arriving at St. Croix on the morning of November 14th, Columbus coasted along the north side of the island looki.ng for a place to debark and meet with the native peoples. Dr. Chanca, the expedition's physician, noted they could see the present-day American (St. Thomas and St. John) and British Virgin Islands north of St. Croix at this time (Highfield 1995:58) . Following brief and bloody contact with the Native Americans on the north side of St. Croix, at Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960), on the afternoon of November 14, 1493 the fleet raised anchor and sailed north to NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registralion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Foir. St. Thomafe and St. John. The fleet did not land on either of these islands. ‘However, it was during this part of the voyage that St. Thomas, called Santo Thomas by Columbus, was named. During the first decades of the sixteenth century the native peoples on the present-day American Virgin Islands were beset by Spanish slavers (Highfield 1995:132-133) attempting to acquire labor for the Puerto Rican gold mines. In January of 1511 the St. Croix Caribs joined with Puerto Rican Tainos to attack and destroy a Spanish settlement on the Anasco River, in Puerto Rico (Caron 1988:1) . By Spanish decree the Caribs became enemies of the crown who were to be exterminated (Cissell 1993:3; Highfield 1995:76). Thereafter, Spanish expeditions from Puerto Rico regularly raided the American Virgin Islands for Carib slaves. By 1515, Juan Ponce de Leon, Governor of Puerto Rico, described these islands as deserted (Sauer 1969:192). Throughout the rest of the sixteenth century the American Virgin Islands were for the most part abandoned. They were too close to Spanish Puerto Rico for native peoples to maintain a safe permanent settlement, while the Spanish had no interest in using the islands as a colony. Instead, they became staging areas for almost annual Carib raids on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in the 1520s and 1530s (Highfield 1995:134). In all probability the American Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, were sporadically inhabited by Caribs until the beginning of the seventeenth century (Highfield 1995:134). The first European country to attempt to permanently settle St. Thomas was an ill-fated colonial effort by Denmark, in 1666. Under Governor Erik Smit a small colony was established on St. Thomas, presumably in the area of the present fort, but that attempt ended when the Dutch attacked the colony and the colonists elected to return to Denmark after only eighteen months (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2). To prevent foreign interference with any future colonization attempt. King Christian V in 1670 signed a treaty of alliance and commerce with Great Britain. In that way, the British -- the most powerful colonial presence in the Lesser Antilles -- would not oppose Danish efforts to colonize St. Thomas (Dookhan 1974:37). In 1671 the Danes second atteppf“Utr=&si^nize St. Thomas began with the establishment of(Danish^stindia aM Guinea Company, "to carry on business in the West Indies" (deJefrdh and Gjessing 1982:1) . In the following year (1672) St. Thomas was successfully colonized (Westergaard 1917:31-32). The Danes later acquired the rights to the island of St. John througiT tne-ToS^ding of plantations on that island in 1717. The Danis^West India^^d Guinea Company purchased the practically abandoned Wench igJrarhd of St. Croix in 1733. The Danes took possession in the following year completing Danish colonial holdings in the New World (Westergaard 1917:37, 128, 208) . The Danish, like other European colonial powers in the Caribbean, used imported African slave labor to produce tropical products. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regi! iraiion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 1 ______ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form such as sugar, rum, cotton, indigo,' and tobacco. All of these products were in great demand internationally. By the late eighteenth century, the plantations on St. Thomas were predominately given over to the raising of sugar cane, and the production of molasses, rum, and brown sugar for export. However, the expense of transporting, maintaining, and policing a captive labor population would prove to be less economically profitable for St. Thomas th^Ji—iii^r -island trade. The Danish Westindia ^d Guinea Company was under contract to the Danish goverlwieiit—fecr^rganize the Lesser Antilles islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John into profitable colonies. To this end the Company established slaving stations along the Guinea coast of Africa. Between 1698 and 1754 the company transported over ten thousand sl^es from Africa to the Danish Virgin Islands. It is estimatedl^^r one quarter of the slaves perished at sea. This was a much higher loss rate than suffered by other European slavers (Boyer 1983:17). When the contract of the Company ended in 1754 the Danish government continued^he transport of African slaves with a similar loss ratio. In 1803TOanish slave trade officially ended. The end of the trade was recommended by the Great Negro Trade Commission which illustrated the trade as equally unhealthy to Danish sailors. Of the 2,004 Danish sailors who sailed in the Danish slave ships in the twelve-year period of 1777 to 1789, a total of 691, or more than one-third, died during the voyages [Boyer 1983:37] . Acting on the Commission's recommendations, the King's edict of March 16, 1792 set the date of the end of the slave trade at December 31, 1802, "in order to permit the planters time to stock up on the number of slaves" (Boyer 1983:37). As early as 1690 Governor Johan Lorentz of the Virgin Islands proclaimed a policy of execution or mutilation as punishment for runaway slaves (Boyer 1983:24). Within the Danish islands . . . a special tax was levied on planters to indemnify those among them for any legally killed or injured slaves, thus removing a powerful economic constraint against the maiming and killing of slaves [Boyer 1983:24- 25] . Throughout the eighteenth century, and into the early decades of the nineteenth century, the Danish slave laws were still being enforced. Although during the two British occupations of the islands in the early nineteenth century (1801 and 1807-1815) they were considerably relaxed (Boyer 1983:28). Added to this was a growing free-colored class that served in the Free-Colored Militia, owned property, ran businesses, and even possessed slaves, and who were petitioning the Danish King for their full rights as citizens (Boyer 1983:42) . 'I /] NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regisiralion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service^ 0MB No. 1024-(X)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form After Emancipation of the slaves in 1848 sugar cane production dropped off to praccically nothing on St. Thomas. As the importance of tropical products grown on St. Thomas declined in importance, the major'economic aspect of the island became the transit trade of goods that were traded in the neutral port of Charlotte Amalie. This trade had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century following its designation as a free port in 1764 (Cinquino 1996:30-31). The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growing prosperity for St. Thomas. The excellence and size of its harbor and the location of St. Thomas, midway between North and South America, and within cruising range of the new steam-powered ships from Europe and the United States, made St. Thomas an ideal transhipment point. The island was not only prospering, it was also optimistically predicting further growth and development. The prosperity of St. Thomas began to taper off in the last half of the nineteenth century, due to natural disasters and technological changes. In late 1867 St. Thomas was beset by two major natural disasters in rapid succession. In October a devastating hurricane hit the island, followed in November by a tidal wave, both of which destroyed great numbers of ships in the harbor. These two natural catastrophes did great damage to the town, the harbor, shipping facilities, and St. Thomas' reputation as a safe harbor (Bronsted 1952:299) . Advances and improvements of the steamships of the period, eliminated the need for using St. Thomas as a coaling station for ships from North America and Europe on their way to South America. St. Thomas' transit trade and usefulness as a coaling station was coming to an end. The gradual loss of population that resulted from the declining economy of the island also affected the St. Thomas community. Following World War II, with the increase in air transportation and the development of tourism, the population of St. Thomas has again grown in numbers. History of Fort Christian As early as the 1620s Danish merchants developed trading companies along the lines of the British, Dutch, and French West Indies Companies to trade Danish goods for tropical products available only from the Caribbean. Danish trading ventures of this time usually consisted of sending individual ships sponsored ^ the merchant companies to trade at ports in the New World- ^.A'^rade practice which usually produced substantial piro^Tbs these companies. By mid-century the Copenhagen based V^stindio^ompany proposed the creation of a Danish colony in the Carifebeafrr In 1665 the company secured permission from the crown to settle a colony on St. Thomas in the West Indies. The first Danish colonization effort reached St. Thomas, on March 30, 1666, under the command of Erijc-Smt^ho had been appointed Governor for the new colony by the W^tinSat^ompany. Governor Smit and numerous other colonists soon dajed. The-<remaining settlers were not able to complete a defensive vicinity of fortification, believed to located in the - ; NPS Form 10-900USD1/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service ,} 0MB No- 1024-(X)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1 Bluebeard'S Castle, on a hill east of the present location of Fort Christian (Lightbourn 1973'tl; deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1-2, 17). The loss of settlers due to illness meant the colony did not have the manpower to construct a defensive structure for its protection. The newly founded colony soon found itself embroiled in international politics that would doom its existence without the means to protect itself from other colonial powers and pirates. According to deJongh and Gjessing, In 1665 war had broken oat between England and Holland in which France joined on the side of the Dutch. By the following year it had spread to the Caribbean. Initially this appeared to offer the Danish colony an advantage. Dispossessed individuals from English and Dutch possessions sought refuge on St. Thomas and augmented the depleted labor force of the Danes. However, it provided the justification of French, Dutch and English freebooters to raid the new colony, ostensibly to capture the refugees but in reality also to secure such supplies and equipmentKthe small force could not defend. After eighteenirirf'months of harassment and deprivation the survivors of the expeditionary force, who since the death of Erik Smit had been led by the Lutheran minister Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, decided to abandon the settlement. They made their way back to Denmark by stages [1982:2] . In early 167/i the rechartered \S|^estindia^J]j^ompany was created to B^attempt to/establish a Danish c^^ony onthe island of St. Thomas. /O/^he Company Selected as the Governor of the colony Jorgen Iversen. Iversen had gone to the British Caribbean Island of St. Christopher (present-day St. Kitts) at the age of 13 as an indentured servant in 1651. Over the next fifteen years he rose to become a full partner in a Dutch trading concern in the Caribbean, from which he learned the lessons necessary for a successful colony (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2-3). Between Iversen’s arrival on St. Thomas in May 23, 1672 until July 4, 1680, when he was relieved, he succeeded . . . in creating a community out of the multinational and racial components of the colony and steer it towards a promise of prosperity while building Christians Fort, carrying out an inter-island trade for the company and establishing plantations on St. Thomas [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3]. Iversen understood the threats facing a new colony in the far off Caribbean, and how the lack of a fort had doomed the first Danish colonization attempt. He appears to have given a high priority to the construction of the fort. Shortly after landing on St. Thomas, Iversen issued orders that "all [colonists] should assemble to NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form [militia] service on Sundays in the Fort by beat of drum, " the penalty for non-compliance being 25 lbs. of tobacco (Lightbourn 1973:1). The completion date of the fort is unknown but is presumed to have been mostly finished in time for the French attack of 1678. It was during Governor Iversen's tenure that he not only had Fort Christian constructed, but also one of its outlying hilltop gun and watch towers -- Skytsborg in 1679 (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). According to Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing An Army Lieutenant had been included amongst the Company's functionaries of the proposed colony. He was to advise Governor Iversen in all military matters and provide the technical knowledge needed for the design and construction of a fort. To insure that this was done according to the standards of the times, a copy of Admiral Freitag's treatise on the construction of forts was included among the books that Jorgen Iversen brought out to guide him in his duties as the governor. This 17th century work provides layout^ of fortifications, explanations of the military functions of their different parts and served as a design handbook for military engineers [1982:17]. '^7 9 Unfortunately, the Lieutenant died on the voyage from Denmark to the Virgin Islands, so "Iversen was left to make his own decisionS - regarding the fortification" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). Using Admiral Freitag's work, which provided information on the fortification of coasts utilizing gun towers on hilltops to support <)/*'’ major coastal forts, as pioneered by the seventeenth century Scandinavian military architects Gottfried Hoffmann and Erik Dahlberg. Later Governors of St. Thomas, and even Iversen, would acknowledge the disadvantages of the site he chose for Fort Christian, however, the "sense of urgency that an adequate if not ideal fort had to be erected rapidly for the defense of the colony, must have been the basic considerations of the decision" to site the fort on a slightly elevated area on the beach, rather than higher up out of the range of any seventeenth-century artillery fire from ships and from hills to the north and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:19) . As to the style of the fort, Iversen chose to construct a typical seventeenth-century thick-walled square fortification with projecting diamond-shaped, or Vauban, bastions at each corner, Although the irregular shape of the hill on which the fort was I constructed required that the bastions not be uniform in size. / In the interior courtyard was constructed a fortified tower (Trygborg) , or keep, that was a story higher than the main fort (see Photograph 3). This type of fortification with internal keep would have been familiar to Iversen and had played an important role in military engineering in the Baltic Sea region, where during the seventeenth century the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden fought NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registraiion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service .. 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registraiion Form over control of the sealanes leading into the Baltic. The two preeminent military engineers during this conflict, Gottfried Hoffmann of Denmark and Erik Dahlberg of Sweden, utilized low thick-walled fortifications to protect towns and key defensive points often in combination with outlying fortified towers (Dahl 1992:6; Duffy 1985:191). As noted by Christopher Duffy, in The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, The surest signs of [Erik] Dahlberg's presence were, however, his idiosyncratic multi-storeyed casemated towers, which he employed variously as island batteries, hilltop forts and inner keeps [1985:195-196]. Gottfried Hoffman, during the mid-seventeenth century, also constructed fortresses with outlying and internal tower works at Fredericia and Helsingborg, Denmark (Dahl 1992:6). Throughout the troubled seventeenth century, the contenders for control of the Baltic - Deninark and Sweden - also undertook efforts to establish colonies in the New World. Sweden established a military outpost called Fort Christina (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961) in the vicinity of present day Wilmington, Delaware, where they traded for furs until the colony was captured by the English in 1664. The Danes were more successful in establishing and holding a colony in the Caribbean. The Seventeenth Century We do not have a clear picture of the original seventeenth-century fort built under Iversen's direction. However, it is believed the outer walls of all the outer bastion walls of the present fort, internal tower or keep, and south, east, and west curtain walls can be attributed to his building phase (deJongh and Gjessing 1982). Housing for the governor, the troops, government officials, and the colony's church appear to have been accommodated in wooden and stone structures in the interior of the fort. To provide additional soldiers for the defense of St. Thomas, Iversen, in 1674, secured from the island planters an agreement "to perform guard duty on a rotating basis at the fort in return for easement of taxes" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:20). Accounts kept by Governor Iversen between 1672 and 1680, tend to indicate that by 1676 the internal tower, the outer curtain and bastion walls, and buildings within the fort were substantially finished. These accounts also indicate that between 1676 and 1680, the majority of the work on the fort consisted of carpentry and finishing work (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21). One of the main features of Christians Fort was a squat three-story high tower, called Trygborg, on the north side of the fort. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Christians Fort. 9 - f NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN , United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service , 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. This was the first military tower that can be documented on St. Thomas. The push by Governor Iversen to complete the work on the fort would shortly be rewarded. In the fall of 1676, the United Kingdom of Denmark-Norway became involved in a European war with France as one of the adversaries. The conflict had been expected for a couple of years and had been the reason for securing the ^ planters^^agreement to perform guard duties at the fort. A with the outbreak of the war in Europe an attack on St. Thomas by forces from the older, more populous and better established French colonies was anticipated and feared. In preparation for the attack the guard duties of the planters and other inhabitants of St. Thomas at the fort were stepped up and planters and their families were allowed to live in the fort [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21] . In February of 1678, a force of some 60 French settlers from neighboring St. Croix launched an attempt to seize St. Thomas Island. Fortunately, Governor Jorgen Iversen's fort proved too strong to storm. As the attackers did not have any siege cannon Fort Christian was easily able to withstand the brief siege imposed by the French from St. Croix. The French were forced to retreat after capturing a number of slaves which were carried back to St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:22) The defeat of the French in 1678/ proved Fort Christian was a strong defense for St. Thomas against an attacking force without siege guns or enemy ships approaching from the sea. However, Governor Iversen realized that the French attacking force could have pounded Christians Fort into submission by erecting an artillery battery on the high ground east and north of the fort. For this reason Iversen ordered a tower fortification erected on Baggaertsbjerg Hill, a hill top north of Christians Fort in 1679, similar to Trygborg called Skytsborg or Sky Tower (Blackbeard's Castle) (see Photograph 1). Such a tower would not only deny the high ground to an attacking force, but also serve as a watchtower providing a vantage point high enough to peer over Hassel Island to scan the open ocean; thereby providing Fort Christian early warning of an approaching enemy (see Photograph 10). Later in 1689 one of Iversen's successors had Schmitberg (Bluebeard's Castle) constructed on a hill east of the fort. The success of the 1678 defense of St. Thomas convinced Iversen of the usefulness of stone towers for defense. Iversen's letter of February 2, 1680 to the directors of the Danish West India Company indicated that Skytsborg had been erected at Baggaertsbjerg by that date. In it he wrote "Since I had the (Skytsborg) Watchtower erected at Baggaertsbjerg I did not fear a hasty attack so much." 1 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-(K)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form A 1687 English map of St. Thomas harbor depicts and describes a "small white tower" on Baggaertsbjerg Hill to the north of Fort Christian (see Photograph 1). It is possible that Iversen used the Company stone mason Simon Lamare, who had worked on Fort Christian and Trygborg tower, to construct Skytsborg in 1679. According to deJongh and Gjessing In August, 1674, Jorgen Iversen acquired for the Company a mulatto slave by the name of Simon Lamare. He was a mason and was to serve as the clerk of the works, for the construction of the fort [Fort Christian] . The phrasing in the acc0arr^~b»®k of this transaction is of interest. It states("brought^imon Lamare to serve the Company for seven yeWs—[-3^674-1681] , implying some sort of contractual agreement with Simon Lamare for his manumission after an agreed upon period of service [1982:20] . In July of 1680, Nicolai Esmit assumed the governorship of the island from Iversen and moved into the completed fort. According to deJongh and Gjessing, Iversen left a description of the fort which is summarized in the following manner. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west wall nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east-west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the land side of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickly pears had been cultivated in the land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. NPS Form 10-900USD1/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Slates Department of the Interior, National Park Service OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The principal entrance to the fort was the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sally port was the demi-lune, a squat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east.a The postern gate in the west curtain was^simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. On the exterior the walls varied |in height. Since the fort was built around a hill thata had its apex in the approximate center of the fortj^^^ projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls (see Photograph 9). Towards the east,, nortl:^and south the variations in the exterior heights“^ere not great. Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its he:.ght of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliberately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby give Christiansfort its irregular outline on the bayside. Between the salient angles of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea, all had a width [or thickness] of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the v/est face of the southwest bastion 4 feet 3 inches. The same dimensions is shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. All other walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ' 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while others were separated by passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtyard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these [courtyard] structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:24-26]. Nicolai Esmit's tenure as governor would be short, as his own brother Adolf confined him in the prison in the fort on July 7, 1683 and took over the governorship. Apparently Nicolai "openly aided and trafficked with known freebooters and allowed them to sail under the Danish flag" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3) . Adolf continued this commerce with freebooters and illegally traded with the French colony of St. Croix, with whom his country was still officially at war (Caron 1988 :27-28>^Adolf' s downfall was caused by his seizure of British property ./(Governor William Stapleton, of the British Leeward Islands sent( complaints to Denmark of the conditions in St. Thomas which had become in his words a "den of pirates" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Probably the best evidence of Adolf Esmit's connection with pirates was the La Tromoeuse affair. La Tromoeuse was commanded by the French pirate Jean Hamlin, who had stolen the ship from English merchants of Jamaica in 1682. Throughout 1682 and 1683 Hamlin seized over three dozen ships, many English, and resold them and their cargos in St. Thomas. On July 27, 1683 the Englis^vesi9^i^^.^|v5l6 . H.M.S. Francis, under the command of Captain Charles (^rlile^ - caught up with La Trompeuse in St. Thomas harbor lying undert-feire guns of Fort Christian. As the Francis approached the pirate ship she found herself under the fire of both La Trompeuse and Fort ^ Christian. Carlile backed of f, that night his men boarded La ' Trompeuse and burned her. Later it was learned that Hamlin had been the guest of Governor Esmit in the fort during this action. He [Hamlin] has eaten and banqueted with Esmit and has slept with Esmit in a room. He has brought much gold. Esmit would not deliver the said Hamlyn to the English. Furthermore, Esmit sent Heimlyn together with his comrades and pirates out of the harbour with a barque . belonging to the company . . . [Dookhan 1974:109-111]. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department or the Interior. National Park Service OMB No. 1024-<X)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration . orm In spite of his problems Governor Esmit did cause some improvements at the 'fort to be accomplished, . . . [he] built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification; each of the rooms having two doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks. The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted biblio-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the beams red [Lightbourn 1973:3]. Adolf Esmit also had the western curtain wall height raised by some four or five feet and caused the water battery to be constructed during his governorship (1683-84) (Lightbourn 1973:4). Esmit had good reason to strengthen his fortification as the British Governor of Nevis "had driven the Danes from St. John, taken away all the cattle from Buck Island and Water Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas" and "an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island (of St. Thomas) and taken off 60 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). Eventually, the yJestindia^ompany's concern over the Esmit family caused them to sCTid otrtTa new governor, Gabriel Milan, in 1684. According to Lightbourn ._ % r> The Company seemSto have had some fear of trouble on ■ Milan's arrival, for in his instructions he is changed to "proceed carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and in the event of A[dolf] Esmit raising any difficulty, or refusing to give over the fort, he is to take over the command of the island by force. He is further to guard against Esmit's cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he has secured the power Esmit and family must be confined and sent home by the first opportunity" [1973:3]. Milan would carry out his orders and transport both of the Esmit brothers and their families back to Denmark. However, foreign intrigues would continue to plague the colony. Milan wrote the Company in July 1685 of the British cutting lignum vitae trees on St. John and that the Spanish from Puerto Rico had "landed on St. Thomas and taken off 54 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). In the same letter, Milan complained about the state of Fort Christian, claiming it . . . "is a bad fortification, for every one who moves in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;" he admits that "the fort itself is composed of strong wall," but that "it is built disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of," and that "the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interi.tr. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form consequently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night" [Lightbourn 1973:4]. Governor Milan's tenure lasted until September 27, 1687, when Adolf Esmit and his family returned to the governorship of St. Thomas. It was at this time we have the first complete description of the fort. The S.W. point or [King's] Bastion. The Southern Curtain.-Here are: One room, called the flathouse, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron rails [bars]. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. On/ the western side is a dungeon. (/p By the small cistern is a small apartment with door and window, the partition being of boards. The small cistern. The S.E. point, or [Company's] Bastion-to which there is a railing [barred] door with hinges and bolt^oH the top of this is a small room (see Photograph 9). new house stands in the center of the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire-bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain-A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof and 2 windows. A large gate, called Landgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate with a wood roof. The large cistern. The N.E. point or [Prince's] Bastion (see Photograph 11), The Norther.a Curtain.-Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The [Trygborg] tower. The N.W. point, or [Queen's] Bastion-on top of which there is a solid sentry box (see Photograph 12). In the Bastion there is an oven. The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician's room, with 1 window with iron [bars] rails. Next to his a kitchen, roofed with red tiles, near the kitchen a small tobacco store room and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. Four small apartments [the ones built by Adolph Esmit against the inside of the west curtain wall] (see Photograph 8). In the largest there are a large window and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally halfway up. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has c/ c NPS Form 10-900USD1/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of H..toric Places Registration Form 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with bolt, leading to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of which the one is iron railed and the other supplied wiuh wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored wiuh Dutch fire-bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window. In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead. Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of masonry work. A water battery is erected [by Adolf Esmit] at the water's edge. The large Landgate has 1 and the small Watergate 2 railing doors. All the Prickly Pear around the Fort is overgrown by weeds, and has mostly died out [Lightbourn 1973:4-5]. Adolph Esmit's return as Governor of St. Thomas lasted a mere 24 days before his unpopularity with the colonists caused him to return to Denmark. In 1688 another crisis occurred in response to dynastic wars in Europe. The Spanish from Puerto Rico occupied Crab Island (Vieques) and Anguilla thereby surrounding St. Thomas. This action made the Danes in St. Thomas very concerned as the Spanish had never abandoned their claim, by right of discovery by Christopher Columbus, to St. Thomas. Governor Christopher Heins, who had replaced Esmit, undertook a program of upgrading the fortifications of Christiansfort and Skytsborg. To provide more security he had the Landgate located in the Eastern Curtain wall closed up (Lightbourn 1973:6) . Heins also had embrasures cut in the walls of Skytsborg tower for two large cannon capable of covering r.he harbor. He also erected a third tower to the east on Schmidtberg Hill, today called Bluebeard's Castle. The erection of this Ic.st tower in 1689 completed the seventeenth-century defenses of St. Thomas (Gjessing and Gardner 1958:1-3). Throughout the 1680s as supporting defenses around the fort were constructed. within the fortification several of the buildings that cluttered the central courtyard were demolished and replaced by structures against the curtain walls. This was to set a trend for future developments. The gradual Le^^lling of the structures against the^^^st curtain and /^h^ in the southeast bastion, thereby/'Converting them basements, was also initiated these years and set a /yf pattern for the later building activities [deJongh and / Gjessing 1982:35]. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ' 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Htstoric Places Registration Form In peacetime no soldiers were stationed at Skytsborg or Schmidtberg, while a skeleton force was maintained at Fort Christian. If an attack by other colonial forces or a slave rebellion was anticipated an alarm was sounded by firing a predetermined number of cannon at Fort Christian. This signal would call out all ablebodied whites and free blacks to take up arms and report to one o1^ the three fortifications. According to Lightbourn, "each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men; Frederiksfort (Schmidtberg) was to have 25 men and the northern tower (Skytsborg) 9 men" (1973:7). Such an alarm occurred in May of 1694 when a slave insurrection was anticipated from the newly established plantations in the New Quarter, or present-day Tutu, a northern suburb of Charlotte Amalie. The Eighteenth Century In spite of the modifications and work done on the fort in the latter part of the seventeenth century, by the first decade of the eighteenth century, the island government complained to the Company "that the thick walls of the tower in the fort admitted moisture, thus injuring the [gun]powder, and recommending that the tower be cased with boards, as there was no place for building a powder magazine in the fort, excepting under the Church," which occupied the southwest bastion of the fort (Lightbourn 1973:9). The governor also recommended moving the church out of the southwest bastion as "such sacred services need not be done in such a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future time, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals between the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to" (Lightbourn 1973:9). The Lutheran Church, which served the St. Thomas community had always been located within the fort, "sometimes quarters were set apart especially for the service of the Church, at other times we read of divine services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms" (Lightbourn 1973:9). In 1706 a wooden church was erected in the interior courtyard of the fort against the eastern curtain. This building, according to measurements made in 1724, was 49 feet by 25 feet (Lightbourn 1973:9). The fort continued to deteriorate causing Governor Erik Bredal and then the Lutheran clergyman, to leave the fort and move into dwellings in the surrounding town of Charlotte Amalie, in 1716 and 1717. The reasons given were that the deteriorated condition of the fort made it unhealthy. Indeed, the first clergyman who inhabited the fort "died within 47 days after his induction and his successor declared his inability to reside in it" (Lightbourn 1973:9) . Finally, in 1724 Governor Otto Jacob Thambsen ordered a structural survey be made of the fort. The survey convinced the Company to undertake a remodelling of the fort which was completed on April 30th, 1735. According to deJongh and Gjessing, NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regisiralion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Sutes Department of the interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-(X)1S National Register of Historic Places Registration Fortr The remodelling of the late 1720s and early 1730s was to result in the complete covering [roofing] of the southern bastions. The northern bastions retained their gorges but in reduced sizes for the rooms between the gorges and the outer walls were widened and enclosed by masonry walls toward the inner courts. All the curtains and the bastions were furnished with flat masonry roofs that provided a continuous terreplein all around the central courtyard of the fort and served as its principal gundeck (see Photograph 7) [1982:42]. The major changes to the fort consisted of the construction of ravelins (see Photographs 2, 9, and 13) on the outside of the fort and the reorienting of access to the fort. In the plans for the remodelling of Christians Fort during these years an east ravelin was intended and considered to be adequate defense for the old sallyport . . . Within the fort it gave the former gatehouse a greater depth and also provided a passage between the new and old curtain walls from the gatehouse to the southeast bastion at the lower level of the fortification. The plan [of] organization of Christians Fort was reoriented. The postern gate in the west curtain wall . . . was blocked up. The original sallyport [in the east curtain wall] . . . was retained and repaired but was only to serve as the access to the proposed east ravelin. The new sallyport was centered in the north curtain and a postern gate planned for the south curtain. The latter was still under construction in 1733 and when completed during the following couple of years had taken the form it has preserved to the present. As a protection for the new sallyport a ravelin was constructed between the north bastions. At the salient angle of the ravelin a vaulted gatehouse flanked by sentry boxes gave access to the steps and a ramp that led down to the terrain north of the fort and served as the principal entrance to the fortification. Within the ravelin the grade was raised from 4 feet to 6 feet above the outside terrain making the ravelin wall that were 6 feet tall on the interior from 10 to 12 feet tall on the exterior. The east ravelin was started, but by 1733 only half finished. When completed in 1735 the grade within had also been raised above the surrounding terrain and in this process the lower story of the old demi-lune was buried [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:43-44]. According to a 1733 description of the work in progress, in Lightbourn (1973) , the new work in the fort is described in more detail in the following manner. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The South West, or King's Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision rooi.i. The North West, or Queen's Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place for 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince's Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and contains a dungeon. The South East, or Company's Bastion, which is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Governor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arched gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed and is in connection with the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dungeons. Under the Governor's rooms are a small cistern, the Governor's cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 feet in thickness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor's rooms nor the cellars above mentioned were yet finished [in 1733]. the Southern Curtain contains the Governor's pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been taken out of the breadth of the Curtain for a mason work staircase leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor's private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork beside the foundation [this work was never completed]. Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King's (S.W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is neither roofed nor supplied with doors nor windows; it h^ls, however, towards the sea, two oval holes 2 feet high and 3 feet broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non-commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerk; it is roofed with planks and rock, but leaks already. The Northern Curtain is the corps de garde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the center of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into the fort, and outside of this there is a breastwork, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and form a triangle [or ravelin], their point of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outside, the gate is built in such a manner as to allow a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the North, a lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space in which the water is drawn up from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern is the descent to the gate, which is well supplied with NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Slates Department of the Interior, National Park Service _____________________________________________ 0MB No. 1024-(X)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form means for closing out towards the Eastern breai?fwofR\ where the lime is prepared for the building of tmej of^ this breastwork only the foundation on the south airde'^Ts built. The descent alluded to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to the Cantine, and, further on to the passage which goes round the foundation of the church, of which previous mention was made, in to the powder magazine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the east end of the church and over the gate previously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary's office; it has a door to the yard next to the space in which water is drawn, and another door to the passage which runs behind the church over the passage to the Governor's rooms, but neither floor, windows nor doors are yet finished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the passage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the church was built of wood in 1706, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Southern side as far as the Governor's rooms go, the defective wood work had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood work of the Church, which is still left is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, according to the custom of the place, is of planks and shingles. The hospital and oven are outside the South West Bastion and the open space on the Western side towards the harbor where the lime kiln is [1973:10,12]. -7 Throughout the eighteenth century Denmark maintained a policy of strict neutrality in all Eu^pspean wars. This policy, coupled with the establishment of a fi;e^ort in St. Thomas, proved more of an economic boon to the Danish West Indies than the planting of sugar cane. The commerce between belligerent nations was attracted to the island to transact business. In particular, the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), which involved all of the European colonial powers in the Caribbean except Denmark, proved an economic boonbo the island of St. Thomas. ('~'''^sa~lieirtraT~CaTi±rbean European powers and traders respected the neutrality of St.Thomas)^ and to a certain extent encouraged its prosperity, as it provided a means of trade between otherwise belligerent European powers during the war. The colonial government was able to show a profit during the war years from its collectipn-«£=iransit trade taxes and issued a dividend to the Danish Westindi^ Company's investors (deJongh and Gjeasing 1982:10). v_______^ As the warehouses and trading houses of Charlotte Amalie expanded to meet this trade the need for fortifications languished. The fort "area experienced little new construction in the half century between 1730 and 1780, partly because of the need to maintain open space around the fort for defensive purposes ^n^partly because of water barriers" (Cinquino 1996:62). the interior of the fort it was necessary, probably due to the leaky roof, in 1736 to rebuild the six rooms against the west curtain wall; and in 1752, the Church located in the courtyard, was "ready to fall to pieces" and so was demolished (Lightbourn 1973:12). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ______________________________________ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Yet Fort Christian was still significant to the Danish colonial government. During the first half century of its existence the fort served not only as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies, but also the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury and for most of the years as the place of worship for the Lutheran congregation [deJongh and Gjessing 1982,12]. With—acquisition of St. Croix from France in 1733, the ^stindi^^Company had secured an island large enough to support ^litejpa^rly hundreds of sugar plantations. In the following two decades, St. Croix's population surpassed that of St. Thomas. In 1755 the residence of the Governor of the Danish West Indies was moved from Fort Christian on St. Thomas, to the more prosperous colonial island town of Christiansted on St. Croix Island (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12) . By the 1750s, in spite of the extensive remodelling ofFort / Christian completed in 1735, it was recognized that the fortlnoLwaj longer adequate to the task of defending the island from attack. Various proposals for upgrading the fortifications were proposed but not acted upon (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:13-14). Outside the fort the growth of Charlotte Amalie necessitated, in 1781-1782, the lagoon east of Fort Christian being drained, filled in, and parcelled out to settlers (Cinquino 1996:62) . Lt. Peter Lotharius Oxholm who studied Fort Christian, had made the recommendation to fill in the lagoon. Its existence he claimed, and probably correctly, was in part the cause of the garrison's poor health condition. He comments on the stench that emanates from it during dry periods and was carr.Led all through the town on the easterly breezes [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:58]. The Nineteenth Century By the beginning decades of the nineteenth century there had been no major changes to the fort since 1735. When the British occupied St. Thomas in 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 [to deny Napoleon's fleets use of the islands] , they fortified cind established their garrison on the peninsula on the we.st side of the harbor as a more suitable location for its defenses than Christians Fort. The latter was never again considered seriously as a defensive position [deJongh and (jessing 1982:14] . Most of the changes the foj^t-^^ccurred in the area surrounding the fort. A fire that'^swepf^through the town of^^herr±ofe*ie Amalie on New Years Day of 1826 destroyed the old V^estindi^ Company warehouses, which according to von Meley's town ‘plran—0^^807 were located where the Grand Hotel and Emancipation Gardens now stand, northwest of the fort. The only new building erected in this area was the Grand Hotel built in 1839, followed three decades later by NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Slates Department of the Interior, National Park Service_______________________________ _ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the construction of Emancipation Garcien in 1873, to the west of the fort (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). South of the fort, a military barracks for enlisted men and non­ commissioned officers was built in 1827-28, which today serves as the Territorial Legislature Building (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). The troop's rooms in the old fort were converted to prison cells. The old water battery immediately south of these buildings was demolished shortly after the barracks were built. During the 1820s several other military structures were added to this area, but they were torn down after 1845 (Cinquino 1996:63). In 1871 the capital of the Danish West Indies was again relocated. Charlotte Amalie once more became the seat of colonial government. The military functions of Fort Christian were practically nil. A proposal to convert the fort from a military installation to a police station, a function more in keeping with the times, was made and entertained. In 1874 it was acted upon and was the first major change to the structure in 140 years. The major change to the fort itself was the blowing up of Governor Iversen's internal tower (Trygborg) on June 19, 1874. Also the removal of the north curtain wall, northern ravelin, and north gate house, and the tearing down of most of the ravelin off the eastern side of the fort (see Photograph 9) . In demolishing part of the eastern ravelin the demi-lune constructed by Governor Iversen was uncovered, drawn, and then torn down. All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and in their stead a new building of an entirely different appearance was erected with a clock tower over the entrance. The East and West of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastions [Lightbourn 1973:13]. By 1875 the northern curtain wall had been "replaced by a new one in the then popular style of gothic revival" (see Photograph 4, 5, and 14) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15) . The Twentieth Cemtury In the following years a number of new structures were added to it. They included, among other, two steel radio towers, a communication center, an ice and refrigeration plant, cisterns, garages, a mess and a recreational hall, shops, storage buildings, etc., crowding the grounds of When the United States acquired the Virgin Islands, in 1917, there had been no additional changes to the fort and its surrounding area by the Danish. The Virgin Islands were administered by the U.S. Navy during the early period of American control (1917-1931). The Navy took over Fort Christian and the land areas to the south and east of the fort. Shortly thereafter, a Marine Corps barracks was constructed east of the fort on harbor lands reclaimed in the 1780s. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service _____________________________ 0MB No. 10244)018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the fort and partly obscuring it and the old barracks building [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15] . All of these twentieth century buildings to the east of the fort would be removed in the 1950s, with the construction of Veteran's Drive, and the area was converted to a parking lot whicrhis__i^ ^ > present use (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:62). GeftStartTcTion Veteran's Drive, which runs east-west along the filled-in shoreline of Charlotte Amalie was built to run between the south side of the fort and the old Danish barracks. This construction required the in filling of more land to the west and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:16). Within Christians Fort work was confined to minor additions, repairs and to the installation of new utilities. Generally, it was done with faint regard to the historic fabric of the structure and lessened its architectural integrity [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. During the period from 1917 to 1983 Fort Christian continued to serve the Virgin Islands as a police station and prison. However, in the early 1960s the island community began to voice concern about the preservation of the old fort, reflected in the Secretary of the Interior designating Fort Christian as part of St. Thomas National^ Historic Site and-a-4±n4rt -.of the Nationa^^^^ga3cki:§eJEvj?ee, in 196^51 ’This new unit of the National Park Service was to be activate when the Virciln Island's prison facility moved out of the fort into new quarters.' In November of 1971, "with community support, the first elected governor (of the Virgin Islands), Melvin H. Evans, opened a small museum of local history in four (lower) rooms of the" southeast bastion. The museum shared the fort with the prison, which occupied all the rest of the fort with the exception of the southwest bastion, which housed the Civil Defense office of the Virgin Islands (D. Covers, personal communication, 1996). In 1976 a U.S. Congr^sional Bill that transferred the jurisdiction of submerged-—bafi^s^o i:he Virgin Islands government contained a rider that ^ould^Xso transferred certain shore property, which included Fo^. i^h-Pistian., to the Virgin Islands government. As a result the St. Thomas-/National Historic Site unit was never activated, although the Secretary of the Interior did designate the fort as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. In June of 1982 the firm of Richard deJongh and Frederik Gjessing retained by the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a historic structures report of Fort Christian, entitled Fort Christian Historic Structure Report, which . . . gave a complete history of the fort from the Royal Archives in Copenhagen and the National Archives in Washington and other sources. Included in the report were measured drawings of how the building looked at various periods, [and] photographs especially taken & /V NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No 1024-0018 Page 3 0 National Register of Historic Places Registiation Form during that prison period communication, 1996]. [D. Jowers, personal In 1983 the police and jail moved out of the fort. The Virgin Islands government provided funds to the Fort Christian Museum to clean up the fort and remove the prison bars from the prisoners'^ ^ cells. A gift shop and reception area was created in the rooms to the west of ^e northern entrance, and a museum office and kitchen were install^n the rooms to the east of the northern entrance, allowing the''majority of the fort to be opened up as a historic site (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1985, with funding from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the government of the Virgin Islands contracted with the firm of deJongh and Gjessing to develop overall plans and a scope of work for the restoration of Fort Christian. Based on their earlier historic structures report (1982), the restoration plan was "to retain the features still existing from the 1600's, the mid 1700's expansion and the 1874 north entrance and incorporate these into the museums plans" (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 the Civil Defense office, located in the southwest bastion, moved out of the fort and the first phase of restoration commenced using $500,000 in HUD CDBG monies and $60,000 from the Virgin Islands Enhancement Fund (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 a contract was awarded to Coastal Construction with the firm of deJongh/Gjessing drawing specific plans „ and specs for funds allocated and their supervision of - the project. This phase/.in demolition of [twentieth center] interior walls in^ the courtyard which formed corridors into prison cells and certain [police] offices in the west and south [curtain walls] . Demolition of [modern cinder block] walls in the narrow west [curtain wall] side cells, returning them to their 1730's appearance, new plumbing and bathrooms, [and] a handicapped ramp by the right side of the 1874 entryway [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996] . This first restoration project of the west and south curtain walls lasted from 1990 until 1992 (see Photograph 8). A second phase of restoration saw $200,00^funded by HUD CDBG, go into the fort. The contractor was H '& M Systems under the supervision of deJongh/Gjessing. Work included repair of the large rooms behind the east curtain wall and the rooms in the southeast bastion. It also repaired the roof/gun deck of these rooms and bastion. The work lasted from 1993 to 1994 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . In 1994 the Fort Christian Museum was informed that a major Intermodal State Transportation and Enhancement Act project for work on Veteran's Drive had been approved and funds from this project would be used to complete the restoration of Fort A NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Christian, probably commencing work in 1997 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regisiralion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 9 . MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Boyer, William W. 1983 America's Virgin Islands, A History of Human Rights and Wrongs. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Bronsted, Johannes (editor) 1952 Vore Gamble Torpe Kolonier. Volume II. A.G.H. Forlag, Copenhagen. Caron, Aimery 1988 St. Croix under French Dominion. Paper for the 10th Annual Conference of Caribbean Historians. St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. March 28-April 2. Cinquino, Michael A. (Principal Investigator) 1996 Phase lA Cultural Resource Investigation for the Proposed Veterans Drive Improvements, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Prepared for; Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc., Maitland, Florida. Cissell, William F. 1993 A Synopsis of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Salt River, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its Special Relevance to the Columbus Quincentennial. Paper on file National Park Service, Atlanta. Crain, Edward E. 1994 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Dahl, Bjorn W. 1992 The Military Engineer Gottfried Hoffmann and his Works in Denmark 1648-1687. Fortress, No. 13, pp. 3-12, May. deJongh, Robert and Frederik J. Gjessing 1982 Fort Christian Historic Structures Report. The Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Vii.-gin Islands. Dookhan, Isaac 1974 A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Canoe Press, Kingston, Jamaica. Duffy, Christopher 1985 The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. Gjessing, Frederik C., and William P. MacLean 1987 Historic Buildings of St. Thomas and St. John. Macmillian Publishers, Limited. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Gjessing, Frederik C. and Philip E. Gardner 1958 Historic Architecture of the Virgin Islands. Sectioris from the Historic American Building Survey, Number 1. On file with the National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta. Highfield, Arnold R. 1995 St. Croix 1493, An Encounter of Two Worlds. The Virgin Islands Humanities Council, United States Virgin Islands. Jowers, Dolores 1996 Letter to Mark Barnes describing the restoration of Fort Christian from the 1970s to 1996. Letter on file with the National Register Programs Division, National Park Service, Atlanta. Lightbourn, Jno. 1973 The Story of Fort Christian, 1672. Reprinted Walloe's St. thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881. Museum Leaflet Series No. 1, Bureau of Libraries and Museums, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Morison, Samuel E. 1939 The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cadiz to Hispaniola and the Discovery of the Lesser Antilles. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sauer, Carl O. 1969 The Early Spanish Main. Berkeley. University of California Press, Westergaard, Waldemar 1917 The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754) The Macmillian Company, New York. Previous documentation on file (NPS): Preliminary Determination of Individual Listing (36 CFR 67) has been reques,ted. Previously Listed in the National Register. Previously Determined Eligible by the National Register. _X_ Designated a National Historic Landmark. May 5, 1977 Recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey: # ___ Recorded by Historic American Engineering Record: # NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of die Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Primary Location of Additional Data: State Historic Preservation Office Other State Agency Federal Agency Local Government University Other(Specify Repository): US Virgin Islands Mrs. Delores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regisiralion Form (Rev, 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, Natiomil Park Service OMB No. 1024-(K)18 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Acreage of Property:'' 1.92 acres UTM References: Zone Northing Easting Zone Northing Easting 3i)29040 296040 Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary for Fort Christian is based on an on7site visitation to the fort in April 1996, in the company of Mr. Myron Jackson of the Virgin Islands SHPO Office and Ms. Dolores Jokers, Curator of Fort Christian. The boundary description is key/(^to the enclosed sketch map (see Figure 1). A datum point was set at the base of the point of the southwestern bastion of Fort Christian. A line was projected in a generally southwest direction to the outside edge of the sidewalk. This is Point A. The boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk for 246 feet to Point B. From Point B the boundary goes due north for 356 feet to Point C (along the east side of a small road). From Point C the boundary goes across the small road and along the outside edge of a stone lined gutter bordering a open park area for 200 feet to the mid­ point of the road leading to the entrance of the fort (Point D). From Point D, the boundary continues along the outside edge of the stone lined gutter of the other open park area for 100 to Point E. From Point E the boundary goes due south along the outside eastern edge of the street for 257 feet to Point F. Point F is located along the outside edge of the intersection of Fort Pladsen and Veteran's Drive. From Point F the boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk on the north side of Veteran's Drive some 3 7 feet to ccinnect with Point A. Boundary Justification; The boundary for Fort Christian includes the entire fortification area which contain^ extant seventeenth to nineteenth century standing remains of the fort. It also includes areas to the east, west, and north sides of the fort, which once contained ravelins that projected out' from the curtain walls of the fort. The only non contributing building in the boundary is a 1950's fire station (see Photograph 6) that occupies the area to the west of the fort on which the west curtain ravelin once stood. A NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registrarion Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Slates Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 11. FORM PREPARED BY Name/Title: Mr. Paul Hawke, Historian Org. : Shiloh National Military Park Street/#: N/A City/Town: Shiloh State: Tennessee ZIP: 38376 Telephone: (901) 689-5275 Date: 1986 (Original Draft) Revised by: Mark R. Barnes, Ph.D. Senior Archeologist National Register Programs Division National Park Service, SERO 1924 Building 100 Alabama Street, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 562-3173 June 25, 1997 With the assistance of: Mrs. Dolores G. Joweru Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 (809) 776-4566 Virgin Islands Preservation Office Staff Department of Planning and Natural Resource Foster Plaza, Anna's Retreat 396-1 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00802 (809) 776-8605 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regisiraiion Form (Rev. 8-86; FORT CHRISTIAN United States Depantnent of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form C2 r Christ North Drive ,-TURE 1N3 'OJj Figure 1. Site map showing the boundaries of Fort Christ.ian and the layout of the surrounding area. Provided by M. Slater. National Park Service/WASO/History Division (418) : June 26, 19.9 7 IN REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St., S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 3030^ Memorandum To: Chief, National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, WASO Attention: Marilyn Harper, Historian From: Chief, National Register Programs Division, SERO Subject: Fort Christian National Historic Landmark - Additional Documentation Study The Fort Christian National Historic Landmark (NHL), a property located in Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas Island, United States Virgin Islands, was one of a series of older NHLs previously identified by your office as needing Additional Documentation. We have now completed, with the assistance of your office, the Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office, and the Museums Division of the Virgin Islands, a revision of the nomination text. The revised nomination also includes current photographs and USGS Map. Following acceptance of the revised nomination, we can provide your office with a electronic copy of this nomination upon request. If you have any questions or comments please contact our office (404) 562-3171, or send us an e:mail message. Enclosure Property Cl^rrshoi^ -”E DAT": State ^ j- 9//3/V? TECHNICAL Photos _ZiL Maps -2 J^ony 4^jpo3 pUiojos Ur-^i /o '3/ /<ri^/'/4^c/ C©FY B ccu^c^O-r-^/S f/^pr^cJfd 4o 'n^c^'^d e p^rf-k oP HISTORIAN — Apaf-/*© - rt\Uf>hi^ ouKcfi p^^-f- ■5^ 4^1®. Cryo, d-t^^o li <;(^(d ^—>. l^OOs • /'^«> j u qfoC^ -/e Cl6 d . — <Tow:i?/^^ rot^fcL K-v pr-elh^ix^aAy f-fi'fyO ro>^t^ a/^ I^l2d/Qic i^cV-oo/drr fs/f ^ ( ^P.f> /ifil^f l/d o,H'arhfid\ ___ ^“forppr" Zl^/^6 AHCHITECTURAL fflSTORIAN ARCHEOLOGIST BRANCH CHIEF c3:/(X4—KEEPER ^ GuMaX^*%a^ xi^ KEEPE] S-jl1- i<^ Fort Christian National Historic Landmark St. Thomas. VIRGIN ISLAND (NHL Boundary Study) Reviewer's Comments This boundary study still lacks a clear description of the oresent layout of the fort, and a clear statement of its significance. More importantly, it adds i area to the north of the fort, now part of the Emancipation Gardens park without adequate justi ication. At the beginning of Section 7, please include a summary iescription that indicates that most of the fort dates to the 17th and early 18th century, but that 'le entire north curtain wall was replaced in 1874 (please check and be sure this date is co isistently used—in some places it is shown as 1878). Please also expand the introductory par; graph in Section 8 to include a stronger justification of the national significance of the fort, for its association with the initial period of Danish colonial settlement, and a brief discussion of its ci ntinuing state and local significance. Please include an expanded boundary justification explaining in some detail why the portions of Emancipation Gardens north of the fort should be include J m the boundary. Although the north ravelin apparently existed from the early 18th century through 1874, the documentation seems to indicate that it was demolished in 1874 when the new north curtain was constructed. What evidence of the historic ravelin survives? If no historic fabric survives, these two areas should be deleted from the boundary. The boundary established whim Fort Cltristian was made a national historic site in 1960 does not include those areas. Please also clarify the confusing history of the St. Thomas Historic Site, which was created in 1960, but was apparently never a unit of the National Park System. I am including copies of relevant memos, etc., that more or less clarify that issue. Our file does not include a map of the area that was designated a landmark in 1977, but it would ])resumably have been the same area shown in the 1960 proclamation excluding the lots to the east that were separated from the Fort Christian property in the 1960s because of highway construction (see copy of memo from VI attached). Photographs need to be labeled following the guidelines in National Register bulletin 16a. There are many typos, which I have marked. I am also enclosing i copy of our preliminary review comments of January 8, 1997. Marilyn M. Harper Historian National Register of Historic Places May 28, 1998 NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: FORT CHRISTIAN Other Name/Site Number: Christians Fort 2. LOCATION Street & Number: N/A City/Town: Charlotte Amalie State: US Virgin Islands County: 2 2 1998 Not for publication:N/A Vicinity:N/A St. Thomas Code: 030 Zip Code:_00804_ 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Private Public-local Public-State Public-Federal Category of Property Building(s):_X_ District: Site: Structure: Object: Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 Noncontributing 1. buildings ______ sites ______ structures objects 1 Total Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Name of related multiple property listing: N/A Number of Register:_0 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination ____ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property Register criteria. meets does not meet the National Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I, hereby certify that this property is: Entered in the National Register Determined eligible for the _____ National Register Determined not eligible for the ___ National Register Removed from the National Register Other (explain): _____________________ Signature of Keeper Date of Action NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service _______________ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Government Defense Sub: government office fortification Current: Recreation and Culture Sub: museum 7■ DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Colonial, Danish colonial MATERIALS: Foundation: Walls: Roof : Other: Stone Stone Stone, Plaster covered Fired Brick, supported by wooden beams Fired Brick paving in courtyard NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regislration Form (Rev, 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ___________________________________ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the 1670s to protect the Danish colony on St. Thomas. The fort is a rubble masonry seventeenth-century fortress consisting of curtain walls enclosing a square, with four irregular diamond­ shaped bastions on each corner. The fort is typical of fortresses of the Baltic area of that century. Behind the curtain walls and bastions are rooms formerly containing gun batteries, government offices, the residence for the colonial gove.rnor, and the colony's first church. The interior courtyard of the fort is a brick-paved open area that once contained a large thick-walled tower along the north side of the courtyard. In 1874, this tower was demolished and the northern curtain wall was changed to incorporate a Gothic Revival style clock tower. Environmental Setting; The harbor of St. Thomas, with its easily defended narrow entrance, large roadstead to accommodate numerous ships, and broad flat beach on the north side of the harbor to land supplies and load plantation produce was an ideal location for the establishment of a colony that would depend upon sea borne trade. Along the eastern side of the beach was a slightly elevated rectangularly shaped rocky peninsula that jutted some 700 feet into the harbor. In the 1670s, the colonists built their stone fort on the neck of this peninsula to take advantage of its natural defensive characteristics (see Photograph 1). The east and west approaches to the fort were situated to be protected by a barrier of water, and later triangular-shaped stone fortifications (ravelins) projecting out from the curtain walls of the fort (Crain 1994:153). The south side of the fort, was also protected by water, but did not have a ravelin. Additional protection on the south side of the fort was provided by the construction of a water battery. On the north, or land side, which was the traditional approach into the fort, the elevation was not so steep. Therefore, the Danes enhanced the defense of this approach by constructing a wooden palisade across the neck of the peninsula. This approach area to the north of the fort was always maintained by the Danes as an open defensive area, and today consists of two small park areas (see Figure 1) . Behind the wooden palisade was a stone ravelin projecting from the north side of the stone fort (see Photograph 2) . The site of Fort Christian "commanded the flanking, beaches of the peninsula, the entrance to the harbor, and all parts of the bay" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). During the seventeenth century a barrier of prickly pear cactus was maintained between the wooden palisade and stone walls of the fort to further impede attackers. By the 1820s, when Fort Christian was rendered obsolete by improvements in the range and power of naval gunnery, it no longer was deemed necessary for the defense of the island. The soldiers were relocated from the fort and quartered in a barracks building (the present-day Territorial Legislature) constructed on the NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service __________________ JLL 2 2 1998 no. 1024^)018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form peninsula between the fort and the water battery. Throughout the nineteenth century, the water areas east and west of the fort were filled in to create flat land surfaces upon which open park space and dock facilities were constructed. In the 1870s, the ravelins on the north, east, and west sides of the fort were removed, although portions of the east ravelin are extant. Within the fortification was a square brick-paved open space. Along the north side of the open space was a squat three-story high stone tower, or keep, called Trygborg. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference, the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Fort Christian (see Photograph 3) _. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. In 1874, Trygborg, the northern curtain wall, and northern ravelin were torn down. That part of the fort was changed to incorporate a Gothic Revival style clock tower (see Photographs 4 and 5). In the mid-twentieth century, further land filling occurred along the whole northern shoreline of the harbor upon which a two lane highway (Veterans Drive) was constructed. This road ran along the south side of the fort, separating it from the water battery and barracks. The open spaces on the west (Emancipation Park) and north sides of the fort became park areas, while the area on the east became a parking lot (see Figure 1). Description; From the beginning. Fort Christian was considered the most important structure on St. Thomas, as it provided security for the newly founded Danish colony against attacks by other colonial powers and pirates. According to Robert deJongh and Fred Gjessing: The site selected [for the fort] was a low hill on a small peninsula jutting out at the approximate center of the north shore of the bay of St. Thomas harbor. It was opposite the entrance to the bay and extended 700 feet into it. Immediately behind the rocky shoreline, the peninsula had level ground only a few feet above the sea. The hill occupied the center of the peninsula. It was defined by fairly steep slopes towards the east, south and west. On the landward side, the hill sloped more gently down to the lower terrain to the north that separated the peninsula from the steeper rises further inland [1982:18]. The fort site faced water on the west, east, and south sides of the fort with a water battery on the extreme south face of the peninsula for protection against attack. The north side of the fort was protected by attack from the land side with a wooden palisade stretching across the peninsula, and a barrier of prickly pear cactus that surrounded the fort. Later, fortifications_were added on the exterior of the east, west, and north curtain walls in the form of ravelins (see Photograph 2) . The northern palisade. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form prickly pear cactus barrier, and ravelins (with the exception of partial remains on the east side of the fort) are gone. The land and sea areas surrounding Fort Christian have changed considerably through the gradual in-filling of the water areas on the west and east sides of the fort. The area to the north of the fort, where the Danish military once had a ravelin, is gone and the area is open space. The south side the open area between the water battery and the fort has been filled in with a 1820s barracks structure and three mid-twentieth century United States Coast Guard buildings. On the east side most of the ravelin was removed, as were numerous buildings constructed by the U.S. Navy (1917-1931) . The area east of the fort is now a parking lot. On the west side, the ravelin has been removed and a fire station was built in the area in the 1950s (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). The extant portions of the seventeenth and eighteenth fort structure, consist of: the east, west, and south curtain walls; all four diamond-shaped bastion walls; and rooms built within the bastions and against the curtain walls. The nineteenth century portion of the fort consists of the northern curtain wall and rooms built behind this curtain wall, and the Gothic Revival clock tower. All of these historic features are intact. Recent restoration efforts by the Territorial Government have resulted in the restoration of the roof, or gun deck, of the fort and the gun batteries within the west curtain wall of the fort (see Photographs 7 and 8) . This work has also removed the twentieth century frame additions added to the south side of the front of the fort and a concrete roof installed by the U.S. Navy, between 1917 and 1931, over the historic gun deck roof. The area of the fort that has seen the greatest change is the interior space of the fort formed by the curtain walls and bastions. Originally, the mass and height of the exterior curtain and bastion walls formed the defense for the cannons of the fort and served as the back wall for a number of structures built within the fort, some of wood and some of stone. Changes in the function of the fort and deterioration of structures necessitated numerous rearrangements of the interior of the fort. By the 173 0s most of the fort reached its present shape. The southeast part of the fort, due to the irregularity of the rocky outcrop on which it was constructed, would be the only two-story area of the fort. The height of the outer bastions walls allowed for the construction a lower series of masonry rooms in this area. Above this was a second tier of masonry rooms built against the outer curtain walls (see Photograph 9) . At the same time the southeast and southwest bastions had been completely filled in with rooms. The northwest and northeast bastions were only partially filled in, leaving a small space open in the middle of these bastions. The roof of the masonry rooms behind the curtain walls and bastions formed a continuous gun deck for the cannons. - Two stone guard posts were built at the tips of the northwest and southwest bastions. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form In 1874 the seventeenth-century north curtain wall between the northeast and northwest bastions and the internal tower (Trygborg) were removed. A Gothic Revival style entrance and clock tower were constructed (see Photographs 4 and 5). The only non-contributing building within the boundary of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark is a 1950s fire station along the west side of the fort (see Photograph 6). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: Nationally: X Statewide:___ Locally: Applicable National Register Criteria: AX B Criteria Considerations (Exceptions): A_ B NHL Criteria: Criterion 1 NHL Theme(s): NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Areas of Significance: Period(s) of Significance: Significant Dates: Significant Person(s): Cultural Affiliation: Architect/Builder: Exploration/Settlement, Military 1671-1917 N/A N/A N/A N/A NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form State Significance of Property, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. Summary Statement of Significance; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the latter part of the seventeenth century (1672-1680) to protect the Danish colony of St. Thomas. The fort served as the center for Danish colonial community life during much of the 250 years of Danish rule of St. Thomas. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governor's residence, governmental offices of the colony, the ...prison, and was the principal fortification protecting the settlement of Charlotte Amalie from attack by other colonial Caribbean powers. NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Background History On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus took a more southerly course across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to encounter the islands of the Caribs he had been told about on his first voyage. Columbus took this route as he wanted to chart a quicker route from Spain to the Indies. On November 3, 1493, only 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands, his fleet sighted the island of Dominica, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles (Highfield 1995:52). Travelling northward among the Lesser Antilles, Columbus landed at an island he called Guadalupe (present-day Guadeloupe Island). He spent eight days on this island and found the first evidence of the Caribs (Highfield 1995:52). On the morning of November 10, 1493, the fleet left Guadalupe and cruised northward naming various islands after Catholic saints. They reached the island of Saba, on November 12th, whence they turned to the west in the direction of St. Croix Island (Morison 1939:80; Highfield 1995:54) . Arriving at St. Croix on the morning of November 14th, Columbus coasted along the north side of the island looking for a place to debark and meet with the native peoples. Dr. Chanca, the expedition's physician, noted they could see the present-day American (St. Thomas and St. John) and British Virgin Islands north of St. Croix at this time (Highfield 1995:58). Following brief and bloody contact with the Native Americans on the north side of St. Croix, at Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960), on the afternoon of November 14, 1493 the fleet raised anchor and sailed north to NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev, 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form St. Thomas and St. John. The fleet did not land on either of these islands. However, it was during this part of the voyage that St. Thomas, called Santo Thomas by Columbus, was named. During the first decades of the sixteenth century the native peoples on the present-day American Virgin Islands were beset by Spanish slavers (Highfield 1995:132-133) attempting to acquire labor for the Puerto Rican gold mines. In January of 1511 the St. Croix Caribs joined with Puerto Rican Tainos to attack and destroy a Spanish settlement on the Anasco River, in Puerto Rico (Caron 1988:1). By Spanish decree the Caribs became enemies of the crown who were to be exterminated (Cissell 1993:3; Highfield 1995:76). Thereafter, Spanish expeditions from Puerto Rico regularly raided the American Virgin Islands for Carib slaves. By 1515, Juan Ponce de Leon, Governor of Puerto Rico, described these islands as deserted (Sauer 1969:192). Throughout the rest of the sixteenth century the American Virgin Islands were for the most part abandoned. They were too close to Spanish Puerto Rico for native peoples to maintain a safe permanent settlement, while the Spanish had no interest in using the islands as a colony. Instead, they became staging areas for almost annual Carib raids on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in the 1520s and 1530s (Highfield 1995:134). In all probability the American Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, were sporadically inhabited by Caribs until the beginning of the seventeenth century (Highfield 1995:134). The first European country to attempt to permanently settle St. Thomas was an ill-fated colonial effort by Denmark, in 1666. Under Governor Erik Smit a small colony was established on St. Thomas, presumably in the area of the present fort, but that attempt ended when the Dutch attacked the colony and the colonists elected to return to Denmark after only eighteen months (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2) . To prevent foreign interference with any future colonization attempt. King Christian V in 1670 signed a treaty of alliance and commerce with Great Britain. In that way, the British -- the most powerful colonial presence in the Lesser Antilles -- would not oppose Danish efforts to colonize St. Thomas (Dookhan 1974:37). In 1671 the Danes second attempt to colonize St. Thomas began with the establishment of the Danish Westindia and Guinea Company, "to carry on business in the West Indies" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1). In the following year (1672) St. Thomas was successfully colonized (Westergaard 1917:31-32). The Danes later acquired the rights to the island of St. John through the founding of plantations on that island in 1717. The Danish Westindia and Guinea Company purchased the practically abandoned French island of St. Croix in 1733. The Danes took possession in the following year completing Danish colonial holdings in the New World (Westergaard 1917:37, 128, 208). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The Danish, like other European colonial powers in the Caribbean, used imported African slave labor to produce tropical products, such as sugar, rum, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. All of these products were in great demand internationally. By the late eighteenth century, the plantations on St. Thomas were predominately given over to the raising of sugar cane, and the production of molasses, rum, and brown sugar for export. However, the expense of transporting, maintaining, and policing a captive labor population would prove to be less economically profitable for St. Thomas than inter-island trade. The Danish Westindia and Guinea Company was under contract to the Danish government to organize the Lesser Antilles islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John into profitable colonies. To this end the Company established slaving stations along the Guinea coast of Africa. Between 1698 and 1754 the company transported over ten thousand slaves from Africa to the Danish Virgin Islands. It is estimated that over one quarter of the slaves perished at sea. This was a much higher loss rate than suffered by other European slavers (Boyer 1983:17). When the contract of the Company ended in 1754 the Danish government continued the transport of African slaves with a similar loss ratio. In 1803 the Danish slave trade officially ended. The end of the trade was recommended by the Great Negro Trade Commission which illustrated the trade as equally unhealthy to Danish sailors. Of the 2,004 Danish sailors who sailed in the Danish slave ships in the twelve-year period of 1777 to 1789, a total of 691, or more than one-third, died during the voyages [Boyer 1983:37]. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, the King's edict of March 16, 1792 set the date of the end of the slave trade at December 31, 1802, "in order to permit the planters time to stock up on the number of slaves" (Boyer 1983:37). As early as 1690 Governor Johan Lorentz of the Virgin Islands proclaimed a policy of execution or mutilation as punishment for runaway slaves (Boyer 1983:24). Within the Danish islands . . . a special tax was levied on planters to indemnify those among them for any legally killed or injured slaves, thus removing a powerful economic constraint against the maiming and killing of slaves [Boyer 1983:24- 25] . Throughout the eighteenth century, and into the early decades of the nineteenth century, the Danish slave laws were still being enforced. Although during the two British occupations of the islands in the early nineteenth century (1801 and 1807-1815) they were considerably relaxed (Boyer 1983:28). Added to this was- a growing free-colored class that served in the Free-Colored Militia, owned property, ran businesses, and even possessed slaves, and who NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form were petitioning the Danish King for their full rights as citizens (Boyer 1983:42) . After Emancipation of the slaves in 1848 sugar cane production dropped off to practically nothing on St. Thomas. As the importance of tropical products grown on St. Thomas declined in importance, the major economic aspect of the island became the transit trade of goods that were traded in the neutral port of Charlotte Amalie. This trade had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century following its designation..as a free port in 1764 (Cinquino 1996:30-31). The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growing prosperity for St. Thomas. The excellence and size of its harbor and the location of St. Thomas, midway between North and South America, and within cruising range of the new steam-powered ships from Europe and the United States, made St. Thomas an ideal transhipment point. The island was not only prospering, it was also optimistically predicting further growth and development. The prosperity of St. Thomas began to taper off in the last half of the nineteenth century, due to natural disasters and technological changes. In late 1867 St. Thomas was beset by two major natural disasters in rapid succession. In October a devastating hurricane hit the island, followed in November by a tidal wave, both of which destroyed great numbers of ships in the harbor. These two natural catastrophes did great damage to the town, the harbor, shipping facilities, and St. Thomas' reputation as a safe harbor (Bronsted 1952:299). Advances and improvements of the steamships of the period, eliminated the need for using St. Thomas as a coaling station for ships from North America and Europe on their way to South America. St. Thomas' transit trade and usefulness as a coaling station was coming to an end. The gradual loss of population that resulted from the declining economy of the island also affected the St. Thomas community. Following World War II, with the increase in air transportation and the development of tourism, the population of St. Thomas has again grown in numbers. History of Fort Christian As early as the 1620s Danish merchants developed trading companies along the lines of the British, Dutch, and French West Indies Companies to trade Danish goods for tropical products available only from the Caribbean. Danish trading ventures of this time usually consisted of sending individual ships sponsored by the merchant companies to trade at ports in the New World, trade practice which usually produced substantial profits for these companies. By mid-century the Copenhagen based Westindia Company proposed the creation of a Danish colony in the Caribbean. In 1665 the company secured permission from the crown to settle a colony on St. Thomas in the West Indies. The first Danish colonization effort reached St. Thomas, on March 30, 1666, under the command of Erik Smit who had been appointed Governor for the new colony by the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Slates Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form WestIndia Company. Governor Smit and numerous other colonists soon died. The remaining settlers were not able to complete a defensive fortification, believed to be located in the vicinity of Bluebeard's Castle, on a hill east of the present location of Fort Christian (Lightbourn 1973:1; deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1-2, 17). The loss of settlers due to illness meant the colony did not have the manpower to construct a defensive structure for its protection. The newly founded colony soon found itself embroiled in international politics that would doom its ..existence without the means to protect itself from other colonial powers and pirates. According to deJongh and Gjessing, In 1665 war had broken out between England and Holland in which France joined on the side of the Dutch. By the following year it had spread to the Caribbean. Initially this appeared to offer the Danish colony an advantage. Dispossessed individuals from English and Dutch possessions sought refuge on St. Thomas and augmented the depleted labor force of the Danes. However, it provided the justification of French, Dutch and English freebooters to raid the new colony, ostensibly to capture the refugees but in reality also to secure such supplies and equipment the small force could not defend. After eighteen months of harassment and deprivation the survivors of the expeditionary force, who since the death of Erik Smit had been led by the Lutheran minister Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, decided to abandon the settlement. They made their way back to Denmark by stages [1982:2] . In early 1671 the rechartered Westindia Company was created to attempt to reestablish a Danish colony on the island of St. Thomas. The Company selected as the Governor of the colony Jorgen Iversen. Iversen had gone to the British Caribbean Island of St. Christopher (present-day St. Kitts) at the age of 13 as an indentured servant in 1651. Over the next fifteen years he rose to become a full partner in a Dutch trading concern in the Caribbean, from which he learned the lessons necessary for a successful colony (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2-3). Between Iversen’s arrival on St. Thomas in May 23, 1672 until July 4, 1680, when he was relieved, he succeeded . . . in creating a community out of the multinational and racial components of the colony and steer it towards a promise of prosperity while building Christians Fort, carrying out an inter-island trade for the company and establishing plantations on St. Thomas [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3] . Iversen understood the threats facing a new colony in the far off NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) JUL 2 2 998 0MB No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Caribbean, and how the lack of a fort had doomed the first Danish colonization attempt. He appears to have given a high priority to the construction of the fort. Shortly after landing on St. Thomas, Iversen issued orders that "all [colonists] should assemble to [militia] service on Sundays in the Fort by beat of drum, " the penalty for non-compliance being 25 lbs. of tobacco (Lightbourn 1973:1). The completion date of the fort is unknown but is presumed to have been mostly finished in time for the French attack of 1678. It was during Governor Iversen's tenure that he not only had Fort Christian constructed, but also one of its outlying hilltop gun and watch towers -- Skytsborg in 1679 (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). According to Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing An Army Lieutenant had been included amongst the Company's functionaries of the proposed colony. He was to advise Governor Iversen in all military matters and provide the technical knowledge needed for the design and construction of a fort. To insure that this was done according to the standards of the times, a copy of Admiral Freitag's treatise on the construction of forts was included among the books that J0rgen Iversen brought out to guide him in his duties as the governor. This 17th century work provides layout[s] of fortifications, explanations of the military functions of their different parts and served as a design handbook for military engineers [1982:17]. Unfortunately, the Lieutenant died on the voyage from Denmark to the Virgin Islands, so "Iversen was left to make his own decision[s] regarding the fortification" location and shape (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). Iversen probably used Admiral Freitag's book in planning the layout of Fort Christian. Later Governors of St. Thomas, and even Iversen, would acknowledge the disadvantages of the site he chose for Fort Christian, however, the "sense of urgency that an adequate if not ideal fort had to be erected rapidly for the defense of the colony, must have been the basic considerations of the decision" to site the fort on a slightly elevated area on the beach, rather than higher up out of the range of any seventeenth-century artillery fire from ships and from hills to the north and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:19). To help defend the exposed location Fort Christian two gun towers were later built on hilltops above the fort, a technic pioneered by the seventeenth century Scandinavian military architects Gottfried Hoffmann and Erik Dahlberg. As to the style of the fort, Iversen chose to construct a typical seventeenth-century thick-walled square fortification with projecting diamond-shaped, or Vauban, bastions at each corner. The irregular shape of the hill on which the fort was constructed required that the bastions not be uniform in size. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form In the interior courtyard was constructed a fortified tower (Trygborg) , or keep, that was a story higher than the main fort (see Photograph 3) . This type of fortification with internal keep would have been familiar to Iversen and had played an important role in military engineering in the Baltic Sea region, where during the seventeenth century the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden fought over control of the sealanes leading into the Baltic. The two preeminent military engineers during this conflict, Gottfried Hoffmann of Denmark and Erik Dahlberg of Sweden, utilized low thick-walled fortifications to protect towns and key defensive points often in combination with outlying fortified towers (Dahl 1992:6; Duffy 1985:191). As noted by Christopher Duffy, in The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, The surest signs of [Erik] Dahlberg's presence were, however, his idiosyncratic multi-storeyed casemated towers, which he employed variously as island batteries, hilltop forts and inner keeps [1985:195-196]. Gottfried Hoffman, during the mid-seventeenth century, also constructed fortresses with outlying and internal tower works at Fredericia and Helsingborg, Denmark (Dahl 1992:6). Throughout the troubled seventeenth century, the contenders for control of the Baltic - Denmark and Sweden - also undertook efforts to establish colonies in the New World. Sweden established a military outpost called Fort Christina (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961) in the vicinity of present day Wilmington, Delaware, where they traded for furs until the colony was captured by the English in 1664. The Danes were more successful in establishing and holding a colony in the Caribbean. The Seventeenth Century We do not have a clear picture of the original seventeenth-century fort built under Iversen's direction. However, it is believed the outer walls of all four bastion walls of the present fort, internal tower or keep (removed in 1874) , and the south, east, and west curtain walls can be attributed to the first building phase (deJongh and Gjessing 1982). Housing for the governor, the troops, government officials, and the colony's church appear to have been accommodated in wooden and stone structures in the interior of the fort. To provide additional soldiers for the defense of St. Thomas, Iversen, in 1674, secured from the island planters an agreement "to perform guard duty on a rotating basis at the fort in return for easement of taxes" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:20). Accounts kept by Governor Iversen between 1672 and 1680, tend to indicate that by 1676 the internal tower, the outer curtain and bastion walls, and buildings within the fort were substantially finished. These accounts also indicate that between 1676 and 1680, the majority of the work on the fort consisted of carpentry and finishing work (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Depanment of the Interior, National Park Service JUL 2 ;998 OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form One of the main features of Christians Fort was a squat three-story high tower, called Trygborg, on the north side of the fort. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Christians Fort. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. This was the first military tower that can be documented on St. Thomas. The push by Governor Iversen to complete the work on the fort would shortly be rewarded. In the fall of 1676, the United Kingdom of Denmark-Norway became involved in a European war with France as one of the adversaries. The conflict had been expected for a couple of years and had been the reason for securing the planters agreement to perform guard duties at the fort. With the outbreak of the war in Europe an attack on St. Thomas by forces from the older, more populous and better established French colonies was anticipated and feared. In preparation for the attack the guard duties of the planters and other inhabitants of St. Thomas at the fort were stepped up and planters and their families were allowed to live in the fort [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21]. In February of 1678 a force of some 60 French settlers from neighboring St. Croix launched an attempt to seize St. Thomas Island. Fortunately, Governor Jorgen Iversen's fort proved too strong to storm. As the attackers did not have any siege cannon Fort Christian was easily able to withstand the brief siege imposed by the French from St. Croix. The French were forced to retreat after capturing a number of slaves which were carried back to St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:22). The defeat of the French in 1678, proved Fort Christian was a strong defense for St. Thomas against an attacking force without siege guns or enemy ships approaching from the sea. However, Governor Iversen realized that the French attacking force could have pounded Christians Fort into submission by erecting an artillery battery on the high ground east and north of the fort. For this reason Iversen ordered a tower fortification erected on Baggaertsbjerg Hill, a hill top north of Christians Fort in 1679, similar to Trygborg called Skytsborg or Sky Tower (Blackbeard's Castle) (see Photograph 1). Such a tower would not only deny the high ground to an attacking force, but also serve as a watchtower providing a vantage point high enough to peer over Hassel Island to scan the open ocean; thereby providing Fort Christian early warning of an approaching enemy (see Photograph 10). Later in 1689 one of Iversen's successors had Schmitberg (Bluebeard's Castle) constructed on a hill east of the fort. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The success of the 1678 defense of St. Thomas convinced Iversen of the usefulness of stone towers for defense. Iversen's letter of February 2, 1680 to the directors of the Danish West India Company indicated that Skytsborg had been erected at Baggaertsbjerg by that date. In it he wrote "Since I had the (Skytsborg) Watchtower erected at Baggaertsbjerg I did not fear a hasty attack so much." A 1687 English map of St. Thomas harbor depicts and describes a "small white tower" on Baggaertsbjerg Hill to the north of Fort Christian (see Photograph 1). It is possible that Iversen used the Company stone mason Simon Lamare, who had worked on Fort Christian and Trygborg tower, to construct Skytsborg in 1679. According to deJongh and Gjessing In August, 1674, Jorgen Iversen acquired for the Company a mulatto slave by the name of Simon Lamare. He was a mason and was to serve as the clerk of the works, for the construction of the fort [Fort Christian]. The phrasing in the account book of this transaction is of interest. It states "brought Simon Lamare to serve the Company for seven years" [1674-1681], implying some sort of contractual agreement with Simon Lamare for his manumission after an agreed upon period of service [1982:20]. In July of 1680, Nicolai Esmit assumed the governorship of the island from Iversen and moved into the completed fort. According to deJongh and Gjessing, Iversen left a description of the fort which is summarized in the following manner. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west wall nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east-west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the land side of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. _ NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP RegistraUon Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Depanmeni of the Interior. National Park Service JOu - 2 w58 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickly pears had been cultivated in the land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. The principal entrance to the fort was...the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sally port was the demi-lune, a squat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east. The postern gate in the west curtain was [a] simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. On the exterior the walls varied in height. Since the fort was built around a hill that had its apex in the approximate center of the fort [the] projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls (see Photograph 9). Towards the east north and south the variations in the exterior heights were not great. Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its height of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliberately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby give Christiansfort its irregular outline on the bayside. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Between the salient angles of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea, all had a width [or thickness] of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the west face of the southwest bastion 4 feet 3 inches. The same dimensions is shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. All other walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while others were separated by passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtyard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these [courtyard] structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:24-26]. Nicolai Esmit's tenure as governor would be short, as his own brother Adolf confined him in the prison in the fort on July 7, 1683 and took over the governorship. Apparently Nicolai "openly aided and trafficked with known freebooters and allowed them to sail under the Danish flag" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Adolf continued this commerce with freebooters and illegally traded with the French colony of St. Croix, with whom his country was still officially at war (Caron 1988:27-28) . Adolf's downfall was caused by his seizure of British property. Governor William Stapleton, of the British Leeward Islands sent complaints to Denmark of the conditions in St. Thomas which had become in his words a "den of pirates" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Probably the best evidence of Adolf Esmit's connection with pirates was the La Trompeuse affair. La Trompeuse was commanded by the French pirate Jean Hamlin, who had stolen the ship from English merchants of Jamaica in 1682. Throughout 1682 and 1683 Hamlin seized over three dozen ships, many English, and resold them.and their cargos in St. Thomas. On July 27, 1683 the English vessel H.M.S. Francis, under the command of Captain Charles Carlile, caught up with La Trompeuse in St. Thomas harbor lying under the guns of Fort Christian. As the Francis approached the pirate ship she found herself under the fire of both La Trompeuse and Fort NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Regislration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Christian. Carlile backed off, but that night his men boarded La Tromneuse and burned her. Later it was learned that Hamlin had been the guest of Governor Esmit in the fort during this action (Dookhan 1974:109-111). He [Hamlin] has eaten and banqueted with Esmit and has slept with Esmit in a room. He has brought much gold. Esmit would not deliver the said Hamlyn to the English. Furthermore, Esmit sent Hamlyn together with his comrades and pirates out of the harbour with ...a barque . belonging to the company . . . [Dookhan 1974:111]. In spite of his problems Governor Esmit did cause some improvements at the fort to be accomplished, . . . [he] built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification; each of the rooms having two doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks. The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted biblio-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the beams red [Lightbourn 1973:3]. Adolf Esmit also had the western curtain wall height raised by some four or five feet and caused the water battery to be constructed during his governorship (1683-84) (Lightbourn 1973:4). Esmit had good reason to strengthen his fortification as the British Governor of Nevis "had driven the Danes from St. John, taken away all the cattle from Buck Island and Water Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas" and "an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island (of St. Thomas) and taken off 60 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). Eventually, the West India Company's concern over the Esmit family caused them to send out a new governor, Gabriel Milan, in 1684. According to Lightbourn The Company seem[s] to have had some fear of trouble on Milan's arrival, for in his instructions he is charged to "proceed carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and in the event of A[dolf] Esmit raising any difficulty, or refusing to give over the fort, he is to take over the command of the island by force. He is further to guard against Esmit's cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he has secured the power Esmit and family must be confined and sent home by the first opportunity" [1973:3]. Milan would carry out his orders and transport both of the Esmit brothers and their families back to Denmark. However, foreign intrigues would continue to plague the colony. Milan wrote the Company in July 1685 of the British cutting lignum vitae trees on NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service JUL -^3 OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form St. John and that the Spanish from Puerto Rico had "landed on St. Thomas and taken off 54 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). In the same letter, Milan complained about the state of Fort Christian, claiming it . . . "is a bad fortification, for every one who moves [about] in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;" he admits that "the fort itself is composed of strong wall [s] , " but that "it is buiLt disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of," and that "the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and consequently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night" [Lightbourn 1973:4]. Governor Milan's tenure lasted until September 27, 1687, when Adolf Esmit and his family returned to assume the governorship of St. Thomas. In this year the first complete description of the fort was made and later reprinted by Lightbourn. The S.W. point or [King's] Bastion. The Southern Curtain.-Here are: One room, called the flathouse, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron rails [bars]. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. On the western side is a dungeon. By the small cistern is a small apartment with door and window, the partition being of boards. The small cistern. The S.E. point, or [Company's] Bastion-to which there is a railing [barred] door with hinges and bolts on the top of this is a small room (see Photograph 9). A new house stands in the center of the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire-bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain-A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof and 2 windows. A large gate, called Landgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate with a wood roof. The large cistern. The N.E. point or [Prince's] Bastion (see Photograph 11) , The Northern Curtain.-Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The [Trygborg] tower. The N.W. point, or [Queen's] Bastion-on top of which- there is a solid sentry box (see Photograph 12) . In the Bastion there is an oven. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician's room, with 1 window with iron [bars] rails. Next to his a kitchen, roofed with red tiles, near the kitchen a small tobacco store room and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. Four small apartments [the ones built by Adolph Esmit against the inside of the west curtain wall] (see Photograph 8). In the largest there are a large window and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally halfway up. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with bolt, leading to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of which the one is iron railed and the other supplied with wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored with Dutch fire-bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window. In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead. Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of masonry work. A water battery is erected [by Adolf Esmit] at the water's edge. The large Landgate has 1 and the small Watergate 2 railing doors. All the Prickly Pear around the Fort is overgrown by weeds, and has mostly died out [Lightbourn 1973:4-5]. Adolph Esmit's return as Governor of St. Thomas lasted a mere 24 days before his unpopularity with the colonists caused him to return to Denmark. In 1688 another crisis occurred in response to dynastic wars in Europe. The Spanish from Puerto Rico occupied Crab Island (Vieques) and Anguilla thereby surrounding St. Thomas. This action made the Danes in St. Thomas very concerned as the Spanish had never abandoned their claim, by right of discovery by Christopher Columbus, to St. Thomas. Governor Christopher Heins, who had replaced Esmit, undertook a program of upgrading the fortifications of Christiansfort and Skytsborg. To provide more security he had the Landgate located in the Eastern Curtain wall closed up (Lightbourn 1973:6). Heins also had embrasures cut in the walls of Skytsborg tower for two large cannon capable of covering the harbor. He also erected a third tower to the east on Schmidtberg Hill, today called Bluebeard's Castle. The erection of this last tower in 1689 completed the seventeenth-century defenses of St. Thomas (Gjessing and Gardner 1958:1-3). Throughout the 1680s as supporting defenses around the fort were constructed. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-(X)18 National Register of Historic Pl»xs Registration Form Within the fortification several of the buildings that cluttered the central courtyard were demolished and replaced by structures against the [inside of the] curtain walls. This was to set a trend for future developments. The gradual levelling of the interior of the fort by overbuilding the structures against the east curtain and in the southeast bastion, thereby converting them into basements, was also initiated [in] these years and set a pattern for the later building activities [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:35] . In peacetime no soldiers were stationed at Skytsborg or Schmidtberg, while a skeleton force was maintained at Fort Christian. If an attack by other colonial forces or a slave rebellion was anticipated an alarm was sounded by firing a predetermined number of cannon at Fort Christian. This signal would call out all ablebodied whites and free blacks to take up arms and report to one of the three fortifications. According to Lightbourn, "each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men; Frederiksfort (Schmidtberg) was to have 25 men and the northern tower (Skytsborg) 9 men" (1973:7). Such an alarm occurred in May of 1694 when a slave insurrection was anticipated from the newly established plantations in the New Quarter, or present-day Tutu, a northern suburb of Charlotte Amalie, The Eighteenth Century In spite of the modifications and work done on the fort in the latter part of the seventeenth century, by the first decade of the eighteenth century, the island government complained to the Company "that the thick walls of the tower in the fort admitted moisture, thus injuring the [gun]powder, and recommending that the tower be cased with boards, as there was no place for building a powder magazine in the fort, excepting under the Church," which occupied the southwest bastion of the fort (Lightbourn 1973:9). The governor also recommended moving the church out of the southwest bastion as "such sacred services need not be done in such a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future time, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals between the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to" (Lightbourn 1973 : 9) . The Lutheran Church, which served the St. Thomas community had always been located within the fort, "sometimes quarters were set apart especially for the service of the Church, at other times we read of divine services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms" (Lightbourn 1973:9). In 1706 a wooden church was erected in the interior courtyard of the fort against the eastern curtain. This building, according to measurements made in 1724, was 49 feet by 25 feet (Lightbourn 1973:9) . The fort continued to deteriorate causing Governor Erik Bredal and then the Lutheran clergyman, to leave the fort and move into dwellings in the surrounding town of Charlotte Amalie, in 1716 and NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1717. The reasons given were that the deteriorated condition of the fort made it unhealthy. Indeed, the first clergyman who inhabited the fort "died within 47 days after his induction and his successor declared his inability to reside in it" (Lightbourn 1973 :9) . Finally, in 1724 Governor Otto Jacob Thambsen ordered a structural survey be made of the fort. The survey convinced the Company to undertake a remodelling of the fort which was completed on April 30th, 1735. According to deJongh and Gjessing, The remodelling of the late 1720s and early 1730s was to result in the complete covering [roofing] of the southern bastions. The northern bastions retained their gorges but in reduced sizes for the rooms between the gorges and the outer walls were widened and enclosed by masonry walls toward the inner courts. All the curtains and the bastions were furnished with flat masonry roofs that provided a continuous terreplein all around the central courtyard of the fort and served as its principal gundeck (see Photograph 7) [1982:42]. The major changes to the fort consisted of the construction of ravelins (see Photographs 2, 9, and 13) on the outside of the fort and the reorienting of access to the fort. In the plans for the remodelling of Christians Fort during these years an east ravelin was intended and considered to be adequate defense for the old sallyport . . . Within the fort it gave the former gatehouse a greater depth and also provided a passage between the new and old curtain walls from the gatehouse to the southeast bastion at the lower level of the fortification. The plan [of] organization of Christians Fort was reoriented. The postern gate in the west curtain wall . . . was blocked up. The original sallyport [in the east curtain wall] . . . was retained and repaired but was only to serve as the access to the proposed east ravelin. The new sallyport was centered in the north curtain and a postern gate planned for the south curtain. The latter was still under construction in 1733 and when completed during the following couple of years had taken the form it has preserved to the present. As a protection for the new sallyport a ravelin was constructed between the north bastions. At the salient angle of the ravelin a vaulted gatehouse flanked by sentry boxes gave access to the steps and a ramp that led down to the terrain north of the fort and served as the principal entrance to the fortification. Within the ravelin the grade was raised from 4 feet to 6 feet above the outside terrain making the ravelin wall that were 6, feet tall on the interior from 10 to 12 feet tall on the exterior. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The east ravelin was started, but by 1733 only half finished. When completed in 1735 the grade within had also been raised above the surrounding terrain and in this process the lower story of the old demi-lune was buried [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:43-44] . According to a 1733 description of the work in progress, in Lightbourn (1973), the new work in the fort is described in more detail in the following manner. The South West, or King's Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision room. The North West, or Queen's Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place for 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince's Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and contains a dungeon. The South East, or Company's Bastion, which is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Governor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arched gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed and is in connection with the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dungeons. Under the Governor's rooms are a small cistern, the Governor's cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 feet in thickness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor's rooms nor the cellars above mentioned were yet finished [in 1733]. the Southern Curtain contains the Governor's pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been taken out of the breadth of the Curtain for a mason work staircase leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor's private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork beside the foundation [this work was never completed]. Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King's (S.W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is neither roofed nor supplied with doors nor windows; it has, however, towards the sea, two oval holes 2 feet high and 3 feet broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non-commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerk; it is roofed with planks and rock, but leaks already. The Northern Curtain is the corps de garde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the center of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into the fort, and outside of this there is a_ breastwork, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and form NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form a triangle [or ravelin], their point of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outside, the gate is built in such a manner as to allow a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the North, a lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space in which the water is drawn up from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern is the descent to the gate, which is well supplied with means for closing out towards the Eastern breastwork where the lime is prepared for the building of the; of this breastwork only the foundation on the south side is built. The descent alluded to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to the Cantine, and, further on to the passage which goes round the foundation of the church, of which previous mention was made, in to the powder magazine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the east end of the church and over the gate previously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary's office; it has a door to the yard next to the space in which water is drawn, and another door to the passage which runs behind the church over the passage to the Governor's rooms, but neither floor, windows nor doors are yet finished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the passage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the church was built of wood in 1706, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Southern side as far as the Governor's rooms go, the defective wood work had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood work of the Church, which is still left is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, according to the custom of the place, is of planks and shingles. The hospital and oven are outside the South West Bastion and the open space on the Western side towards the harbor where the lime kiln is [Lightbourn 1973:10,12]. Throughout the eighteenth century Denmark maintained a policy of strict neutrality in all European wars. This policy, coupled with the establishment of a free port in St. Thomas, proved more of an economic boon to the Danish West Indies than the planting of sugar cane. The commerce between belligerent nations was attracted to the island to transact business. In particular, the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), which involved all of the European colonial powers in the Caribbean except Denmark, proved an economic boon to the island of St. Thomas. All European powers and traders respected the neutrality of St. Thomas, as a neutral Caribbean port of trade and to a certain extent encouraged its prosperity, as it provided a means of trade between otherwise belligerent European powers during the war. The colonial government was able to show a profit during the war years from its collection of transit trade taxes and issued a dividend to the Danish Westindia Company^ s investors (deJongh and Gjeasing 1982:10). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form tRev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form As the warehouses and trading houses of Charlotte Amalie expanded to meet this trade the need for fortifications languished. The fort "area experienced little new construction in the half century between 1730 and 1780, partly because of the need to maintain open space around the fort for defensive purposes and partly because of water barriers" (Cinquino 1996:62) . On the interior of the fort it was necessary, probably due to the leaky roof, in 1736 to rebuild the six rooms against the west curtain wall; and in 1752, the Church located in the courtyard, was "ready to fall to pieces" and so was demolished (Lightbourn 1973:12) . Yet Fort Christian was still significant to the Danish colonial government. During the first half century of its existence the fort served not only as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies, but also the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury and for most of the years as the place of worship for the Lutheran congregation [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12]. With the acquisition of St. Croix from France in 1733, the Westindia Company had secured an island large enough to support literally hundreds of sugar plantations. In the following two decades, St. Croix's population surpassed that of St. Thomas. In 1755 the residence of the Governor of the Danish West Indies was moved from Fort Christian on St. Thomas, to the more prosperous colonial island town of Christiansted on St. Croix Island (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). By the 1750s, in spite of the extensive remodelling of Fort Christian completed in 1735, it was recognized that the fort was no longer adequate to the task of defending the island from attack. Various proposals for upgrading the fortifications were proposed but not acted upon (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:13-14) . Outside the fort the growth of Charlotte Amalie necessitated, in 1781-1782, the lagoon east of Fort Christian being drained, filled in, and parcelled out to settlers (Cinquino 1996:62) . Lt. Peter Lotharius Oxholm who studied Fort Christian, had made the recommendation to fill in the lagoon. Its existence he claimed, and probably correctly, was in part the cause of the garrison's poor health condition. He comments on the stench that emanates from it during dry periods and was carried all through the town on the easterly breezes [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:58] . The Nineteenth Century By the beginning decades of the nineteenth century there had been no major changes to the fort since 1735. When the British occupied St. Thomas in 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 [to deny Napoleon's fleets use of the islands], they fortified and established their garrison- on the peninsula on the west side of the harbor as a more suitable location for its defenses than Christians Fort. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service JUL 2 2 "^98 OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The latter was never again considered seriously as a defensive position [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:14]. Most of the changes in the nineteenth century occurred in the area surrounding the fort. A fire that swept through the town of Charlotte Amalie on New Years Day of 1826 destroyed the old Westindia Company warehouses, which according to von Meley's town plan of 1807 were located where the Grand Hotel and Emancipation Gardens now stand, northwest of the fort. The only new building erected in this area was the Grand Hotel built in 1839, followed three decades later by the construction of Emancipation Garden in 1873, to the west of the fort on land reclaimed by the sea (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). South of the fort, a military barracks for enlisted men and non­ commissioned officers was built in 1827-28, which today serves as the Territorial Legislature Building (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). The troop's rooms in the old fort were converted to prison cells. The old water battery immediately south of these buildings was demolished shortly after the barracks were built. During the 1820s several other military structures were added to this area, but they were torn down after 1845 (Cinquino 1996:63). In 1871 the capital of the Danish West Indies was again relocated. Charlotte Amalie once more became the seat of colonial government. The military functions of Fort Christian were practically nil. A proposal to convert the fort from a military installation to a police station, a function more in keeping with the times, was made and entertained. In 1874 it was acted upon and was the first major change to the structure in 140 years. The major change to the fort itself was the blowing up of Governor Iversen's internal tower (Trygborg) on June 19, 1874. This was followed by the removal of the north curtain wall, northern ravelin, and north gate house, and the tearing down of most of the ravelin off the eastern side of the fort (see Photograph 9). In demolishing part of the eastern ravelin the demi-lune constructed by Governor Iversen was uncovered, drawn, and then torn down. All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and in their stead a new building of an entirely different appearance was erected with a clock tower over the entrance. The East and West of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastions [Lightbourn 1973:13]. By 1875 the northern curtain wall had been "replaced by a new one in the then popular style of gothic revival" (see Photograph 4, 5, and 14) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15) . The Twentieth Century When the United States acquired the Virgin Islands, in 1917, there had been no additional changes to the fort and its surrounding area by the Danish. The Virgin Islands were administered by the U.S. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Navy during the early period of American control (1917-1931) . The Navy took over Fort Christian and the land areas to the south and east of the fort. Shortly thereafter, a Marine Corps barracks was constructed east of the fort on harbor lands reclaimed in the 1780s. In the following years a number of new structures were added to it. They included, among other, two steel radio towers, a communication center, an ice and refrigeration plant, cisterns, garages, a mess and a recreational hall, shops, storage buildings, etc., crowding the grounds of the fort and partly obscuring it and the old barracks building [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. All of these twentieth century buildings to the east of the fort would be removed in the 1950s, with the construction of Veteran's Drive, and the area was converted to a parking lot which is its present use (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:62). Veteran's Drive, which runs east-west along the filled-in shoreline of Charlotte Amalie was built to run between the south side of the fort and the old Danish barracks. This construction required the in filling of more land to the west and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:16). Within Christians Fort work was confined to minor additions, repairs and to the installation of new utilities. Generally, it was done with faint regard to the historic fabric of the structure and lessened its architectural integrity [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. During the period from 1917 to 1983 Fort Christian continued to serve the Virgin Islands as a police station and prison. However, in the early 1960s the island community began to voice concern about the preservation of the old fort, reflected in the Secretary of the Interior designating Fort Christian as part of St. Thomas National Historic Site, in 1960. At this time the fort served as the Virgin Island's prison facility. In November of 1971, "with community support, the first elected governor (of the Virgin Islands), Melvin H. Evans, opened a small museum of local history in four (lower) rooms of the" southeast bastion. The museum shared the fort with the prison, which occupied all the rest of the fort with the exception of the southwest bastion, which housed the Civil Defense office of the Virgin Islands (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . In 1976 a U.S. Congressional Bill that transferred the jurisdiction of submerged lands to the Virgin Islands government contained a rider that also transferred certain shore property, which included Fort Christian, to the Virgin Islands government. As a result the St. Thomas National Historic Site unit was never activated, although the Secretary of the Interior did designate the fort as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. A National Historic Landmark nomination form was not required for the reaffirmation of a finding of national significance for Fort Christian. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Depanment of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form In June of 1982 the firm of Richard deJongh and Frederik Gjessing was retained by the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a historic structures report of Fort Christian, entitled Fort Christian Historic Structure Report, which . . . gave a complete history of the fort from the Royal Archives in Copenhagen and the National Archives in Washington and other sources. Included in the report were measured drawings of how the building looked at various periods, [and] photographs especially taken during that prison period [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. In 1983 the police and jail moved out of the fort. The Virgin Islands government provided funds to the Fort Christian Museum to clean up the fort and remove the prison bars from the prisoners' cells. A gift shop and reception area was created in the rooms to the west of the northern entrance, and a museum office and kitchen were installed in the rooms to the east of the northern entrance, allowing the majority of the fort to be opened up as a historic site (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . In 1985, with funding from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the government of the Virgin Islands contracted with the firm of deJongh and Gjessing to develop overall plans and a scope of work for the restoration of Fort Christian. Based on their earlier historic structures report (1982), the restoration plan was "to retain the features still existing from the 1600's, the mid 1700's expansion and the 1874 north entrance and incorporate these into the museums plans" (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 the Civil Defense office, located in the southwest bastion, moved out of the fort and the first phase of restoration commenced using $500,000 in HUD CDBG monies and $60,000 from the Virgin Islands Enhancement Fund (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 a contract was awarded to Coastal Construction with the firm of deJongh/Gjessing drawing specific plans and specs for funds allocated and their supervision of the project. This phase took in demolition of [twentieth center] interior walls in the courtyard which formed corridors into prison cells and certain [police] offices in the west and south [curtain walls] . Demolition of [modern cinder block] walls in the narrow west [curtain wall] side cells, returning them to their 1730's appearance, new plumbing and bathrooms, [and] a handicapped ramp by the right side of the 1874 entryway [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996] . This first restoration project of the west and south curtain walls lasted from 1990 until 1992 (see Photograph 8). A second phase of restoration saw $200,000, funded by HUD CDBG, go into the fort. The contractor was H & M Systems under the NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form supervision of deJongh/Gjessing. Work included repair of the large rooms behind the east curtain wall and the rooms in the southeast bastion. It also repaired the roof/gun deck of these rooms and bastion. The work lasted from 1993 to 1994 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1994 the Fort Christian Museum was informed that a major Intermodal State Transportation and Enhancement Act project for work on Veteran's Drive had been approved and funds from this project would be used to complete the ..restoration of Fort Christian, probably commencing work in 1997 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service JUL 2 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Boyer, William W. 1983 America's Virgin Islands, A History of Human Rights and Wrongs. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Bronsted, Johannes (editor) 1952 Vore Gamble Torpe Kolonier. Volume II. A.G.H. Forlag, Copenhagen. Caron, Aimery 1988 St. Croix under French Dominion. Paper for the 10th Annual Conference of Caribbean Historians. St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. March 28-April 2. Cinquino, Michael A. (Principal Investigator) 1996 Phase lA Cultural Resource Investigation for the Proposed Veterans Drive Improvements, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Prepared for: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc., Maitland, Florida. Cissell, William F. 1993 A Synopsis of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Salt River, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its Special Relevance to the Columbus Quincentennial. Paper on file National Park Service, Atlanta. Crain, Edward E. 1994 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Dahl, Bjorn W. 1992 The Military Engineer Gottfried Hoffmann and his Works in Denmark 1648-1687. Fortress, No. 13, pp. 3-12, May. deJongh, Robert and Frederik J. Gjessing 1982 Fort Christian Historic Structures Report. The Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Dookhan, Isaac 1974 A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Canoe Press, Kingston, Jamaica. Duffy, Christopher 1985 The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. Gjessing, Frederik C., and William P. MacLean 1987 Historic Buildings of St. Thomas and St. John. Macmillan Publishers, Limited. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Flistoric Places Registration Form Gjessing, Frederik C. and Philip E. Gardner 1958 Historic Architecture of the Virgin Islands. Sections from the Historic American Building Survey, Number 1. On file with the National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta. Highfield, Arnold R. 1995 St. Croix 1493, An Encounter of Two Worlds. The Virgin Islands Humanities Council, United States Virgin Islands. Jowers, Dolores 1996 Letter to Mark Barnes describing the restoration of Fort Christian from the 1970s to 1996. Letter on file with the National Register Programs Division, National Park Service, Atlanta. Lightbourn, Jno. 1973 The Story of Fort Christian, 1672. Reprinted Walloe's St. thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881. Museum Leaflet Series No. 1, Bureau of Libraries and Museums, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Morison, Samuel E. 1939 The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cadiz to Hispaniola and the Discovery of the Lesser Antilles. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sauer, Carl O. 1969 The Early Spanish Main. Berkeley. University of California Press, Westergaard, Waldemar 1917 The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754) . The Macmillan Company, New York. Previous documentation on file (NPS): ___ Preliminary Determination of Individual Listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. ___ Previously Listed in the National Register. ___ Previously Determined Eligible by the National Register. _X_ Designated a National Historic Landmark. May 5, 1977 ___ Recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey: #___________ ___ Recorded by Historic American Engineering Record: # NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service JUL :! 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Primary Location of Additional Data: State Historic Preservation Office Other State Agency Federal Agency Local Government University Other(Specify Repository): US Virgin Islands Mrs. Delores G. Jowers Curator, Fort .Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Acreage of Property: 1.92 acres UTM References: Zone Northing Easting Zone Northing Easting 20 2029040 296040 Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary for Fort Christian is based on an on-site visitation to the fort in April 1996, in the company of Mr. Myron Jackson of the Virgin Islands SHPO Office and Ms. Dolores Jowers, Curator of Fort Christian. The boundary description is keyed to the enclosed sketch map (see Figure 1). A datum point was set at the base of the point of the southwestern bastion of Fort Christian. A line was projected in a generally southwest direction to the outside edge of the sidewalk. This is Point A. The boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk for 246 feet to Point B. From Point B the boundary goes due north for 356 feet to Point C (along the east side of a small road). From Point C the boundary goes across the small road and along the outside edge of a stone lined gutter bordering a open park area for 200 feet to the mid­ point of the road leading to the entrance of the fort (Point D). From Point D, the boundary continues along the outside edge of the stone lined gutter of the other open park area for 100 to Point E. From Point E the boundary goes due south along the outside eastern edge of the street for 257 feet to Point F. Point F is located along the outside edge of the intersection of Fort Pladsen and Veteran's Drive. From Point F the boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk on the north side of Veteran's Drive some 37 feet to connect with Point A. Boundary Justification: The boundary for Fort Christian includes the entire fortification area which contains extant seventeenth to nineteenth century standing remains of the fort. It also includes areas to the east, west, and north sides of the fort, which once contained ravelins that projected out from the curtain walls of the fort. The only non contributing building in the boundary is a 1950's fire station (see Photograph 6) that occupies the area to the west of the fort on which the west curtain ravelin once stood. NFS Form 10-9«)USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 11. FORM PREPARED BY Name/Title: Mr. Paul Hawke, Historian Org. : Shiloh National Military Park Street/#: N/A City/Town: Shiloh State: Tennessee ZIP: 38376 Telephone: (901) 689-5275 Date: 1986 (Original Draft) Revised by: Mark R. Barnes, Ph.D. Senior Archeologist National Register Programs Division National Park Service, SERO 1924 Building 100 Alabama Street, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 562-3173 June 26, 1997 With the assistance of: Mrs. Dolores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 (809) 776-4566 Virgin Islands Preservation Office Staff Department of Planning and Natural Resource Foster Plaza, Anna's Retreat 396-1 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00802 (809) 776-8605 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ja 22 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historie Places Registration Form Figure 1. Site map showing the boundaries of Fort Christian and the layout of the surrounding area. Provided by M. Slater. National Park Service/WASO/History Division (418): June 2, 1998 Property. CX\rf <^)-tC'>^ DUE DATE: state /4viq. Ha^ _£__ J^oioj \ohfi/fi 6^; 5f»r(^v {-^rpf^ ?/23/<?r historian j^g'^A-. *k) /^oflc- I2a^ps af-hn, (Sl£ cHa^ci^ed C'-^o/-] i^e<:ia^/^<;) _2/2y/?^ ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN ARCHEOLOCHST BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER Author: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 7/24/98 7:10 AM Priority: Normal TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Subject: Re[2]: Fort Christian Boundary Study ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Mark-- I will be out most of the day on Tuesday. Barbara. I'11 leave the package with Marilyn Reply Separator Subject: Re:Fort Christian Boundary Study Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 7/23/98 2:59 PM Dear Marilyn: I just conferred with Cecil regarding your e:mail message on Fort Christian. Apparently he accidently sent you the wrong package. Please put what you got from Cecil in a large envelope and I will pick it up from you on Tuesday. If you are not there on that date, please give the package to B. Little. Sorry for the confusion, Mark Author; Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 7/23/98 9:54 AM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO CC: Cecil McKithan at NP-SERO Subject: Fort Christian Boundary Study ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Mark-- Just got the documentation for Fort Christian and noticed that there is no map showing the boundaries. There is a continuation sheet (page 37) with a caption for Figure 1--Site map . . but no map on it. Since one of the major questions we had was about the boundaries, this is pretty critical. Was something left off by mistake?? Also, I noticed that the photographs are still labeled with yellow sticky notes. These obviously won't work in a permanent archive, since they get detached. In our return comments we asked you to label the photos following the guidelines in Bulletin 16A (p. 64). Do you want us to return them or do you want to label them yourself when you're here next week? Actually, maybe you can bring a boundary map when you come, too. Haven't had a chance to do more than a cursory look at the pieces--will try to get to a detailed review pretty quick. Marilyn NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: FORT CHRISTIAN Other Name/Site Number: Christians Fort i 5 2. LOCATION Street & Number: N/A Not for publication:N/A City/Town: Charlotte Amalie Vicinity:N/A State: US Virgin Islands County: St. Thomas Code: 030 Zip Code:_00804_ 3 , CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Private: Public-local Public-State Public-Federal Category of Property Building(s):_X_ District: Site: Structure: Obj ect: Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 Noncontributing 1 buildings ______ sites ______ structures objects 1 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register Name of related multiple property listing: N/A NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property Register criteria. meets does not meet the National Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I, hereby certify that this property is: ____ Entered in the National Register ___ ____ Determined eligible for the National Register Determined not eligible for the __ National Register Removed from the National Register Other (explain): _____________________ Signature of Keeper Date of Action NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-861 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Government Defense Sub: government office fortification Current: Recreation and Culture Sub: museum 7. DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Colonaral, Daiilflli cul-unial MATERIALS: Foundation: Walls: Roof : Other: Stone Stone Stone, Plaster covered Fired Brick, supported by wooden beams Fired Brick paving in courtyard NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the 1670s to protect the Danish colony on St. Thomas. The fort is a rubble masonry seventeenth-century fortress consisting of curtain walls enclosing a square, withC?#^ irregular diamond-shaped bastion^ on each corner. The fort is typical of fortresses of the Baltic area of that century. Behind the curtain walls and bastions are rooms formerly containing gun batteries, government offices, the residence for the colonial governor, and the colony's first church. The interior courtyard of the fort is a brick-paved open area that once contained a large thick-walled tower along the north side of the courtyard. In 1874, thi^tj'w^j^j^Y^ demolished and the northern curtain wall was "wlangecrto inoor'porQto a Gothic Revival styld/clock tower (see Figures 1 and 2). I o in-f- Enviroiutiental Setting; The harbor of St. Thomas, with its easily defended narrow entrance, large roadstead to accommodate numerous ships, and broad flat beach on the north side of the harbor to land supplies and load plantation producejwas an ideal location for the establishment of a colony that would depend upon sea borne trade. Along the eastern side of the beach was a sli^tly elevated rectangularly shaped rocky peninsula that jutted some 700 feet into the harbor. In the 1670s, the colonists built their stone fort on the neck of this peninsula to take advantage of its natural defensive characteristics (see Photograph 1). The east and west approaches to the were sAlsua't-ed to-b<f*"protected by a barrier of wafgf^ andj lateij^riangular-shaped stone fortifications (ravelins) projecting out from the curtain walls of the^,Xoj?fe—b^rcTin ^ 1994:153) . The south side of the f ort ✓'’^^asadso protected water, but did not have a ravelin. Additional protection on the south side of the fort was provided by the construction of a water battery. On the north, or land side, which was the traditional approach into the fort, the elevation was not so steep. Therefore, the Danes enhanced the defense of this a^roash-4;^ constructing a wooden palisade across the neck of the peninsula ^ This approach area to the north of the fort was always maintained by the Danes as an open defensive area, and ^^day consistSj^ifif i(see Figure 1) . BsitirTtr ■“■^e wooden paj^sade^ref^/^agi^velin projecting from the north side of the for^^(^e'PnOTograph 2). The site of Fort Christian "commanded the flanking beaches of the peninsula, the entrance to the hax^r, and all parts of the bay" (deJongh and fldessina . 1 982 : ng the seventeenth century a barrier of Kpri^ly pear cactus was maintained between the wooden palisade VfndVstone walls of the fort to further impede attackers. By the 1820s, when Fort Christian was rendered obsolete by improvements in the range and power of naval gunnery, it no longer was deemed necessary for the defense of the island. The soldiers were relocated from the fort and quartered in a barracks NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Forni building (the present-day Territorial Legislature) constructed on the peninsula between the fort and the water battery. Throughout the nineteenth century, the water areas east and west of the fort were filled in to create flat land surfaces upon which open park space and dock facilities were constructed. In the 1870s, the ravelins on the north, east, and west sides of the fort were removed, although portions of the east ravelin are extant. Within the fortification was a square brick-paved open space. Along the north side of the open space was a squat three-story high stone tower, or keep, called Trygborg. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference, the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Fort Christian (see Photograph 3). The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. In 1874, Trygborg, the northern curtain wall, and northerxu/ ravelin were torn down. That part jqfort, was -to ^-H^rrrpnrnte a Gothic Revival styllrclocV^o^^er^ Ts^'^^^^ographs 4 and 5). In the mid-twentieth century, further land filling occurred along the whole northern shoreline of the harbor upon which a two lane highway (Veterans Drive) was constructed. This road ran along the south side of the fort, separating it from the wa^er battery and harraclc.g. The open spaces on the west (^^mancipation Parl^ and north sides of the fort became park areas^wmie the area on the east became a parking lot (see Figure^ 1 aiTd Description; From the beginning. Fort Christian was considered the most important structure on St. Thomas, as it provided security for the newly founded Danish colony against attacks by other colonial powers and pirates. According to Robert deJongh and Fred Gjeasing: The site selected [for the fort] was a low hill on a small peninsula jutting out at the approximate center of the north shore of the bay of St. Thomas harbor. It was opposite the entrance to the bay and extended 700 feet into it. Immediately behind the rocky shoreline, the peninsula had level ground only a few feet above the sea. The hill occupied the center of the peninsula. It was defined by fairly steep slopes towards the east, south and west. On the landward side, the hill sloped more gently down to the lower terrain to the north that separated the peninsula from the steeper rises further inland [1982:18]. The fort site faced water on the west, east, and south sides of the fort with a water battery on the extreme south face of the peninsula for protection against attack. The north side of the it wdS" proTected^^iJ^'attack from the land side with a wooden palisade stretching across the peninsula, and a barrier of prickly pear cactus that surrounded the fort. Later* NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form J9' fortifications were added on the exterior of the east, west, and north curtain walls in the form of ravelins (see Photograph 2). The northern palisade, prickly pear cactus barrier, and ravelins (with the exception of partial remains on the east side of the fort) are gone. The land and sea areas surrounding Fort Christian have changed considerably through the gradual in-filling of the water areas on the west and east sides of the fort. The area to the north of the fort, where the Danish military once had a ravelin, is -gefte-HOlO ■ai^d 'LlIt: d j. ra ±» open space. south side, the open area between the water battery and tj>e fort has been filled in with a 1820s barracks structure ^ad^hree^Tud^wegtieth century United States Coast Guard buildings *”un*fne side most of the ravelin was removed, as were numerous buildings constructed by the U.S. Navy (1917-1931). The area east of the fort is now a parking lot. On the west side, the ravelin has been removed and a fire station was built in the area in the 1950s (see Photograph 6 and Figure The extanty^ortions of the seventeenth and eighteenth fort structure/consist of: the east, west^and couth curtain walls; all four diamond-shaped bast ion'^waldrs; and/^rooms built within the bastions and against the curtain walls. The nineteenth century portion of the fort consists of the northern curtain wall and rooms built behind this curtain wall, and the Gothic Revival clock tower. All of these historic features are intact (see Figure 2) . Recent restoration efforts by the Territorial Government have resulted in the restoration of the roof, or gun deck, of the fort and the gun batteries within the west curtain wall of the fort (see Photographs 7 and 8). This work ha^^lso removed the twentieth century frame additions ak4d«rabo the south side of the front of the fort and a concrete roof installedflby the U.S. Navy, between 1917 and 1931, ^ver the historic gun deck roop. The area of the fort that^^ seen the greatest change is the interior space o4i Llld" 'Tuft formed by the curtain walls and bastions. Originally, the mass and height of the exterior curtain and bastion walls formed the defense for the cannons of the fort and served as the back wall for a number of structures built within the fort, some of wood and some of stone. Changes in the function of the fort and deterioration of structures necessitated numerous rearrangements of the interior th- f By the 1730s most of the fort reached its present shape. The southeast part of the fort, due to the d^^egularity of the rocky outcrop on which it was constructed,yywould be the only two-stnrv^ area^f-the fort. The height of the outer htifTti OTyg" walls allowed y "for the construction a lower series of masonry rooms in this —^ area. Above this was a second tier of masonry rooms built against the outer curtain walls (see Photograph 9). At the same time the southeast and southwest bastions had been completely filled in with rooms. The northwest and northeast bastions were only partially filled in, leaving Jt small spaceS5>pen in the NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form middle of these bastions. The roof of the masonry rooms behind the curtain walls and bastions formed a continuous gun deck for the cannons. Two stone guard posts were built at the tips of the northwest and southwest bastions (see Pjgurg 2) . In 1874 the seventeenth-century north curtain wall between the northeast and northwest bastions and the internal tower (Trygborg)were removed. A Gothic Revival style entrance and clock tower were constructed, between 1874 and 1878 (see Photographs 4 and 5). The only non-contributing building within the boundary of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark is a 1950s fire station along the west side of the fort (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ULil- ' ^ '^mS^No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: Nationally: X Statewide:___ Locally: Applicable National Register Criteria: A X B Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) : A B NHL Criteria: Criterion 1 NHL Theme(s): NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Areas of Significance: Period(s) of Significance: Significant Dates: Significant Person(s): Cultural Affiliation: Architect/Builder: Exploretion/Settleanent, Military 1671-1917 N/A N/A N/A Governor Jorgen Iverson NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form State Significance of Property, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. Summary Statement of Significance; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the latter part of the seventeenth century (1672-1680) to protect the Danish colony of St. Thomas. The fort served as the center for Danish colonial community life during much of the nearly 250 years of Danish rule of St. Thomas, until the transfer from Danish colonial rule to American authority in 1917. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governor's residence, governmental offices of the colony, the prison, and was the principal fortification protecting the settlement of Charlotte Amalie from attack by other colonial Caribbean powers. NHL Thematic Framework (1987) II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NHL Thematic Framework (1994) I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Background History On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus took a more southerly course across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to encounter the islands of the Caribs he had been told about on his first voyage. Columbus took this route as he wanted to chart a quicker route from Spain to the Indies. On November 3, 1493, only 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands, his fleet sighted the island of Dominica, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles (Highfield 1995:52). Traveling northward among the Lesser Antilles, Columbus landed at an island he called Guadalupe (present-day Guadeloupe Island). He spent eight days on this island and found the first evidence of the Caribs (Highfield 1995:52). On the morning of November 10, 1493, the fleet left Guadalupe and cruised northward naming various islands after Catholic saints. They reached the island of Saba, on November 12th, whence they turned to the west in the direction of St. Croix Island (Morison 1939:80; Highfield 1995:54). Arriving at St. Croix on the morning of November 14th, Columbus coasted along the north side of the island looking for a place to debark and meet with the native peoples. Dr. Chanca, the expedition's physician, noted they could see the present-day American (St. Thomas and St. John) and British Virgin Islands north of St. Croix at this time (Highfield 1995:58). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Following brief and bloody contact with the Native Americans on the north side of St. Croix, at Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960), on the afternoon of November 14, 1493 the fleet raised anchor and sailed north to St. Thomas and St. John. The fleet did not land on either of these islands. However, it was during this part of the voyage that St. Thomas, called Santo Thomas by Columbus, was named. During the first decades of the sixteenth century the native peoples on the present-day American Virgin Islands were beset by Spanish slavers (Highfield 1995:132-133) attempting to acquire labor for the Puerto Rican gold mines. In January of 1511 the St. Croix Caribs joined with Puerto Rican Tainos to attack and destroy a Spanish settlement on the Anasco River, in Puerto Rico (Caron 1988:1). By Spanish decree the Caribs became enemies of the crown who were to be exterminated (Cissell 1993:3; Highfield 1995:76). Thereafter, Spanish expeditions from Puerto Rico regularly raided the American Virgin Islands for Carib slaves. By 1515, Juan Ponce de Leon, Governor of Puerto Rico, described these islands as deserted (Sauer 1969:192). Throughout the rest of the sixteenth century the American Virgin Islands were for the most part abandoned. They were too close to Spanish Puerto Rico for native peoples to maintain a safe permanent settlement, while the Spanish had no interest in using the islands as a colony. Instead, they became staging areas for almost annual Carib raids on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in the 1520s and 1530s (Highfield 1995:134). In all probability the American Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, were sporadically inhabited by Caribs until the beginning of the seventeenth century (Highfield 1995:134). The first European country to attempt to permanently settle St. Thomas was an ill-fated colonial effort by Denmark, in 1666. Under Governor Erik Smit a small colony was established on St. Thomas, presumably in the area of the present fort, but that attempt ended when the Dutch attacked the colony and the colonists elected to return to Denmark after only eighteen months (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2). To prevent foreign interference with any future colonization attempt. King Christian V in 1670 signed a treaty of alliance and commerce with Great Britain. In that way, the British -- the most powerful colonial presence in the Lesser Antilles -- would not oppose Danish efforts to colonize St. Thomas (Dookhan ^ In 1671 the Danes* second attempt to colon^e St. Thomas began with the establishment of the Danish Wes/Jndia and Guinea Company, "to carry on business in the vJ^t Indies" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1). In the following year (1672) St. Thomas was successfully colonized (Westergaard 1917:31-32). The Danes later acquired the rights to the island of St. John through the founding of plantations on that island in 1717. The Danish Westjpidia and Ouiiin<*>^Company purchased the practically abandoned NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) ^ FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service ^ V, 'oM6^No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form French island of St. Croix in 1733. The Danes took possession in the following year completing Danish colonial holdings in the New World (Westergaard 1917:37, 128, 208). The Danish, like other European colonial powers in the Caribbean, used imported African slave labor to produce tropical products, such as sugar, rum, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. All of these products were in great demand internationally. By the late eighteenth century, the plantations on St. Thomas were predominately given over to the raising of sugar cane, and the production of molasses, rum, and brown sugar for export. However, the expense of transporting, maintaining, and policing a captive labor population would prove to be less economically profitable for St. Thomas than inter-island trade. The Danish WQSj/tndia and Guinea Company was under contract to the ^ Danish government to organize the Lesser Antilles islands JThnnnf? i -qt —Croix,—emd St.—into profitable colonies. To this end the Company established slaving stations ^ong the Guinea coast of Africa. Between 1698 and 1754 the Company transported over ten thousand slaves from Africa to the Danish Virgin Islands. It is estimated that over one quarter of the slaves perished at sea. This was a much higher loss rate than suffered by other European slavers (Boyer 1983:17). When the contract of the Company ended in 1754 the Danish government continued the transport of African slaves with a similar loss ratio. In 1803 the Danish slave trade officially ended. The end of the trade was recommended by the Great Negro Trade Commission which illustrated the trade as equally unhealthy to Danish sailors. Of the 2,004 Danish sailors who sailed in the Danish slave ships in the twelve-year period of 1777 to 1789, a total of 691, or more than one-third, died during the voyages [Boyer 1983:37]. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, the King's edict of March 16, 1792 set the date of the end of the slave trade at December 31, 1802, "in order to permit the planters time to stock up on the number of slaves" (Boyer 1983:37). As early as 1690 Governor Johan Lorentz of the Virgin Islands proclaimed a policy of execution or mutilation as punishment for runaway slaves (Boyer 1983:24). Within the Danish islands . . . a special tax was levied on planters to indemnify those among them for any legally killed or injured slaves, thus removing a powerful economic constraint against the maiming and killing of slaves [Boyer 1983:24-25]. • ing of r Throughout the eighteenth century/^and into the early decades of the ninetee^h century, the Danish slave laws were still beina^ enforced^ .Xlthough^fluring the two British occupations of the^^ /^slands in the early nineteenth century (1801 and 1807-lBl^^r'^ey NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form were considerably re laxed/\ (Boyer 1983:28). Added to this was a growing free-colored class that served in the Free-Colored Militia, owne^^^o^g^i^y, ran businesses, and even possessed slaves, and petitioning the Danish King for their full rights as citizens (Boyer 1983:42). _9-i After ^Mancipation of the slaves in 1848^ sugar cane production droppe'd off to practically nothing on St. Thomas. As the importance of tropical products grown on St. Thomas declined .iaj2L importancig’, the major economic aspect of the island became the transit trade of goods that were traded in the neutral port of Charlotte Amalie. This trade had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century following its designation as a free port in 1764 (Cinquino 1996:30-31). The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growing prosperity for St. Thomas. The excellence and size of its harbor _aa£l_t^ location of St. Thomas, midway between North and South Americ^ and within cruising range of the new steam-powered ships from Europe and the United States, made St. Thomas an ideal transhipment point. The island was not only prospering, it was also optimistically predicting further growth and development. The prosperity of St. Thomas began to taper off in the last half of the nineteenth century, due to natural disasters and technological changes. In late 1867 St. Thomas was beset by two major natural disasters in rapid succession. In October a devastating hurricane hit the island, followed in November by a tidal wave, both of which destroyed great numbers of ships in the harbor. These two natural catastrophes did great damage to the town, the harbor, shipping facilities, and St. Thomas' reputation as a safe harbor (Bronsted 1952:299). .3 Advances and improvements the steamships of the period,, eliminated the need for using St. Thomas as a coaling station for ships from North America and Europe on their way to South America. St. Thomas' transit trade and usefulness as a coaling station was coming to an end. The gradual loss of population that resulted from the declining economy of the island also affected the St. Thomas community. Following World War II, with the increase in air transportation and the development of tourism, the population of St. Thomas has again grown in numbers. 4^ History of Fort Christian As early as the 1620s Danish merchants developed trading complies along the lines of the British, Dutch, and French West Indi^ Companies to trade Danish goods for tropical products available only from the Caribbean. Danish trading ventures of this time usually consisted of sending individual ships sponsored by the merchant companies to trade at ports in the New World, trade practice which usually produced substantial profits foj> these companies. By mid-century the Copenhagen based Wesdfndia Company /proposed the creation of a Danish colony in the Caribbegfti. In 1665 the company secured permission from the crown NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Foirm (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service one No. 1024-0018 National Register of i?^toric Places Registration Form to settle a colony on St. Thomas in the West In^^s. The first Danish colonization effort reached St. Thomas.<^n March 30, 1666, under the command of Erik Smit^who had been appointed Governor ^ for the new colony by the We^rf^dia Company. Governor Smit and ^0^ numerous other colonists soon died. The remaining settlers wereJ/^ not able to complete a defensive fortification, believed to/be£^ located in the vicinity of Bluebeard's Castle- on a hill east of the present location of Fort Christian deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1-2, 17) (Llghtfcourn 1973:1; |ou The loss of settlers due to illness meant the colony did not have the manpower to construct a defensive structure for its protection. The newly founded colony soon found itself embroiled in international politics that would doom its existence without the means to protect itself from other colonial powers and pirates. According to deJongh and Gjessing, In 1665 war had broken out between England and Holland in which France joined on the side of the Dutch. By the following year it had spread to the Caribbean. Initially this appeared to offer the Danish colony an advantage. Dispossessed individuals from English and Dutch possessions sought refuge on St. Thomas and augmented the depleted labor force of the Danes. However, it provided the justification of French, Dutch and English freebooters to raid the new colony, ostensibly to capture the refugees but in reality also to secure such supplies and equipment^he small force could not defend. After eighteen months of harassment and deprivation the survivors of the expeditionary force, who since the death of Erik Smit had been led by the Lutheran minister Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, decided to abandon the settlement. They made their way back to Denmark by stages [1982:2]. In early 1671 rechartered West^ndia Company was created to attempt to reestablish a Danish colony on the island of St. Thomas. The Company selected as the Governor of the colony Jorgen Iversen. Iversen had gone to the British Caribbean Island of St. Christopher (present-day St. Kitts) at the age of 13 as an indentured servant in 1651. Over the next fifteen years he rose to become a full partner in a Dutch trading concern in the Caribbean, from which he learned the lessons necessary for a successful colony (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2-3). Between Iversen's arrival on St. Thomas in May 23, 1672 until July 4, 1680, when he was relieved, he succeeded . . . in creating a community out of the multinational and racial components of the colony and steer it NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form towards a promise of prosperity while building Christians Fort, carrying out an inter-island trade for the company and establishing plantations on St. Thomas [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3]. Iversen understood the threats facing a new colony in the far off Caribbean, and how the lack of a fort had doomed the first Danish colonization attempt. He appears to have given a high priority to the construction of the fort. Shortly after landing on St. Thomas, Iversen issued orders that "all [colonists] should assemble to [militia] service on Sundays in the Fort by beat of drum," the penalty for non-compliance being 25 lbs. of tobacco (Lightbourn 1973:1). The completion date of the fort is unknown but is presumed to have been mostly finished in time for the French attack of 1678. It was during Governor Iversen's tenure that he not only had Fort Christian constructed, but also one of its outlying hilltop gun and watch towers -- Skytsborg in 1679 (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). According to Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing An Army Lieutenant had been included amongst the Company's functionaries of the proposed colony. He was to advise Governor Iversen in all military matters and provide the technical knowledge needed for the design and construction of a fort. To insure that this was done according to the standards of the times, a copy of Admiral Freitag's treatise on the construction of forts was included among the books that Jorgen Iversen brought out to guide him in his duties as the governor. This 17th century work provides layout[s] of fortifications, explanations of the military functions of their different parts and served as a design handbook for military engineers [1982:17]. Unfortunately, the Lieutenant died on the voyage from Denmark to the Virgin Islands, so "Iversen was left to make his own decision[s] regarding the fortification" location and shape (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1^)^ Iversen probably used Admiral Freitag's book in planning tn^^ayout of Fort Christian. Latery^vernors of St. Thomas, and even Iversen, would acknowledge the disadvantages of the site he chose for Fort Christian, however, the "sense of urgency that an adequate if not ideal fort had to be erected rapidly for the defense of the colony, must have been the basic considerations of the decision" to site the fort on a slightly elevated area on the beach, rather than higher up out of the range of any seventeenth-century artillery fire from ships and from hills to the north and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:19). To help defend the exposed location'[Fort Christian, two gun towers were later built on hilltops above 1 the fort, a t*echni^ pioneered by the seventeenth century Scandinavian military architects Gottfried Hoffmann and Eri); Dahlberg. j t/ 1/" NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form As to the style of the fort, Iversen chose to construct a typical seventeenth-century thick-walled square fortification with projecting diamond-shaped, or Vauban, bastions at each corner. The irregular shape of the hill on which the fort was constructed required that the bastions not be uniform in size (see Figure 2) . In the interior courtyard was constructed a fortified tower (Trygborg), or keep, that was a story higher than the main fort (see Photograph 3). This type of fortification with internal keep would have been familiar to Iversen and had played an important role in military engineering in the Baltic Sea region, where during the seventeenth century the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden fought over control of the se^lanes leading into the Baltic. The two preeminent military engineers during this conflict, Gottfried Hoffmann of Denmark and Erik Dahlberg of Sweden, utilized low thick-walled fortifications to protect towns and key defensive points^often in combination with outlying fortified towers (Dahl 092:6; Duffy 1985:191). As noted by Christopher Duffy, in The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, The surest signs of [Erik] Dahlberg's presence were, however, his idiosyncratic multi-storeyed casemated towers, which he employed variously as island batteries, hilltop forts and inner keeps [1985:195- 196] . Gottfried Hoffman, during the mid-seventeenth century, also constructed fortresses with outlying and internal tower works at Fredericia and Helsingborg, Denmark (Dahl 1992:6). Throughout the troubled seventeenth century, the contenders for control of the Baltic - Denmark and Sweden - also undertook efforts to establish colonies in the New World. Sweden established a military outpost called Fort Christina (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961) in the vicinity of present day Wilmington, Delaware, where they traded for furs until the colony was captured by the English in 1664. The Danes were more successful in establishing and holding a colony in the Caribbean. The Seventeenth Century We do not have a clear picture of the original sevent^nth- century fort built under Iversen's direction. How^y^, it is believed the outer walls of all four bastion^waii'^of the present fort, internal tower or keep (removed in 1874), and the south, east, and west curtain walls can be attributed to the first buil(iing phase (see Figure 2) (deJongh^and Gjessing 1982) . Housing for the governor, the troops^government officials, and the colony's church appear to have.been accommodated in wooden and stone structures in the interior of the fort. To provide additional soldiers for the defense of St. Thomas, Iversen, in 1674, secured from the island planters an agreement "to perform v/ V NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-06) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service____ 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form guard duty on a rotating basis at the fort in return for easement of taxes" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:20). Accounts kept by Governor Iversen between 1672 and 1680/ tend to indicate that by 1676 the internal tower, the outer curtain and bastion walls, and buildings within the fort were substantially finished. These accounts also indicate that between 1676 and 1680, the majority of the work on the fort consisted of carpentry and finishing work (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21). One of the main features of Christians Fort was a squat three- story high tower, called Trygborg, on the north side of the fort. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Christians Fort. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. This was the first military tower that can be documented on St. Thomas. The push by Governor Iversen to complete the work on the fort would shortly be rewarded. In the fall of 1676, the United Kingdom of Denmark- Norway became involved in a European war with France as one of the adversaries. The conflict had been expected for a couple of years and had been the reason for securing the planters agreement to perform guard duties at the fort. With the outbreak of the war in Europe an attack on St. Thomas by forces from the older, more populous and better established French colonies was anticipated and feared. In preparation for the attack the guard duties of the planters and other inhabitants of St. Thomas at the fort were stepped up and planters and their families were allowed to live in the fort [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21]. In February of 1678 a force of some 60 French settlers from neighboring St. Croix launched an attempt to seize St. Thomas Island. Fortunately, Governor Jorgen Iversen's fort proved too strong to storm. As the attackers did not have any siege cannon Fort Christian was easily able to withstand the brief siege imposed by the French from St. Croix. The French were forced to retreat after capturing a number of slaves which were carried back to St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:22). The defeat of the French in 1678, proved Fort Christian was a strong defense for St. Thomas against an attacking force without siege guns or enemy ships approaching from the sea. However, Governor Iversen realized that the French attacking force could have pounded Christians Fort into submission by erecting an artillery battery on the high ground east and north of the for. For this reason Iversen ordered a tower fortification greeted on Baggaertsbjerg Hill, a hilltop north of Christians Fort^ in 1679^^y4"^ / NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) i 5 FORT CHRISTIAN Uriited States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form cfc h iil3T—tro Ti yyLuiy called Skytsborg or Sky Tower (Blackbeard' s Castle) (see Photograph 1). Such a tower would not only deny the high ground to an attacking force, but also serve as a watchtower providing a vantage point high enough to peer over Hassel Island ^ to scan the open ocean/^thereby providing Fort Christian early warning of an approaching enemy (see Photograph 10). Later in 1689 one of Iversen's successors had Schmitberg (Bluebeard's Castle) constructed on a hill east of the fort. 5- -of teh' »f fit. —TliUiiias cOiivliiceil IVtirat defeiiae". Iversen's letter tiaefulhest! of—a tune LbWeTS Lur—defenae". Iversen's of February 2, 1680 to the directors of the Danish West India Company indicated that Skytsborg had been erected at Baggaertsbjerg by that date. In it he wrote "Since I had the (Skytsborg) Watchtower erected at Baggaertsbjerg I did not fear a hasty attack so much." A 1687 English map of St. Thomas harbor depicts and describes a "small white tower" on Baggaertsbjerg Hill to the north of Fort Christian (see Photograph 1). It is possible that Iversen used the Company stone mason Simon Lamare, who had worked on Fort Christian and Trygborg tower, to construct Skytsborg in 1679. According to deJongh and Gjessing In August, 1674, Jorgen Iversen acquired for the Company a mulatto slave by the name of Simon Lamare. He was a mason and was to serve as the clerk of the works, for the construction of the fort [Fort Christian] . The phrasing in the account book of this transaction is of interest. It states "brought Simon Lamare to serve the Company for seven years" [1674-1681], implying some sort of contractual agreement with Simon Lamare for his manumission after an agreed upon period of service [1982:20] . In July of 1680, Nicolai Esmit assumed the governorship of the island from Iversen and moved into the completed fort. According to deJongh and Gjessing, Iversen left a description of the fort which is summarized in the following manner. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west wall5nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east- west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. - if a NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Kev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Parl< Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Ragister of Historic Places Registration Form The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the land side of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickly pears had been cultivated in the land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. The principal entrance to the fort was the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sally port was the demi-lune, a squat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east. The postern gate in the west curtain was [a] simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. On the exterior the walls varied in height. Since the fort was built around a hill that had its apex in the approximate center of the fort [the] projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls (see Photograph 9). Towards the east^ north^ and souttu the variations in the exterior heights were not great Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its height of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NFS NRHF Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliberately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby give Christiansfort its irregular^utline on the bayside. Between the salient angle^of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea/ all had a width [or thickness] of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the west face of the sout^gst bastion 4 feet 3 inches . The same dimensions ,9^ shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. l/ All oth^ walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches/ and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while others were separated by passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtyard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these [courtyard] structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:24-26]. Nicolai Esmit's tenure as governor would be short, as his own brother Adolf confined him in the prison in the fort on July 7, 1683 and took over the governorship. Apparently Nicolai "openly aided and trafficked with known freebooters and allowed them to sail under the Danish flag" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Adolf continued this commerce with freebooters and illegally traded with the French colony of St. Croix, with whom his country was still officially at war (Caron 1988:27-28). Adolf's downfall was caused by his seizure of British property. Governor William Stapleton, of the British Leeward Islands sent complaints to Denmark of the conditions in St. Thomas which had become in his words a "den of pirates" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Probably the best evidence of Adolf Esmit's connection with pirates was the La Trompeuse affair. La Trompeuse was commanded by the French pirate Jean Hamlin, who had stolen the ship from NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) ^ I 5 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Parit Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form English merchants of Jamaica in 1682. Throughout 1682 and 1683 Hamlin seized over three dozen ships, many English, and resold them and their cargos in St. Thomas. On July 27, 1683 the English vessel H.M.S. Francis, under the command of Captain Charles Carlile, caught up with La Trompeuse in St. Thomas harbor lying under the guns of Fort Christian. As the Francis approached the pirate shij^ she found herself under the fire of both La Trompeuse and Foru Christian. Carlile backed off, but that night his men boarded La Trompeuse and burned her. Later it was learned that Hamlin had been the guest of Governor Esmit in the fort during this action (Dookhan 1974:109-111). He [Hamlin] has eaten and banqueted with Esmit and has slept with Esmit in a room. He has brought much gold. Esmit would not deliver the said Hamlyn to the English. Furthermore, Esmit sent Hamlyn together with his comrades and pirates out of the harbour with a barque . . . belonging to the company [Dookhan 1974:111]. In spite of his problems Governor Esmit did cause some improvements at the fort to be accomplished, . . . [he] built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification; each of the rooms having two doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks (see Figure 2). The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted biblio-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the beams red [Lightbourn 1973:3]. Adolf Esmit also had the western curtain wall height raised by some four or five feet and caused the water battery to be constructed during his governorship (1683-84) (Lightbourn 1973:4). Esmit had good reason to strengthen his fortification as the British Governor of Nevis "had driven the Danes from St. John, taken away all the cattle from Buck Island and Water Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas" and "an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island (of St. Thomas) and taken off 60 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). Eventually, the West India Company's concern over the Esmit family caused them to send out a new governor, Gabriel Milan, in 1684. According to Lightbourn The Company seem[s] to have had some fear of trouble on Milan's arrival, for in his instructions he is charged to "proceed carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and in the event of A[dolf] Esmit raising any difficulty, or refusing to give over the fort, he is to take over the command of the island by force. He is further to guard against Esmit's cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he has secured the power Esmit and family must be confined and sent home by the first opportunity" [1973:3]. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Milan would carry out his orders and transport both of the Esmit brothers and their families back to Denmark. However, foreign intrigues would continue to plague the colony. Milan wrote the Company in July 1685 of the British cutting lignum vitae trees on St. John and that the Spanish from Puerto Rico had "landed on St. Thomas and taken off 54 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). In the same letter, Milan complained about the state of Fort Christian, claiming it . . . "is a bad fortification, for every one who moves [about] in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;" he admits that "the fort itself is composed of strong wall[s]," but that "it is built disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of," and that "the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and consequently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night" [Lightbourn 1973:4]. Governor Milan's tenure lasted until September 27, 1687, when Adolf Esmit and his family returned to assume the governorship of St. Thomas. In this year the first complete description of the fort was made and later reprinted by Lightbourn. The S.W. point or [King's] Bastion. The Southern Curtain.-Here are: One room, called the flathouse, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron rails [bars]. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. On the western side is a dungeon. By the small cistern is a small apartment with door and window, the partition being of boards. The small cistern. The S.E. point, or [Company's] Bastion-to which there is a railing [barred] door with hinges and bolts on the top of this is a small room (see Photograph 9). A new house stands in' the center of the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire-bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain-A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof and 2 windows. A large gate, called Landgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate with a wood roof. The large cistern. The N.E. point or [Prince's] Bastion (see Photograph 11), The Northern Curtain.-Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The [Trygborg] tower. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The N.W. point, or [Queen's] Bastion-on top of which there is a solid sentry box (see Photograph 12). In the Bastion there is an oven. The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician's room, with 1 window with iron [bars] rails. Next to his a kitchen, roofed with red tiles, near the kitchen a small tobacco store room and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. Four small apartments [the ones built by Adolph Esmit against the inside of the west curtain wall] (see Photograph 8 and Figure 2). In the largest there are a large window and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally halfway up. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with bolt, leading to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of which the one is iron railed and the other supplied with wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored with Dutch fire­ bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window. In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead. Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of masonry work. A water battery is erected [by Adolf Esmit] at the water's edge. The large Landgate has 1 and the small Watergate 2 railing doors. All the Prickly Pear around the Fort is overgrown by weeds, and has mostly died out [Lightbourn 1973:4-5]. Adolph Esmit's return as Governor of St. Thomas lasted a mere 24 days before his unpopularity with the colonists caused him to return to Denmark. In 1688 another crisis occurred in response to dynastic wars in Europe. The Spanish from Puerto Rico occupied Crab Island (Vieques) and Anguilla thereby surrounding St. Thomas. This action made the Danes in St. Thomas very concerned as the Spanish had never abandoned their claim, by right of discovery by Christopher Columbus, to St. Thomas. Governor Christopher Heins, who had replaced Esmit, undertook a program of upgrading the fortifications of Christiansfort and Skytsborg. To provide more security he had the Landgate located in the Eastern Curtain wall closed up (Lightbourn 1973:6). Heins also had embrasures cut in the walls of Skytsborg tower for two large cannon capable of covering the harbor. He also erected a third tower to the east on Schmidtberg Hill, today called Bluebeard's Castle. The NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service i 5 oibby>- 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form erection of this last tower in 1689 completed the seventeenth- century defenses of St. Thomas (Gjessing and Gardner 1958:1-3). Throughout the 168 0s »i^suppc constructed^ supporting defenses around the fort were Within the fortification several of the buildings that cluttered the central courtyard were demolished and replaced by structures against the [inside of the] curtain walls. This was to set a trend for future developments. The gradual levelling of the interior of the fort by overbuilding the structures against the east curtain and in the southeast bastion, thereby converting them into basements, was also initiated [in] these years and set a pattern for the later building activities [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:35]. In peacetime no soldiers were stationed at Skytsborg or Schmidtberg, while a skeleton force was maintained at Fort Christian. If an attack by other colonial forces or a slave rebellion was anticipated an alarm was sounded by firing a predetermined number of cannon at Fort Christian. This signal would call out all able bodied whites and free blacks to take up arms and report to one of the three fortifications. According to Lightbourn, "each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men; Frederiksfort (Schmidtberg) was to have 25 men and the northern tower (Skytsborg) 9 men" (1973:7). Such an alarm occurred in May of 1694 when a slave insurrection was anticipated from the newly established plantations in the New Quarter, or present-day Tutu, a northern suburb of Charlotte Amalie. The Eighteenth Century- In spite of the modifications and work done on the fort in the latter part of the seventeenth century, by the first decade of the eighteenth century, the island government complained to the Company "that the thick walls of the tower in the fort admitted moisture, thus injuring the [gun]powder, and recommending that the tower be cased with boards, as there was no place for building a powder magazine in the fort, excepting under the Church," which occupied the southwest bastion of the fort (Lightbourn 1973:9) . The governor also recommended moving the church out of the southwest bastion as "such sacred services need not be done in such a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future time, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals between the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to" (Lightbourn 1973:9). The Lutheran Church, which served the St. Thomas community had always been located within the fort, "sometimes quarters were set apart especially for the service of the Church, at other times we read of divine services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms" (Lightbourn 1973:9). In 1706 a wooden church was erected in the interior courtyard of the ±ort against the NFS Fonn 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form eastern curtain. This building, according to measurementsjnade in 1724, was 49 feet by 25 feet (I^ghtbourn 1973:9). The fort continued to deteriorate causing Governor Eri^ Bredal and then the Lutheran clergyman/to leave the fort andJ move into dwellings in the surrounding town of Charlotte Amalie/ in 1716 and 1717. The reasons given were that the deteriorated condition of the fort made it unhealthy. Indeed, the first clergyman who inhabited the fort "died within 47 days after his Induction and his successor declared his inability to reside in it" (Lightbourn 1973:9). ^ Finally, in 1724 Governor Otto Jacob Thambsen ordered a structural survey/^be made of the fort. The survey convinced the Company to undertake a remodeling of the fort which was completed on April 30th, 1735. According to deJongh and Gjessing, The remodeling of the late 1720s and early 1730s was to result in the complete covering [roofing] of the southern bastions. The northern bastions retained their gorges but in reduced sizes for the rooms between the gorges and the outer walls were widened and enclosed by masonry walls toward the inner courts (see Figure 2). All the curtains and the bastions were furnished with flat masonry roofs that provided a continuous terreplein all around the central courtyard of the fort and served as its principal gundeck (see Photograph 7) [1982:42]. The major changes to the fort consisted of the construction of ravelins (see Photographs 2, 9, and 13) on the outside of the fort and the reorienting of access to the fort. In the plans for the remodeling of Christians Fort during these years an east ravelin was intended and considered to be adequate defense for the old sallyport . . . Within the fort it gave the former gatehouse a greater depth and also provided a passage between the new and old curtain walls from the gatehouse to the southeast bastion at the lower level of the fortification. The plan [of] organization of Christians Fort was reoriented. The postern gate in the west curtain wall . . . was blocked up. The original sallyport [in the east curtain wall] . . . was retained and repaired but was only to serve as the access to the proposed east ravelin. The new sallyport was centered in the north curtain and a postern gate planned for the south curtain. The latter was still under construction in 1733 and when completed during the following couple of years had taken the form it has preserved to the present. As a protection for the new sallyport a ravelin was constructed between the north bastions. At the salient NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form angle of the ravelin a vaulted gatehouse flanked by- sentry boxes gave access to the steps and a ramp that led down to the terrain north of the fort and served as the principal entrance to the fortification. Within the ravelin the grade was raised from 4 feet to 6 feet above the outside terrain making the ravelin wall that were 6 feet tall on the interior from 10 to 12 feet tall on the exterior. The east ravelin was started, but by 1733 only half finished. When completed in 1735 the grade within had also been raised above the surrounding terrain and in this process the lower story of the old demi-lune was buried [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:43-44]. According to a 1733 description of the work in progress, in Lightbourn (1973), the new work in the fort is described in more detail in the following manner. The South West, or King's Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision room. The North West, or Queen's Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place for 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince's Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and contains a dungeon. The South East, or Company's Bastion, which is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Governor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arched gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed and is in connection with the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dungeons. Under the Governor's rooms are a small cistern, the Governor's cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 feet in thickness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor's rooms nor the cellars above mentioned were yet finished [in 1733] . the Southern Curtain contains the Governor's pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been taken out of the breadth of the Curtain for a mason work staircase leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor's private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork beside the foundation [this work was never completed] . Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King's (S.W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is neither roofed nor supplied with doors nor windows; it has, however, towards the sea, two oval FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-B6) fjCf' j p-om«£. 1024-0018 ^ ‘'^'-'Page 2 6 fiCf' Ul_0 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form holes 2 feet high and 3 feet broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non­ commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerk; it is roofed with planks and rock, but leaks already. The Northern Curtain is the corps de garde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the center of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into the fort, and outside of this there is a breastwork, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and form a triangle [or ravelin], their point of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outside. the gate is built in such a manner as to allow a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the North, a lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space in which the water is drawn up from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern is the descent to the gate, which is well supplied with means for closing out towards the Eastern breastwork where the lime is prepared for the building of them; of this breastwork only the foundation on the south side is built. The descent alluded to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to the Cantine, and, further on to the passage which goes round the foundation of the church, of which previous mention was made, in to the powder magazine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the east end of the church and over the gate previously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary's office; it has a door to the yard next to the space in which water is drawn, and another door to the passage which runs behind the church over the passage to the Governor's rooms, but neither floor, windows nor doors are yet finished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the passage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the church was built of wood in 1706, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Southern side as far as the Governor's rooms go, the defective wood work had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood work of the Church, which is still left is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, according to the custom of the place, is of planks and shingles. The hospital and oven are outside the South West Bastion and the open space on the Western side towards the harbor where the lime kiln is [Lightbourn 1973:10,12]. Thrcpughout the eighteenth century Denmark maintained a policy of strict neutrality in all European wars. This policy, coupled with the establishment of a free port in St. Thomas, proved more of an economic boon to the Danish West Indies than the planting of sugar cane. The commerce between belligerent nations was attracted to the island to transact business. In particular, the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form {Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), which involved all of the European colonial powers in the Caribbean except Denmark, proved an economic boon to the island of St. Thomas. All European,,^'^^ powers and traders respected the neutrality of St. Thomas/^s a neutral Caribbean port of trade and to a certain extent encouraged its prosperity, as it provided a means of trade between otherwise belligerent European powers during the war. The colonial government was able to show a profit during the war years from its collection of transit trade taxes and issued a dividend to the Danish WesGlndia Company's investors (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:10). r y y As the warehouses and trading houses of Charlotte Amalie expanded to meet this trade the need for fortifications languished. The fort "area experienced little new construction in the half century between 1730 and 1780, partly because of the need to maintain open space around the fort for defensive purposes and partly because of water barriers" (Cinquino 1996:62). On the interior of the fort it was necessary, probably due to the ---- roof, in 1736 to rebuild the six rooms against the west c;iif€ain ^ wall; and in 1752, the Church located in the courtyard»/^^s "ready to fall to pieces" and so was demolished (Lightbourn 1973:12). Yet Fort Christian was still significant to the Danish colonial government. During the first half century of its existence the fort served not only as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies, but also the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury and^for most of telf^yearsy as the place of worship for the Lutheran congregation * [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12]. With the acquisition of St. Croix from France in 1733, the Westindia Company had secured an island large enough to support literally hundreds of sugar plantations. In the following two decades, St. Croix's population surpassed that of St. Thomas. In 1755 the residence of the Governor of the Danish West Indies was moved from Fort Christian on St. Thomas- to the more prosperous colonial island town of Christiansted o i St. Croix Island (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). y By the 1750s, in spite of the extensive remodeling of Fort Christian completed in 1735, it was recognized that the fort was no longer adequate to the task of defending the island from attack. Various proposals for upgrading the fortifications were proposed but not acted upon (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:13-14). Outside the fort the growth of Charlotte Amalie necessitated, in 1781-1782, the lagoon east of Fort Christian being drained, filled in, and parceled out to settlers (Cinquino 1996:62). Lt. / Peter Lotharius Oxholm-who studied Fort Christian, had made the v/ recommendation to fill-in the lagoon. Its existence he claimed, and probably correctly, was in part the cause of the garrison's poor health condition. He comments on the stench that emanates from it during dry periods and was carried all through NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the town on the easterly breezes [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:58]. The Nineteenth Century By the beginning decades of the nineteenth century there had been no major changes to the fort since 1735. When the British occupied St. Thomas In 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 [to deny Napoleon's fleets use of the islands], they fortified and established their garrison on the peninsula on the west side of the harbor as a more suitable location for its defenses than Christians Fort. The latter was never again considered seriously as a defensive position [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:14]. Most of the changes in the nineteenth century occurred in the area surrounding the fort. A fire that swept through the town of Char^tte Amalie on New Years Day of 1826 destroyed the old Wesji^ndia Company warehouses, which according to von Meley's town p±3n of 1807 were located where the Grand Hotel and Emancipation Gardens now stand, northwest of the fort. The only new building erected in this area was the Grand Hotel built in 1839, followed three decades later by the construction of Emancip^ion Garden in 1873, to the west of the fort on land reclaimed the sea (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). South of the fort, a military barracks for enlisted men and non­ commissioned officers was built in 1827-28, which today serves as the Territorial Legislature Building (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). The troop's rooms in the old foart were converted to prison cells. The old water battery immediately south of these buildings was demolished shortly after the barracks were built. During the 1820s several other military structures were added to this area, but they were torn down after 1845 (Cinquino 1996:63). In 1871 the capital of the Danish West Indies was again relocated. Charlotte Amalie once more became the seat of colonial government. The military functions of Fort Christian were practically nil. A proposal to convert the fort from a military installation to a police station, a function more in keeping with the times, was made and entertained. In 1874 it was acted upon and was the first major change to the structure in 140 years. The major change to the fort itself was the blowing up of Governor Iversen's internal tower (Trygborg) on June 19, 1874. This was followed by the removal of the north curtain wall, northern ravelin, and north gate house, an(d the tearing down of most of the ravelin off the eastern si(de of the fort (see Photograph 9). In demolishing part of the eastern ravelin the demi-lune constructed by Governor Iversen was uncovered, drawn, and then torn down. All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and in their stead a new building of an entirely NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) I 5 (iHfti'fc. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service_____ National Register of Historic Places Rogiatratior. Form different appearance was erected with a clock tower over the entrance. The East and West of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastions [Lightbourn 1973:13]. By 1875 the northern curtain wall had been "replaced by a new one in the then popular style of gothic revival" (see Photograph 4, 5, and 14 and Figure 2) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15). The Twentieth Century When the United States acquired the Virgin Islands/ in 1917, . there had been no additional chang^ to the fort and its surrounding area by the Danish., y^lthough the historical ’ importance of Fort Christian was noted by it5being at the center of the transfer ceremony in 1917. The Virgin Islands were administered by the U.S. Navy during the early period of American control (1917-1931). The Navy took over Fort Christian and the land areas to the south and east of the fort. Shortly thereafter, a Marine Corps barracks was constructed east of the fort on harbor lands reclaimed in the 1780s. In the following years a number of new structures were added to it. They included, among other, two steel radio towers, a communication center, an ice and refrigeration plant, cisterns, garages, a mess and a recreational hall, shops, storage buildings, etc., crowding the grounds of the fort and partly obscuring it and the old barracks building [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. All of these twentieth century buildings to the east of the fort would be removed in the 1950s, with the construction of Veteran's Drive, and the area was converted to a parking lot which is its present use (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:62). Veteran's Drive, which runs east-west along the filled-in shoreline of Charlotte Amalie was built to run between the south side of the fort and the ola Danish barracks. This construction required the in filling of more land to the west and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:16) . Within Christians Fort work was confined to minor additions, repairs and to the installation of new utilities. Generally, it was done with faint regard to the historic fabric of the structure and lessened its architectural integrity [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. During the period from 1917 to 1983 Fort Christian continued to serve the Virgin Islands as a police station and prison. However, in the early 1960s the island community began to voice concern about the preservation of the old fort, reflected in th Secretary of the Interior designating Fort Christian as parfe-gr .^^6, St. Thomas National Historic Site,^.in 1960. At this time the fort served as the Virgin Islanc^^ ps^ison facility. Text of illegible scribbles for first paragraph on p. 30 In 1974, under the terms of PL 93-4351 (The Submerged Lands Act), title to Fort Christian passed to the Virgin Islands government. The St. Thomas National Historic Site was never activated as a unit of the National Park System, although the Secretary of the Interior did designate Fort Christian as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. A National Historic Landmark nomination form was not required for the reaffirmation of a finding of national significance for the Fort. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of HI st oric/t’laces Registration Form In November of 1971, "with community support, the firsl^ elected governor (of the Virgin Islands), Melvin H. Evans, o^ned a small museum of local history in four (lower) rooms'^ of the* southeast bastion. The museum shared the fort with the prison, which occupied all the rest of the fort with the exception of the southwest bastion, which housed the Civil Defense office of the Virgin Islands (D. Jowers^ personal communication, 1996). I<29V , under 4/rrss oC PC In ar-tJrS:—eyigrocDional ^ill ^fehat tranoferrod the j-ur j7s4iction- of Submerged ^-nr^a^irr^ v-;T?1nnd9 gc-vernmenj' crinta-ined a rider that alscr-ty^^&errg^.. cc-yfaaijij.nibarQ prop4ar-bv. wnien-includ^t^Fort Christian^^ to 'the'Virgin government. ’V ■si»it"^he St. Thomas National Historic Site unit was never abtivate^ although the Secretary of the Interior did designate -the ^ortyss^^Rational Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. A National*'f?fstoric Landmark nomination form was not required for the reaffirmation of a finding of national significance fou/port^ Chi*ratiai>, ^ In June of 1982 the firm of Richard deJongh and Frederik Gjessing was retained by the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a historic structures report of Fort Christian, entitled Fort Christian Historic Structure Report, which . . . gave a complete history of the fort from the Royal Archives in Copenhagen and the National Archives in Washington and other sources. Included in the report were measured drawings of how the building looked at various periods, [and] photographs especially taken during that prison period [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. In 1983 the police and jail moved out of the fort. The Virgin Islands government provided funds to the Fort Christian Museum to clean up the fort and remove the prison from the prisoners' cells. A gift shop and reception area klffit^reated in the rooms i«i«<ent to the west of the northaiprf^entrance, and a museum office and kitchen were installed in the rooms to the east of the ririrthe-pfr’-^^^^ entrance, allowing the majority of the fort to be opened up as a historic site (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1985, with funding from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the government of the Virgin Islands contracted with the firm of deJongh and Gjessing to develop overall plans and a scope of work for the restoration of Fort Christian. Based on their earlier historic structures report (1982), the restoration plan was "to retain the features still existing from the 1600's, the mid 1700's expansion and the 1874 north entrance and incorporate these into the museums plans" (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 the Civil Defense office, located in the southwest bastion, moved out of the fort and the first phase of restoration commenced using $500,000 in HUD CDBG monies and $60,000 from the FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) j OH?. Mo. 1024-0018 tage 31 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form virgin Islands Enhancement Fund (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 a contract was awarded to Coastal Construction with the firm of deJongh/Gjessing drawing specific plans and specs for funds allocated and their supervision of the project. This phase took in demolition of [twentieth century] interior walls in the courtyard which formed corridors into prison cells and certain [police] offices in the west and south [curtain walls]. Demolition of [modern cinder block] walls in the narrow west [curtain wall] side cells, returning them to their 1730's appearance, new plumbing and bathrooms, [and] a handicapped ramp by the right side of the 1874 entryway [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. This first restoration project of the west and south curtain walls lasted from 1990 until 1992 (see Photograph 8). A second phase of restoration saw $200,000, funded by HUD CDBG, go into the fort. The contractor was H & M Systems under the supervision of deJongh/Gjessing. Work included repair of the large rooms behind the east curtain wall and the rooms in the southeast bastion. It also repaired the roof/gun deck of these rooms and bastion. The work lasted from 1993 to 1994 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1994 the Fort Christian Museum was informed that a major Intermodal State Transportation and Enhancement Act project for work on Veteran's Drive had been approved and funds from this project would be used to complete the restoration of Fort Christian, probably commencing work in 1997 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Par)< Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Boyer, William W. 1983 America's Virgin Islands, A History of Human Rights and Wrongs. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Bronsted, Johannes (editor) 1952 Vore Gamble Torpe Kolonier. Volume II. A.G.H. Forlag, Copenhagen. Caron, Aimery 1988 St. Croix under French Dominion. Paper for the 10th Annual Conference of Caribbean Historians. St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. March 28-April 2. Cinquino, Michael A. (Principal Investigator) 1996 Phase lA Cultural Resource Investigation for the Proposed Veterans Drive Improvements, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Prepared for: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc., Maitland, Florida. Cissell, William F. 1993 A Synopsis of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Salt River, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its Special Relevance to the Columbus Quincentennial. Paper on file National Park Service, Atlanta. Crain, Edward E. 1994 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Dahl, Bjorn W. 1992 The Military Engineer Gottfried Hoffmann and his Works in Denmark 1648-1687. Fortress, No. 13, pp. 3-12, May. deJongh, Robert and Frederik J. Gjessing 1982 Fort Christian Historic Structures Report. The Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Dookhan, Isaac 1974 A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Canoe Press, Kingston, Jamaica. Duffy, Christopher 1985 The Fortress in the Age of Yauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) ^ OM^ No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Gjessing, Frederik C., and William P. MacLean 1987 Historic Buildings of St. Thomas and St. John. Macmillan Publishers, Limited. Gjessing, Frederik C. and Philip E. Gardner 1958 Historic Architecture of the Virgin Islands. Sections from the Historic American Building Survey, Number 1. On file with the National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta. Highfield, Arnold R. 1995 St. Croix 1493, An Encounter of Two Worlds. The Virgin Islands Humanities Council, United States Virgin Islands. Jowers, Dolores 1996 Letter to Mark Barnes describing the restoration of Fort Christian from the 1970s to 1996. Letter on file with the National Register Programs Division, National Park Service, Atlanta. Lightbourn, Jno. 1973 The Story of Fort Christian, 1672. ReprintedfWalloe's St. Thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881. Museum Leaflet Series No. 1, Bnreau of Libraries and Museums, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Morison, Samuel E. 193 9 The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cadiz to Hispaniola and the Discovery of the Lesser Antilles. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sauer, Carl O. 1969 The Early Spanish Main. Press, Berkeley. University of California Westergaard, Waldemar 1917 The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754) The Macmillan Company, New York. Previous documentation on file (NPS): ___ Preliminary Determination of Individual Listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. ___ Previously Listed in the National Register. ___ Previously Determined Eligible by the National Register. _X_ Designated a National Historic Landmark. May 5, 1977 ___ Recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey: # ___ Recorded by Historic American Engineering Record: # NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN Ur:it"d Sliates Deijailinent of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Primary Location of Additional Data: State Historic Preservation Other State Agency Federal Agency Local Government University Other(Specify Repository): Office US Virgin Islands Mrs. Delores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. »-8G) iJEC j COM^ No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN " Page 35 United States Department of the Interior, National Park ServiceNational Register of Historic Places Registration Form 10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Acreage of Property: 1.92 acres UTM References: Zone Northing Easting Zone Northing Easting 20 2029040 296040 Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary for Fort Christian is based on an on-site visitation to the fort in April 1996, in the company of Mr. Myron Jackson of the Virgin Islands SHPO Office and Ms. Dolores vJowers, Curator of Fort Christian. The boundary description is keyed to the enclosed sketch map (see Figure 1). A datum point was set at the base of the point of the southwestern bastion of Fort Christian. A line was projected in a generally southwest direction to the outside edge of the sidewalk. This is Point A. The boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk for 246 feet to Point B. From Point B the boundary goes due noxth for 356 feet to Point C (along the east side of a small road). From Point C the boundary goes across the small road and along the outside edge of a stone lined gutter bordering a open park area for 200 feet to the mid-point of the road leading to the entrance of the fort (Point D). From Point D, the boundary continues along the outside edge of the stone lined gutter of the other open park area for 100 to Point E. From Point E the boundary goes due south along the outside eastern edge of the street for 257 feet to Point F. Point F is located along the outside edge of the intersection of Fort Pladsen and Veteran's Drive. From Point F the boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk on the north side of Veteran's Drive some 37 feet to connect with Point A. Boundary Justification: fo he The boundary for Fort Christian includes the entire fortification area which contains extant seventeenth to nineteenth century standing remains of the fort. It also includes areas to the east, west, and north sides of the fort, which once contained ravelins that projected out from the curtain walls of the fort. The only non contributing building in the boundary is a 1950's fire station (see Photograph 6) that occupies the area to the west of the fort on which the west gh*italfi ravelin once stood. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Regi~tra-ion Form 11. FORM PREPARED BY Name/Title: Org. : Street/#: City/Town: State: ZIP: Telephone: Date: Mark R. Barnes, Ph.D. Senior Archeologist National Register Programs Division National Park Service, SERO 1924 Building 100 Alabama Street, SW Atlanta Georgia 30303 (404) 562-3173 Mark_Barnes@nps.gov November 29,1999 Revised by with the assistance of: Mrs. Dolores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 (809) 776-4566 Virgin Islands Preservation Office Staff Department of Planning and Natural Resource Foster Plaza, Anna's Retreat 396-1 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00802 (809) 776-8605 NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Regbtration Form ICE i Parking Area North m-i Figure 1. Site map showing the boundaries of Fort Christian and the layout of the surrounding area. Provided by M. Slater. National Park Service/WASO/History Division (418) : June 26, 1997 Virgin Islands Fire Department Building (1950s) noncontributing building lit; Iter wall of northwest Bastion (1670s) on 1730s Interior Rooms SW Bast: Interior rooms of northwest Bastion (c. 1730s) Gothic Revival (1874-1878) Bell Tower and northern lentrance. Location of the 17thc stone tower removed in 1874 Main Courtyard Outer walls of Southwest and Southeast Bastions and Interior Rooms along the south and east walla constructed ca. 1730s South Curtain or Outer wall- (1670s) Interior rooms of northeast Bastion (c. 1730s) Outer wall of northeast Jastlon (1670s) Fort ChtMten HMortc Stnieturas Raport Remains of the ravelin for tl eSst wall 17iati—in— /ojessuM, ajj>. »iicmii«cts • ST. TNOoaa, ua. vnao islamds Outer wall of east curtain 1670e MAIN LEVEL FLOOR PLAN MEASURED DRAWING Interior Rooms SE Bastion 1730s Property OArr^^-fC^ hhU State l/X County due DATE; Zlll^’2000 TECHNICAL 7^040$ 'f'^cot~rrc:f<j Photos /4' 7 Maps / S(f^ OpIoo^'^c/ ro^t^etui's historian Tnarw 0-1- W//9/<^3 Oi\c.c\U\pcf F/J^f/oh '^//6>/oo /^cIV-- \Yei~( f 5 e /-Jopr if- As h(]>hkfr^pfd «x-f o-^t porhn^\(^ry(y pnra^rapi-,^ ^ Please lobe I -h^e pho]o5~ SV>-r%^y O- Cc<p hobjf, Kau^Ws ARCHEoiL6<51§T BRANCH CHIEF i xJjis ' o ^ ^ V KEEPER 5L"j2c Fort Christian NHL St. Thomas, VIRGIN ISLANDS (Boundary Study) Reviewer’s Comments: In earlier comments, I questioned the inclusion of two small parks north of the fort in the boundary. Mark insists that the “open space area — north of the fort - should be included within the NHL boundary as this was part of the historic defensive area for Fort Christian.” I also suggested that the period of national significance extend from 1671 to 1755, with a later period of State and local significance, since the fort was converted into a jail and police station and is a very conspicuous and much loved landmark for locals and tourists. Mark wants the period of national significance to extend to 1917, based on the fort’s being the site of the transfer of power fi-om the Danes to the U.S. in 1917. I have corrected a number of typos and other small things. I have also suggested new wording for the paragraph on the tangled history of the St. Thomas National Historic Site. The photos are still labeled with sticky notes and need to be relabeled. Marilyn Harper April 18, 2000 Fort Christian NHL St. Thomas, VIRGIN ISLANDS (Boundary Study) Reviewer’s Commerits: The main problem with this boundary study is the boundary. It currently includes two small parks north of the fort itself that appear to date to the 1870s, when the north front of the fort was replaced with a wonderful Victorian Gothic building. The parks, known as Emancipation Gardens and very pretty, are much loved by Charlotte Amaliens We don’t have any photos clearly showing the parks. I don’t know whether the original landmark had a boundary or not. Fort Christian was designated by the Secretary as a National Historic Site in 1960 but was never considered part of the National Park System. The order of designation had a boundary that did not include the two parks, but did include an area to the east that probably should not have been included in the first place and is not included in the proposed boundaries (see attached). In the 1973, the “Site” was conveyed to the government of the Virgin Islands, along with all the other Federal property on the islands. At that time it was proposed that the Fort be made an NHL, but nothing was done until 1977, when Fort Christian was formally designated an NHL. No nomination form has even been prepared. Does the boundary originally established for the Fort Christian National Historic Site constitute the boundary for the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark? If not, I suppose the landmark has no boundary and the parks can be included if we agree that they are related to the national significance of the Fort. The other problem is the significance. Everything I have seen seems to indicate that the primary significance of Fort Christian is its association with early Danish settlement and its military importance during that period, which pretty much runs from 1671 to about 1755, when the capital of the Danish Virgin Islands was moved from St. Thomas to St. Croix and the fort lost all military importance. The closest thing we have to a statement of the original intent of designation is in the order of designation for the National Historic Site, which stated “Fort Christian in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, dating from 1671, served as the hub of early Danish settlement on the Island of St. Thomas, housing the Governor, the Lutheran ministers, as well as the Fort garrison, and was utilized both as a fortification and place of worship and as such illustrates many phases of the history of Danish settlement in the West Indies. ..” I suggested in earlier comments that the period of national significance extend from 1671 to 1755, with a later period of State and local significance, since the fort was converted into a jail and police station and is a very conspicuous and much loved landmark for locals and tourists. The problem is complicated by the replacement of most of the front elevation in 1874, which presumably would not contribute to the national significance of the building. site of the transfer of power from the Danes to the U.S. in 1917. I’m not sure that is enough to justify national significance under the areas of significance they are claiming-European Colonial Exploration and Settlement (old thematic framework) or Peopling Places: encounters, conflicts, and colonization (new framework). I have raised both of these questions in a couple of returns. Mark insists that the “open space area - north of the fort - should be included within the NHL boimdary as this was part of the historic defensive area for Fort Christian,” that the 1874 addition be “considered part of the national significance of this structure,” and that the period of national significance should extend to 1917. The nomination contains many typos which have not been corrected and the photos are still labeled with sticky notes. I don’t think sending it back will do any good. What do you think?? Marilyn April 18,2000 ‘ SCAU; IN MHCS Kfxii -lu^ ; i i^x'. ST. JOHN) ST THOMAS — NATIONAL HISiTOHIC SITE IG'TS VICINITY MAP EMANCIPATION PARK EMANCIPATION PARK I_____1 E^AP ATTACHED TO ANDX. rOCMlNG A PART OT THE OrtDCI? or THE I-'CPETARY \ or THE INTECiOR LC.^IG.NATING THE OT. THO.'.iAS NATIONAL SCALE IN FEET UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR N.ATIONA.L E’ARA service LEGEND N H S boundary NATIONAL HioTORIC SITL ST THOMAS . VIRGIN ISLANDS 'M riY: D M NOV PA, 10An NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: FORT CHRISTIAN Other Name/Site Number: Christians Fort ' /7P jL I a ™ 2. LOCATION Street & Number: N/A City/Town: Charlotte Amalie State: US Virgin Islands County: Not for publication:N/A Vicinity:N/A St. Thomas Code: 030 Zip Code: 00802_ 3 . CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Private Public-local Public-State Public-Federal Category of Property Building(s):_X_ District Site Structure Object Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 Noncontributing 1 buildings ______ sites ______ structures objects 1 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register: 0. Name of related multiple property listing: N/A NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination ____ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property Register criteria. meets does not meet the National Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I, hereby certify that this property is: Entered in the National Register Determined eligible for the _____ National Register Determined not eligible for the ___ National Register Removed from the National Register Other (explain): _____________________ Signature of Keeper Date of Action NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) 0MB No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN Sra'es Pepartment of the Interior, National Park ServiceNational Register of Historic Places P.ogi st rat: on Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Government Defense Sub: government office fortification Current: Recreation and Culture Sub: museum 7■ DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Other Late Victorian - Gothic - 17^** and Century Danish Military; MATERIALS: Foundation: Walls: Roof : Other: Stone Stone Stone, Plaster covered Fired Brick, supported by wooden beams Fired Brick paving in courtyard NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Pegistration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the 1670s to protect the Danish colony on St. Thomas. The fort is a rubble masonry seventeenth-century fortress consisting of curtain walls enclosing a square, with an irregular diamond-shaped bastion on each corner. The fort is typical of fortresses of the Baltic area of that century. Behind the curtain walls and bastions are rooms formerly containing gun batteries, government offices, the residence for the colonial governor, and the colony's first church. The interior courtyard of the fort is a brick-paved open area that once contained a large thick-walled tower along the north side of the courtyard. In 1874, this tower was demolished and the northern curtain wall was replaced with a Gothic Revival style building incorporating a prominent clock tower (see Figures 1 and 2). Environmental Setting; The harbor of St. Thomas, with its easily defended narrow entrance, large roadstead to accommodate numerous ships, and broad flat beach on the north side of the harbor to land supplies and load plantation produce, was an ideal location for the establishment of a colony that would depend upon seaborne trade. Along the eastern side of the beach was a slightly elevated rectangularly shaped rocky peninsula that jutted some 700 feet into the harbor. In the 1670s, the colonists built their stone fort on the neck of this peninsula to take advantage of its natural defensive characteristics (see Photograph 1). The east and west approaches to the fort were protected by a barrier of water and, later, by triangular-shaped stone fortifications (ravelins) projecting out from the curtain walls of the fort (Crain 1994:153). The south side of the fort was also protected by water, but did not have a ravelin. Additional protection on the south side of the fort was provided by the construction of a water battery. On the north, or land side, which was the traditional approach into the fort, the elevation was not so steep. Therefore, the Danes enhanced the defense of this approach by constructing a wooden palisade across the neck of the peninsula. During the seventeenth century a barrier of prickly pear cactus was maintained between the wooden palisade and the stone walls of the fort to further impede attackers. This approach area to the north of the fort was always maintained by the Danes as an open defensive area, and today consists of two small park areas (see Figure 1). The wooden palisade was replaced with a stone ravelin projecting from the north side of the fort in the 1720s (see Photograph 2). The site of Fort Christian "commanded the flanking beaches of the peninsula, the entrance to the harbor, and all parts of the bay" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18). By the 1820s, when Fort Christian was rendered obsolete by improvements in the range and power of naval gunnery, it no longer was deemed necessary for the defense of the island. The NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form soldiers were relocated from the fort and quartered in a barracks building (the present-day Territorial Legislature) constructed on the peninsula between the fort and the water battery. Throughout the nineteenth century, the water areas east and west of the fort were filled in to create flat land surfaces upon which open park space and dock facilities were constructed. In the 1870s, the ravelins on the north, east, and west sides of the fort were removed, although portions of the east ravelin are extant. Within the fortification was a square brick-paved open space. Along the north side of the open space was a squat three-story high stone tower, or keep, called Trygborg. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference, the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Fort Christian (see Photograph 3). The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. In 1874, Trygborg, the northern curtain wall, and northern ravelin were torn down. That part of the fort was replaced with a Gothic Revival style building featuring a prominent clock tower (see Photographs 4 and 5). In the mid-twentieth century, further land filling occurred along the whole northern shoreline of the harbor upon which a two lane highway (Veterans Drive) was constructed. This road ran along the south side of the fort, separating it from the water battery and barracks. The reclaimed land on the west side of the fort became Emancipation Garden, while the reclaimed land on the east side of the fort became a parking lot. The northern approach to the fort, which once contained land side defenses^became two small park areas (see t Figure 1) . -> Description; From the beginning. Fort Christian was considered the most important structure on St. Thomas, as it provided security for the newly founded Danish colony against attacks by other colonial powers and pirates. According to Robert deJongh and Fred Gjessing: The site selected [for the fort] was a low hill on a small peninsula jutting out at the approximate center of the north shore of the bay of St. Thomas harbor. It was opposite the entrance to the bay and extended 700 feet into it. Immediately behind the rocky shoreline, the peninsula had level ground only a few feet above the sea. The hill occupied the center of the peninsula. It was defined by fairly steep slopes towards the east, south and west. On the landward side, the hill sloped more gently down to the lower terrain to the north that separated the peninsula from the steeper rises further inland [1982:18]. The fort site faced water on the west, east, and south sides of the fort with a water battery on the extreme south face of the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form peninsula for protection against attack. The north side of the fort was protected from attack from the land side with a wooden palisade stretching across the peninsula, and a barrier of prickly pear cactus that surrounded the fort. Later fortifications were added on the exterior of the east, west, and north curtain walls in the form of ravelins (see Photograph 2). The northern palisade, prickly pear cactus barrier, and ravelins (with the exception of partial remains on the east side of the fort) are gone. The land and sea areas surrounding Fort Christian have changed considerably through the gradual in-filling of the water areas on the west and east sides of the fort. The area to the north of the fort, where the Danish military once had a ravelin, is now open space. On the south side the open area between the water battery and the fort has been filled in with a 1820s barracks structure, three mid-twentieth century United States Coast Guard buildings, and Veteran's Drive. On the east side most of the ravelin was removed, as were numerous buildings constructed by the U.S. Navy (1917-1931). The area east of the fort is now a parking lot. On the west side, the ravelin has been removed and a fire station was built in the area in the 1950s (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). The extant portions of the seventeenth and eighteenth fort structure consist of: the east, west, and south curtain walls; all four diamond-shaped bastions;, and the interior rooms built within the bastions and against the curtain walls. The nineteenth century portion of the fort consists of the northern curtain wall and rooms built behind this curtain wall, and the Gothic Revival clock tower. All of these historic features are intact (see Figure 2). Recent restoration efforts by the Territorial Government have resulted in the restoration of the roof, or gun deck, of the fort and the gun batteries within the west curtain wall of the fort (see Photographs 7 and 8). This work has also removed the twentieth century frame additions to the south side of the fort and a concrete roof installed over the historic gun deck or roof by the U.S. Navy, between 1917 and 1931. The area of the fort that has seen the greatest change is the interior space formed by the curtain walls and bastions. Originally, the mass and height of the exterior curtain and bastion walls formed the defense for the cannons of the fort and served as the back wall for a number of structures built within the fort, some of wood and some of stone. Changes in the function of the fort and deterioration of structures necessitated numerous rearrangements of the interior. By the 1730s most of the fort had reached its present shape. The southeast part of the fort, due to the irregularity of the rocky outcrop on which it was constructed, was the only two-story area. The height of the outer walls allowed for the construction of a lower series of masonry rooms in this area. Above this was a id NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form second tier of masonry rooms built against the outer curtain walls (see Photograph 9). At the same time the southeast and southwest bastions had been completely filled in with rooms. The northwest and northeast bastions were only partially filled in, leaving small spaces open in the middle of these bastions. The roof of the masonry rooms behind the curtain walls and bastions formed a continuous gun deck for the cannons. Two stone guard posts were built at the tips of the northwest and southwest bastions (see Photo 2). In 1874 the seventeenth-century north curtain wall between the northeast and northwest bastions and the internal tower (Trygborg)were removed. A Gothic Revival style entrance and clock tower were constructed, between 1874 and 1878 (see Photographs 4 and 5). The only non-contributing building within the boundary of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark is a 1950s fire station along the west side of the fort (see Photograph 6 and Figure 1). I NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86)’ FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service -86)'^^^ ^ ^ iUUUoMB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: Nationally: X Statewide:___ Locally: Applicable National Register Criteria: A X B Criteria Considerations (Exceptions): A_ NHL Criteria: NHL Theme(s): B Criterion 1 I. Peopling Places 6. encounters, conflicts, and colonization Areas of Significance: Period(s) of Significance: Significant Dates: Significant Person(s): Cultural Affiliation: Architect/Builder: Historic Context: Exploration/Settlement, Military 1671-1917 N/A N/A N/A Governor Jorgen Iverson II. EUROPEAN COLONIAL EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT D. Other European Exploration and Settlement 1. Scandinavian (Danish) NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form State Significance of Property, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. Summary Statement of Significance; Fort Christian, or Christians Fort, was constructed in the latter part of the seventeenth century (1672-1680) to protect the Danish colony of St. Thomas. The fort served as the center for Danish colonial community life during much of the nearly 250 years of Danish rule of St. Thomas, until the transfer from Danish colonial rule to American authority in 1917. It housed the site of the first Lutheran church, the Governor's residence, governmental offices of the colony, the prison, and was the principal fortification protecting the settlement of Charlotte Amalie from attack by other colonial Caribbean powers. Background History On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus took a more southerly course across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to encounter the islands of the Caribs he had been told about on his first voyage. Columbus took this route as he wanted to chart a quicker route from Spain to the Indies. On November 3, 1493, only 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands, his fleet sighted the island of Dominica, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles (Highfield 1995:52). Traveling northward among the Lesser Antilles, Columbus landed at an island he called Guadalupe (present-day Guadeloupe Island). He spent eight days on this island and found the first evidence of the Caribs (Highfield 1995:52). On the morning of November 10, 1493, the fleet left Guadalupe and cruised northward naming various islands after Catholic saints. They reached the island of Saba, on November 12th, whence they turned to the west in the direction of St. Croix Island (Morison 1939:80; Highfield 1995:54) . Arriving at St. Croix on the morning of November 14th, Columbus coasted along the north side of the island looking for a place to debark and meet with the native peoples. Dr. Chanca, the expedition's physician, noted they could see the present-day American (St. Thomas and St. John) and British Virgin Islands north of St. Croix at this time (Highfield 1995:58) . Following brief and bloody contact with the Native Americans on the north side of St. Croix, at Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960), on the afternoon of November 14, 1493 the fleet raised anchor and sailed north to St. Thomas and St. John. The fleet did not land on either of these islands. However, it was during this part of the voyage that St. Thomas, called Santo Thomas by Columbus, was named. During the first decades of the sixteenth century the native peoples on the present-day American Virgin Islands were beset by Spanish slavers (Highfield 1995:132-133) attempting to acquire labor for the Puerto Rican gold mines. In January of 1511 the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form St. Croix Caribs joined with Puerto Rican Tainos to attack and destroy a Spanish settlement on the Anasco River, in Puerto Rico (Caron 1988:1). By Spanish decree the Caribs became enemies of the crown who were to be exterminated (Cissell 1993:3; Highfield 1995:76). Thereafter, Spanish expeditions from Puerto Rico regularly raided the American Virgin Islands for Carib slaves. By 1515, Juan Ponce de Leon, Governor of Puerto Rico, described these islands as deserted (Sauer 1969:192). Throughout the rest of the sixteenth century the American Virgin Islands were for the most part abandoned. They were too close to Spanish Puerto Rico for native peoples to maintain a safe permanent settlement, while the Spanish had no interest in using the islands as a colony. Instead, they became staging areas for almost annual Carib raids on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in the 1520s and 1530s (Highfield 1995:134). In all probability the American Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, were sporadically inhabited by Caribs until the beginning of the seventeenth century (Highfield 1995:134). The first European country to attempt to permanently settle*St. Thomas was an ill-fated colonial effort by Denmark, in 1666. Under Governor Erik Smit a small colony was established on St. Thomas, presumably in the area of the present fort, but that attempt ended when the Dutch attacked the colony and the colonists elected to return to Denmark after only eighteen months (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2). To prevent foreign interference with any future colonization attempt. King Christian V in 1670 signed a treaty of alliance and commerce with Great Britain. In that way, the British -- the most powerful colonial presence in the Lesser Antilles -- would not oppose Danish efforts to colonize St. Thomas (Dookhan 1974:37). In 1671 the Danes' second attempt to colonize St. Thomas began with the establishment of the Dansk vestindisk-guineisk Kompagni or Danish West India and Guinea Company, "to carry on business in the West Indies" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1). In the following year (1672) St. Thomas was successfully colonized (Westergaard 1917:31-32). The Danes later acquired the rights to the island of St. John through the founding of plantations on that island in 1717. The Danish West India and Guinea Company purchased the practically abandoned French island of St. Croix in 1733. The Danes took possession in the following year completing Danish colonial holdings in the New World (Westergaard 1917:37, 128, 208) . The Danish, like other European colonial powers in the Caribbean, used imported African slave labor to produce tropical products, such as sugar, rum, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. All of these products were in great demand internationally. By the late eighteenth century, the plantations on St. Thomas were predominately given over to the raising of sugar cane, and the production of molasses, rum, and brown sugar for export. However, the expense of transporting, maintaining, and policing a NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form captive labor population would prove to be less economically profitable for St. Thomas than inter-island trade. The Danish West India and Guinea Company was under contract to the Danish government to organize the Lesser Antilles islands into profitable colonies. To this end the Company established slaving statiops along the Guinea coast of Africa. Between 1698 and 1754 the Company transported over ten thousand slaves from Africa to the'Danish Virgin Islands. It is estimated that over one quarter of the slaves perished at sea. This was a much higher loss rate than suffered by other European slavers (Boyer 1983:17) . Id When the contract of the Company ended in 1754 the Danish government continued the transport of African slaves with a similar loss ratio. In 1803 the Danish slave trade officially ended. The end of the trade was recommended by the Great Negro Trade Commission which illustrated the trade as equally unhealthy to Danish sailors. Of the 2,004 Danish sailors who sailed in the Danish slave ships in the twelve-year period of 1777 to 1789, a total of 691, or more than one-third, died during the voyages [Boyer 1983:37]. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, the King's edict of March 16, 1792 set the date of the end of the slave trade at December 31, 1802, "in order to permit the planters time to stock up on the number of slaves" (Boyer 1983:37) . As early as 1690 Governor Johan Lorentz of the Virgin Islands proclaimed a policy of execution or mutilation as punishment for runaway slaves (Boyer 1983:24). Within the Danish islands . . . a special tax was levied on planters to indemnify those among them for any legally killed or injured slaves, thus removing a powerful economic constraint against the maiming and killing of slaves [Boyer 1983:24-25]. Throughout the eighteenth century, and into the early decades of the nineteenth century, the Danish slave laws were still being enforced, although they were considerably relaxed during the two British occupations of the islands in the early nineteenth century (1801 and 1807-1815) (Boyer 1983:28). Added to this was a growing free-colored class that served in the Free-Colored Militia, owned property, ran businesses, and even possessed slaves, and that was petitioning the Danish King for their full rights as citizens (Boyer 1983:42). After emancipation of the slaves in 1848, sugar cane production dropped off to practically nothing on St. Thomas. As the importance of tropical products grown on St. Thomas declined, the major economic aspect of the island became the transit trade of goods that were traded in the neutral port of Charlotte Amalie. NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) 'JUL I 4 200Qimb No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park ServiceNational Register of Historic Places Registration Form This trade had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century- following its designation as a free port in 1764 (Cinquino 1996:30-31) . The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of growing prosperity for St. Thomas. The excellence and size of its harbor and the location of St. Thomas, midway between North and South America and within cruising range of the new steam-powered ships from Europe and the United States, made St. Thomas an ideal transhipment point. The island was not only prospering, it was also optimistically predicting further growth and development. The prosperity of St. Thomas began to taper off in the last half of the nineteenth century, due to natural disasters and technological changes. In late 1867 St. Thomas was beset by two major natural disasters in rapid succession. In October a devastating hurricane hit the island, followed in November by a tidal wave, both of which destroyed great numbers of ships in the harbor. These two natural catastrophes did great damage to the town, the harbor, shipping facilities, and St. Thomas' reputation as a safe harbor (Bronsted 1952:299). Advances and improvements in the steamships of the period eliminated the need for using St. Thomas as a coaling station for ships from North America and Europe on their way to South America. St. Thomas' transit trade and usefulness as a coaling station was coming to an end. The gradual loss of population that resulted from the declining economy of the island also affected the St. Thomas community. Following World War II, with the increase in air transportation and the development of tourism, the population of St. Thomas has again grown in numbers. History of Fort Christian As early as the 1620s Danish merchants developed trading companies along the lines of the British, Dutch, and French West India Companies to trade Danish goods for tropical products available only from the Caribbean. Danish trading ventures of this time usually consisted of sending individual ships sponsored by the merchant companies to trade at ports in the New World, trade practice which usually produced substantial profits for these companies. By mid-century the Copenhagen based West India Company proposed the creation of a Danish colony in the Caribbean. In 1665 the company secured permission from the crown to settle a colony on St. Thomas in the West Indies. The first Danish colonization effort reached St. Thomas on March 30, 1666, under the command of Erik Smit who had been appointed Governor for the new colony by the West India Company. Governor Smit and numerous other colonists soon died. The remaining settlers were not able to complete a defensive fortification, believed to have been located in the vicinity of Bluebeard's Castle on a hill east of the present location of Fort Christian (Lightbourn 1973:1; deJongh and Gjessing 1982:1-2, 17). NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Departm.ent of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form The loss of settlers due to illness meant the colony did not have the manpower to construct a defensive structure for its protection. The newly founded colony soon found itself embroiled in international politics that would doom its existence without the means to protect itself from other colonial powers and pirates. According to deJongh and Gjessing, In 1665 war had broken out between England and Holland in which France joined on the side of the Dutch. By the following year it had spread to the Caribbean. Initially this appeared to offer the Danish colony an advantage. Dispossessed individuals from English and Dutch possessions sought refuge on St. Thomas and augmented the depleted labor force of the Danes. However, it provided the justification of French, Dutch and English freebooters to raid the new colony, ostensibly to capture the refugees but in reality also to secure such supplies and equipment the small force could not defend. After eighteen months of harassment and deprivation the survivors of the expeditionary force, who since the death of Erik Smit had been led by the Lutheran minister Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, decided to abandon the settlement. They made their way back to Denmark by stages [1982:2]. In early 1671 a rechartered West India Company was created to attempt to reestablish a Danish colony on the island of St. Thomas. The Company selected as the Governor of the colony Jorgen Iversen. Iversen had gone to the British Caribbean Island of St. Christopher (present-day St. Kitts) at the age of 13 as an indentured servant in 1651. Over the next fifteen years he rose to become a full partner in a Dutch trading concern in the Caribbean, from which he learned the lessons necessary for a successful colony (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:2-3). Between Iversen's arrival on St. Thomas in May 23, 1672 until July 4, 1680, when he was relieved, he succeeded . . . in creating a community out of the multinational and racial components of the colony and steer it towards a promise of prosperity while building Christians Fort, carrying out an inter-island trade for the company and establishing plantations on St. Thomas [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3]. Iversen understood the threats facing a new colony in the far off Caribbean, and how the lack of a fort had doomed the first Danish colonization attempt. He appears to have given a high priority to the construction of the fort. Shortly after landing on St. Thomas, Iversen issued orders that "all [colonists] should NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form assemble to [militia] service on Sundays in the Fort by beat of drum," the penalty for non-compliance being 25 lbs. of tobacco (Lightbourn 1973:1). The completion date of the fort is unknown but is presumed to have been mostly finished in time for the French attack of 1678. It was during Governor Iversen's tenure that he not only had Fort Christian constructed, but also one of its outlying hilltop gun and watch towers -- Skytsborg in 1679 (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). According to Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing An Army Lieutenant had been included amongst the Company's functionaries of the proposed colony. He was to advise Governor Iversen in all military matters and provide the technical knowledge needed for the design and construction of a fort. To insure that this was done according to the standards of the times, a copy of Admiral Freitag's treatise on the construction of forts was included among the books that Jorgen Iversen brought out to guide him in his duties as the governor. This 17th century work provides layout[s] of fortifications, explanations of the military functions of their different parts and served as a design handbook for military engineers [1982:17] . Unfortunately, the Lieutenant died on the voyage from Denmark to the Virgin Islands, so "Iversen was left to make his own decision[s] regarding the fortification" location and shape (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:18) . Iversen probably used Admiral Freitag's book in planning the layout of Fort Christian. Later governors of St. Thomas, and even Iversen, would acknowledge the disadvantages of the site he chose for Fort Christian, however, the "sense of urgency that an adequate if not ideal fort had to be erected rapidly for the defense of the colony, must have been the basic considerations of the decision" to site the fort on a slightly elevated area on the beach, rather than higher up out of the range of any seventeenth-century artillery fire from ships and from hills to the north and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:19). To help defend the exposed location of Fort Christian, two gun towers were later built on hilltops above the fort, a technique pioneered by the seventeenth century Scandinavian military architects Gottfried Hoffmann and Erik Dahlberg. As to the style of the fort, Iversen chose to construct a typical seventeenth-century thick-walled square fortification with projecting diamond-shaped, or Vauban, bastions at each corner. The irregular shape of the hill on which the fort was constructed required that the bastions not be uniform in size (see Figure 2). In the interior courtyard was constructed a fortified tower (Trygborg), or keep, that was a story higher than the main fort (see Photograph 3). This type of fortification with internal keep would have been familiar to Iversen and had played an NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Parl< Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form important role in military engineering in the Baltic Sea region, where during the seventeenth century the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden fought over control of the sea lanes leading into the Baltic. The two preeminent military engineers during this conflict, Gottfried Hoffmann of Denmark and Erik Dahlberg of Sweden, utilized low thick-walled fortifications to protect towns and key defensive points, often in combination with outlying fortified towers (Dahl 1992:6; Duffy 1985:191). As noted by Christopher Duffy, in The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, The surest signs of [Erik] Dahlberg's presence were, however, his idiosyncratic multi-storeyed casemated towers, which he employed variously as island batteries, hilltop forts and inner keeps [1985:195- 196] . Gottfried Hoffman, during the mid-seventeenth century, also constructed fortresses with outlying and internal tower works at Fredericia and Helsingborg, Denmark (Dahl 1992:6). Throughout the troubled seventeenth century, the contenders for control of the Baltic - Denmark and Sweden - also undertook efforts to establish colonies in the New World. Sweden established a military outpost called Fort Christina (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961) in the vicinity of present day Wilmington, Delaware, where they traded for furs until the colony was captured by the English in 1664. The Danes were more successful in establishing and holding a colony in the Caribbean. The Seventeenth Century We do not have a clear picture of the original seventeenth- century fort built under Iversen's direction. However, it is believed the outer walls of all four bastions of the present fort, internal tower or keep (removed in 1874), and the south, east, and west curtain walls can be attributed to the first building phase (see Figure 2) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982). Housing for the governor, the troops, and government officials, and the colony's church appear to have been accommodated in wooden and stone structures in the interior of the fort. To provide additional soldiers for the defense of St. Thomas, Iversen, in 1674, secured from the island planters an agreement "to perform guard duty on a rotating basis at the fort in return for easement of taxes" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:20). Accounts kept by Governor Iversen between 1672 and 1680 tend to indicate that by 1676 the internal tower, the outer curtain and bastion walls, and buildings within the fort were substantially finished. These accounts also indicate that between 1676 and 1680, the majority* of the work on the fort consisted of carpentry and finishing work (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form One of the main features of Christians Fort was a squat three- story high tower, called Trygborg, on the north side of the fort. Twenty-six and one half feet high and 90 feet in circumference the tower was intended as a self-contained last ditch defensive position if an enemy carried the outer walls of Christians Fort. The first floor was a large storeroom for ammunition and provisions. The walls of the upper two floors were studded with embrasures for both small arms and light cannon. This was the first military tower that can be documented on St. Thomas. The push by Governor Iversen to complete the work on the fort would shortly be rewarded. In the fall of 1676, the United Kingdom of Denmark- Norway became involved in a European war with France as one of the adversaries. The conflict had been expected for a couple of years and had been the reason for securing the planters agreement to perform guard duties at the fort. With the outbreak of the war in Europe an attack on St. Thomas by forces from the older, more populous and better established French colonies was anticipated and feared. In preparation for the attack the guard duties of the planters and other inhabitants of St. Thomas at the fort were stepped up and planters and their families were allowed to live in the fort [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:21]. In February of 1678 a force of some 60 French settlers from neighboring St. Croix launched an attempt to seize St. Thomas Island. Fortunately, Governor Jorgen Iversen's fort proved too strong to storm. As the attackers did not have any siege cannon Fort Christian was easily able to withstand the brief siege imposed by the French from St. Croix. The French were forced to retreat after capturing a number of slaves which were carried back to St. Croix (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:22). The defeat of the French in 1678, proved Fort Christian was a strong defense for St. Thomas against an attacking force without siege guns or enemy ships approaching from the sea. However, Governor Iversen realized that the French attacking force could have pounded Christians Fort into submission by erecting an artillery battery on the high ground east and north of the fort. For this reason Iversen ordered a tower fortification similar to Trygborg erected on Baggaertsbjerg Hill, a hilltop north of Christians Fort, in 1679 called Skytsborg or Sky Tower (Blackbeard's Castle) (see Photograph 1). Such a tower would not only deny the high ground to an attacking force, but also serve as a watchtower providing a vantage point high enough to peer over Hassel Island to scan the open ocean, thereby providing Fort Christian early warning of an approaching enemy (see Photograph 10). Later in 1689 one of Iversen's successors had Schmitberg (Bluebeard's Castle) constructed on a hill east of the fort. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) JUL I 4 No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Parlt Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Iversen's letter of February 2, 1680 to the directors of the Danish Westindia Company indicated that Skytsborg had been erected at Baggaertsbjerg by that date. In it he wrote "Since I had the (Skytsborg) Watchtower erected at Baggaertsbjerg I did not fear a hasty attack so much." A 1687 English map of St. Thomas harbor depicts and describes a "small white tower" on Baggaertsbjerg Hill to the north of Fort Christian (see Photograph 1). It is possible that Iversen used the Company stone mason Simon Lamare, who had worked on Fort Christian and Trygborg tower, to construct Skytsborg in 1679. According to deJongh and Gjessing In August, 1674, Jorgen Iversen acquired for the Company a mulatto slave by the name of Simon Lamare. He was a mason and was to serve as the clerk of the works, for the construction of the fort [Fort Christian]. The phrasing in the account book of this transaction is of interest. It states "brought Simon Lamare to serve the Company for seven years" [1674-1681], implying some sort of contractual agreement with Simon Lamare for his manumission after an agreed upon period of service [1982:20] . In July of 1680, Nicolai Esmit assumed the governorship of the island from Iversen and moved into the completed fort. According to deJongh and Gjessing, Iversen left a description of the fort which is summarized in the following manner. In plan it was an irregular parallelogram with east and west walls nearly parallel and the north wall roughly perpendicular to them. The dimensions of the fort from tip of bastion to tip of bastion were on the east, south, west and north side respectively 178 feet, 150 feet 6 inches, 193 feet 6 inches, and 170 feet. From center to center of the exterior of opposite curtains the fort measured east- west 115 feet and north-south 123 feet. The outworks of the fort were limited to a horseshoe shaped demilune in front of the east curtain and a palisade of wood posts surrounding the fortification. The palisade consisted of posts driven into the ground 2.5 feet and close enough together to prevent a man from squeezing between them. It started in the sea below and east of the S.E. bastion and continued around the land side of the citadel to a point on the shoreline below and west of the Southwest bastion and into the sea. The fort had no moat in the conventional sense. In place of it, prickly pears had been cultivated in the CA' IL NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) JUL 1 4 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior^ National Park Service No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form land between the palisade and the outer walls of the fortification and formed a dense and nearly impenetrable barrier for anyone who tried to approach the fort outside the regular access paths from the east and west. These were reached through gates in the palisades that could be locked and barred. The principal entrance to the fort was the sallyport in the east curtain just north of its center in a jog of the outer wall. For the southern half of the curtain was pulled 6.5 feet back from the face of the northern half. Thirty seven feet in front and east of the sally port was the demi-lune, a squat masonry tower, 1.5 stories high and with a rounded front towards the east. The postern gate in the west curtain was [a] simpler affair. It was three feet wide and five feet high closed with a door made in three layers of planks covered on the exterior with iron. On the exterior the walls varied in height. Since the fort was built around a hill that had its apex in the approximate center of the fort [the] projecting bastions required footings at lower grades than the curtain walls (see Photograph 9). Towards the east north and south the variations in the exterior heights were not great. Both the east and north curtain were 15 feet and the west curtain 13 feet 6 inches high. The faces of the north bastions between these curtains reached elevations of 17 feet 2 inches and 19 feet 3 inches respectively; a difference in height of only 2 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 3 inches from the nearest curtain wall. Towards the southeast the variation was greater. The east face of the southeast bastion stood 23 feet 6 inches out of grade or 8.5 feet higher than the east curtain. Towards the south the pattern reversed. For although the south face of the southeast bastion was a foot taller than the south curtain with its height of 21 feet 5 inches, the south face of the southwest bastion had a lesser elevation of 19 feet 3 inches. It suggests that the hill towards the south extended southwest and that the builders of the fort had taken advantage of this feature of the terrain and in the plan layout of the fort deliberately extended the southwest bastion southward and thereby give Christiansfort its irregular outline on the bayside. Between the salient angles of the two southern bastions the walls facing the sea, all had a width [or thickness] of 5 feet 4 inches. The east face of the NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form southeast bastion was 4 feet 10 inches and the west face of the southwest bastion 4 feet 3 inches. The same dimensions is shown for the north face of the northwest bastion and both faces of the northeast bastion. All other walls varied in width between 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches except for the south flank of the northeast bastion which for some unexplained reason had a wall thickness of 6 feet 5 inches. The dimensions of the walls provided only temporary protection. The south walls were just adequate, but the other walls would not have withstood any prolonged battering of modern artillery of the late 17th Century. Within the fortification walls Christiansfort had 21 buildings and structures. Most of these were built against the outer walls, some in banks without space between them while others were separated by passages. A couple of structures were freestanding and others although not built against the wall were attached to others and formed a group. The central part of the fort was open, but the courtyard to the south had several buildings. The most impressive of these [courtyard] structures was the tower "Trygborg" (safecastle) erected in 1676. It was freestanding and stood in the northwest corner of the courtyard [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:24-26]. Nicolai Esmit's tenure as governor would be short, as his own brother Adolf confined him in the prison in the fort on July 7, 1683 and took over the governorship. Apparently Adolf "openly aided and trafficked with known freebooters and allowed them to sail under the Danish flag" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3) . Adolf continued this commerce with freebooters and illegally traded with the French colony of St. Croix, with whom his country was still officially at war (Caron 1988:27-28). Adolf's downfall was caused by his seizure of British property. Governor William Stapleton, of the British Leeward Islands sent complaints to Denmark of the conditions in St. Thomas which had become in his words a "den of pirates" (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:3). Probably the best evidence of Adolf Esmit's connection with pirates was the La Trompeuse affair. La Tromoeuse was commanded by the French pirate Jean Hamlin, who had stolen the ship from English merchants of Jamaica in 1682. Throughout 1682 and 1683 Hamlin seized over three dozen ships, many English, and resold them and their cargos in St. Thomas. On July 27, 1683 the English vessel H.M.S. Francis, under the command of Captain Charles Carlile, caught up with La Trompeuse in St. Thomas harbor lying under the guns of Fort Christian. As the Francis approached the pirate ship, she found herself under the fire of both La Trompeuse and Fort Christian. Carlile backed off, but that night his men boarded La Trompeuse and burned her. Later it was learned that Hamlin had been the guest of Governor Esmit in NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the fort during this action (Dookhan 1974:109-111). He [Hamlin] has eaten and banqueted with Esmit and has slept with Esmit in a room. He has brought much gold. Esmit would not deliver the said Hamlyn to the English.' Furthermore, Esmit sent Hamlyn together with his comrades and pirates out of the harbour with a barque . . . belonging to the company [Dookhan 1974:111]. In spite of his problems Governor Esmit did cause some improvements at the fort to be accomplished, . . . [he] built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification; each of the rooms having two doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks (see Figure 2). The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted biblio-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the beams red [Lightbourn 1973:3] . Adolf Esmit also had the western curtain wall height raised by some four or five feet and caused the water battery to be constructed during his governorship (1683-84) (Lightbourn 1973:4). Governor Esmit had good reason to strengthen his fortification as the British Governor of Nevis "had driven the Danes from St. John, taken away all the cattle from Buck Island and Water Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas" and "an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island (of St. Thomas) and taken off 60 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4). Eventually, the West India Company's concern over the Esmit family caused them to send out a new governor, Gabriel Milan, in 1684. According to Lightbourn The Company seem[s] to have had some fear of trouble on Milan's arrival, for in his instructions he is charged to "proceed carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and in the event of A[dolf] Esmit raising any difficulty, or refusing to give over the fort, he is to take over the command of the island by force. He is further to guard against Esmit's cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he has secured the power Esmit and family must be confined and sent home by the first opportunity" [1973:3]. Milan would carry out his orders and transport both of the Esmit brothers and their families back to Denmark. However, foreign intrigues would continue to plague the colony. Milan wrote the Company in July 1685 of the British cutting lignum vitae trees on St. John and that the Spanish from Puerto Rico had "landed on St. Thomas and taken off 54 slaves" (Lightbourn 1973:4) . In the same letter, Milan complained about the state of Fort Christian, claiming it NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form . . . "is a bad fortification, for every one who moves [about] in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;" he admits that "the fort itself is composed of strong wall[s]," but that "it is built disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of," and that "the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and consequently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night" [Lightbourn 1973:4]. Governor Milan's tenure lasted until September 27, 1687, when Adolf Esmit and his family returned to assume the governorship of St. Thomas. In this year the first complete description of the fort was made and later reprinted by Lightbourn. The S.W. point or [King's] Bastion. The Southern Curtain.-Here are: One room, called the flathouse, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron rails [bars]. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. On the western side is a dungeon. By the small cistern is a small apartment with door and window, the partition being of boards. The small cistern. The S.E. point, or [Company's] Bastion-to which there is a railing [barred] door with hinges and bolts on the top of this is a small room (see Photograph 9). A new house stands in the center of the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire-bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain-A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof and 2 windows. A large gate, called Landgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate with a wood roof. The large cistern. The N.E. point or [Prince's] Bastion (see Photograph 11), The Northern Curtain.-Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The [Trygborg] tower. The N.W. point, or [Queen's] Bastion-on top of which there is a solid sentry box (see Photograph 12). In the Bastion there is an oven. The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician's room, with 1 window with iron [bars] rails. Next to his [room is] a kitchen, roofed with red tiles, near the kitchen a small tobacco store room and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) jni | ^ POOS’”® 1°24-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Four small apartments [the ones built by Adolph Esmit against the inside of the west curtain wall] (see Photograph 8 and Figure 2). In the largest there are a large window and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally halfway up. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with bolt, leading to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of which the one is iron railed and the other supplied with wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored with Dutch fire­ bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window. In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead. Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of masonry work. A water battery is erected [by Adolf Esmit] at the water's edge. The large Landgate has 1 and the small Watergate 2 railing doors. All the Prickly Pear around the Fort is overgrown by weeds, and has mostly died out [Lightbourn 1973:4-5]. Adolph Esmit's return as Governor of St. Thomas lasted a mere 24 days before his unpopularity with the colonists caused him to return to Denmark. In 1688 another crisis occurred in response to dynastic wars in Europe. The Spanish from Puerto Rico occupied Crab Island (Vieques) and Anguilla thereby surrounding St. Thomas. This action made the Danes in St. Thomas very concerned as the Spanish had never abandoned their claim, by right of discovery by Christopher Columbus, to St. Thomas. Governor Christopher Heins, who had replaced Esmit, undertook a program of upgrading the fortifications of Christiansfort and Skytsborg. To provide more security he had the Landgate located in the Eastern Curtain wall closed up (Lightbourn 1973:6). Heins also had embrasures cut in the walls of Skytsborg tower for two large cannons capable of covering the harbor. He also erected a third tower to the east on Schmidtberg Hill, today called Bluebeard's Castle. The erection of this last tower in 1689 completed the seventeenth- century defenses of St. Thomas (Gjessing and Gardner 1958:1-3). Throughout the 1680s supporting defenses around the fort were constructed^ Within the fortification several of the buildings that cluttered the central courtyard were demolished and replaced by structures against the [inside of the] curtain walls. This was to set a trend for future developments. The gradual levelling of the interior of NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form the fort by overbuilding the structures against the east curtain and in the southeast bastion, thereby converting them into basements, was also initiated [in] these years and set a pattern for the later building activities [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:35] . In peacetime no soldiers were stationed at Skytsborg or Schmidtberg, while a skeleton force was maintained at Fort Christian. If an attack by other colonial forces or a slave rebellion was anticipated an alarm was sounded by firing a predetermined number of cannons at Fort Christian. This signal would call out all able bodied whites and free blacks to take up arms and report to one of the three fortifications. According to Lightbourn, "each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men; Frederiksfort (Schmidtberg) was to have 25 men and the northern tower (Skytsborg) 9 men" (1973:7). Such an alarm occurred in May of 1694 when a slave insurrection was anticipated from the newly established plantations in the New Quarter, or present-day Tutu, an eastern suburb of Charlotte Amalie. The Eighteenth Century In spite of the modifications and work done on the fort in the latter part of the seventeenth century, by the first decade of the eighteenth century, the island government complained to the Company "that the thick walls of the tower in the fort admitted moisture, thus injuring the [gun]powder, and recommending that the tower be cased with boards, as there was no place for building a powder magazine in the fort, excepting under the Church," which occupied the southwest bastion of the fort (Lightbourn 1973:9). The governor also recommended moving the church out of the southwest bastion as "such sacred services need not be done in such a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future time, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals between the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to" (Lightbourn 1973:9). The Lutheran Church, which served the St. Thomas community had always been located within the fort, "sometimes quarters were set apart especially for the service of the Church, at other times we read of divine services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms" (Lightbourn 1973:9). In 1706 a wooden church was erected in the interior courtyard of the fort against the eastern curtain. This building, according to measurements made in 1724, was 49 feet by 25 feet (Lightbourn 1973:9). The fort continued to deteriorate causing Governor Erik Bredal and then the Lutheran clergyman to leave the fort and move into dwellings in the surrounding town of Charlotte Amalie in 1716 and 1717. The reasons given were that the deteriorated condition of the fort made it unhealthy. Indeed, the first clergyman who inhabited the fort "died within 47 days after his induction and his successor declared his inability to reside in it" (Lightbourn 1973:9). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-861JUL I 4 2000oMB No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park ServiceNational Register of Historic Places Registration Form Finally, in 1724 Governor Otto Jacob Thambsen ordered a structural survey to be made of the fort. The survey convinced the Company to undertake a remodeling of the fort which was completed on April 30th, 1735. According to deJongh and Gj essing. The remodeling of the late 1720s and early 1730s was to result in the complete covering [roofing] of the southern bastions. The northern bastions retained their gorges but in reduced sizes for the rooms between the gorges and the outer walls were widened and enclosed by masonry walls toward the inner courts (see Figure 2). All the curtains and the bastions were furnished with flat masonry roofs that provided a continuous terreplein all around the central courtyard of the fort and served as its principal gundeck (see Photograph 7) [1982:42]. The major changes to the fort consisted of the construction of ravelins (see Photographs 2, 9, and 13) on the outside of the fort and the reorienting of access to the fort. In the plans for the remodeling of Christians Fort during these years an east ravelin was intended and considered to be adequate defense for the old sallyport . . . Within the fort it gave the former gatehouse a greater depth and also provided a passage between the new and old curtain walls from the gatehouse to the southeast bastion at the lower level of the fortification. The plan [of] organization of Christians Fort was reoriented. The postern gate in the west curtain wall . . . was blocked up. The original sallyport [in the east curtain wall] . . . was retained and repaired but was only to serve as the access to the proposed east ravelin. The new sallyport was centered in the north curtain and a postern gate planned for the south curtain. The latter was still under construction in 1733 and when completed during the following couple of years had taken the form it has preserved to the present. As a protection for the new sallyport a ravelin was constructed between the north bastions. At the salient angle of the ravelin a vaulted gatehouse flanked by sentry boxes gave access to the steps and a ramp that led down to the terrain north of the fort and served as the principal entrance to the fortification. Within the ravelin the grade was raised from 4 feet to 6 feet above the outside terrain making the ravelin wall that were 6 feet tall on the interior from 10 to 12 feet tall on the exterior. The east ravelin was started, but by 1733 only half finished. When completed in 1735 the grade within had NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form also been raised above the surrounding terrain and in this process the lower story of the old demi-lune was buried [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:43-44]. According to a 1733 description of the work in progress, in Lightbourn (1973), the new work in the fort is described in more detail in the following manner. The South West, or King's Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision room. The North West, or Queen's Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place for 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince's Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and contains a dungeon. The South East, or Company's Bastion, which is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Governor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arched gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed and is in connection with the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dungeons. Under the Governor's rooms are a small cistern, the Governor's cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 feet in thickness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor's rooms nor the cellars above mentioned were yet finished [in 1733] . the Southern Curtain contains the Governor's pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been taken out of the breadth of the Curtain for a mason work staircase leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor's private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork beside the foundation [this work was never completed]. Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King's (S.W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is neither roofed nor supplied with doors nor windows; it has, however, towards the sea, two oval holes 2 feet high and 3 feet broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non­ commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerk; it is roofed with planks and rock, but leaks already. The Northern Curtain is the corps de garde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the center of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into' the fort, and outside of this there is a breastwork, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and form a triangle [or ravelin], their point NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Par)< Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outside. the gate is built in such a manner as to allow a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the North, a lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space in which the water is drawn up from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern is the descent to the gate, which is well supplied with means for closing out towards the Eastern breastwork where the lime is prepared for the building of them; of this breastwork only the foundation on the south side is built. The descent alluded to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to the Cantine, and, further on to the passage which goes round the foundation of the church, of which previous mention was made, in to the powder magazine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the east end of the church and over the gate previously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary's office; it has a door to the yard next to the space in which water is drawn, and another door to the passage which runs behind the church over the passage to the Governor's rooms, but neither floor, windows nor doors are yet finished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the passage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the church was built of wood in 1706, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Southern side as far as the Governor's rooms go, the defective wood work had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood work of the Church, which is still left is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, according to the custom of the place, is of planks and shingles. The hospital and oven are outside the South West Bastion and the open space on the Western side towards the harbor where the lime kiln is [Lightbourn 1973:10,12]. Throughout the eighteenth century Denmark maintained a policy of strict neutrality in all European wars. This policy, coupled with the establishment of a free port in St. Thomas, proved more of an economic boon to the Danish West Indies than the planting of sugar cane. The commerce between belligerent nations was attracted to the island to transact business. In particular, the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), which involved all of the European colonial powers in the Caribbean except Denmark, proved an economic boon to the island of St. Thomas. All European powers and traders respected the neutrality of St. Thomas as a neutral Caribbean port of trade and to a certain extent encouraged its prosperity, as it provided a means of trade between otherwise belligerent European powers during the war. The colonial government was able to show a profit during the war years from its collection of transit trade taxes and issued a dividend to the Danish West India Company's investors (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:10). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form As the warehouses and trading houses of Charlotte Amalie expanded to meet this trade the need for fortifications languished. The fort "area experienced little new construction in the half century between 1730 and 1780, partly because of the need to maintain open space around the fort for defensive purposes and partly because of water barriers" (Cinquino 1996:62). On the interior of the fort it was necessary, probably due to the leaky roof, in 1736 to rebuild the six rooms against the west curtain wall; and in 1752, the Church located in the courtyard was "ready to fall to pieces" and so was demolished (Lightbourn 1973:12). Yet Fort Christian was still significant to the Danish colonial government. During the first half century of its existence the fort served not only as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies, but also the official residence of the governor and his administrators, the courthouse, clinic, treasury, and for most of these years as the place of worship for the Lutheran congregation [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12] . With the acquisition of St. Croix from France in 1733, the J^sJi'india Company had secured an island large enough to support literally hundreds of sugar plantations. In the following two decades, St. Croix's population surpassed that of St. Thomas. In 1755 the residence of the Governor of the Danish West Indies was moved from Fort Christian on St. Thomas to the more prosperous colonial island town of Christiansted on St. Croix Island (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:12). By the 1750s, in spite of the extensive remodeling of Fort Christian completed in 1735, it was recognized that the fort was no longer adequate to the task of defending the island from attack. Various proposals for upgrading the fortifications were proposed but not acted upon (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:13-14). Outside the fort the growth of Charlotte Amalie necessitated, in 1781-1782, the lagoon east of Fort Christian being drained, filled in, and parceled out to settlers (Cinquino 1996:62). Lt. Peter Lotharius Oxholm, who studied Fort Christian, had made the recommendation to fill in the lagoon. Its existence he claimed, and probably correctly, was in part the cause of the garrison's poor health condition. He comments on the stench that emanates from it during dry periods and was carried all through the town on the easterly breezes [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:58]. The Nineteenth Century By the beginning decades of the nineteenth century there had been no major changes to the fort since 1735. When the British occupied St. Thomas in 1801-02 and again in 1807-15 [to deny Napoleon's fleets use of the islands], they fortified and established their garrison on the peninsula on the west side of the harbor as a more suitable location for its defenses than Christians NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) ^ ^ No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park ServiceNational Register of Historic Places Registration Form Fort. The latter was never again considered seriously as a defensive position [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:14]. Most of the changes in the nineteenth century occurred in the area surrounding the fort. A fire that swept through the town of Charlotte Amalie on New Years Day of 1826 destroyed the old West India Company warehouses, which according to von Meley's town plan of 1807 were located where the Grand Hotel and Emancipation Gardens now stand, northwest of the fort. The only new building erected in this area was the Grand Hotel built in 1839, followed three decades later by the construction of Emancipation Garden in 1873, to the west of the fort on land reclaimed from the sea (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). South of the fort, a military barracks for enlisted men and non­ commissioned officers was built in 1827-28, which today serves as the Territorial Legislature Building (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:63). The troop's rooms in the old fort were converted to prison cells. The old water battery immediately south of these buildings was demolished shortly after the barracks were built. During the 1820s several other military structures were added to this area, but they were torn down after 1845 (Cinquino 1996:63). In 1871 the capital of the Danish West Indies was again relocated. Charlotte Amalie once more became the seat of colonial government. The military functions of Fort Christian were practically nil. A proposal to convert the fort from a military installation to a police station, a function more in keeping with the times, was made and entertained. In 1874 it was acted upon and was the first major change to the structure in 140 years. The major change to the fort itself was the blowing up of Governor Iversen's internal tower (Trygborg) on June 19, 1874. This was followed by the removal of the north curtain wall, northern ravelin, and north gate house, and the tearing down of most of the ravelin off the eastern side of the fort (see Photograph 9). In demolishing part of the eastern ravelin the demi-lune constructed by Governor Iversen was uncovered, drawn, and then torn down. All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and in their stead a new building of an entirely different appearance was erected with a clock tower over the entrance. To the East and West of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastions [Lightbourn 1973:13]. By 1875 the northern curtain wall had been "replaced by a new one in the then popular style of gothic revival" (see Photograph 4, 5, and 14 and Figure 2) (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15). The Twentieth Century When the United States acquired the Virgin Islands in 1917, there had been no additional changes to the fort and its surrounding NPS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form {Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form area by the Danish, although the historical importance of Fort Christian was noted by its being at the center of the transfer ceremony in 1917. The Virgin Islands were administered by the U.S. Navy during the early period of American control (1917- 1931). The Navy took over Fort Christian and the land areas to the south and east of the fort. Shortly thereafter, a Marine Corps barracks was constructed east of the fort on harbor lands reclaimed in the 1780s. In the following years a number of new structures were added to it. They included, among other, two steel radio towers, a communication center, an ice and refrigeration plant, cisterns, garages, a mess and a recreational hall, shops, storage buildings, etc., crowding the grounds of the fort and partly obscuring it and the old barracks building [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. All of these twentieth century buildings to the east of the fort would be removed in the 1950s, with the construction of Veteran's Drive, and the area was converted to a parking lot which is its present use (see Figure 1) (Cinquino 1996:62). Veteran's Drive, which runs east-west along the filled-in shoreline of Charlotte Amalie, was built to run between the south side of the fort and the old Danish barracks. This construction required the in filling of more land to the west and east of the fort (deJongh and Gjessing 1982:16). Within Christians Fort work was confined to minor additions, repairs and to the installation of new utilities. Generally, it was done with faint regard to the historic fabric of the structure and lessened its architectural integrity [deJongh and Gjessing 1982:15]. During the period from 1917 to 1983 Fort Christian continued to serve the Virgin Islands as a police station and prison. However, in the early 1960s the island community began to voice concern about the preservation of the old fort, reflected in the Secretary of the Interior designating Fort Christian as the St. Thomas National Historic Site, in 1960. At this time the fort served as the Virgin Islands' prison facility. In November of 1971, "with community support, the first elected governor (of the Virgin Islands), Melvin H. Evans, opened a small museum of local history in four (lower) rooms of the'' southeast bastion. The museum shared the fort with the prison, which occupied all the rest of the fort with the exception of the southwest bastion, which housed the Civil Defense office of the Virgin Islands (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1974, under the terms of PL 92-4351^ .(The Submerged Lands Act), title to Fort Christian passed to the yirgin Islands government. The St. Thomas National Historip Site was never activated as a unit of the National Park ‘Service^, although the Secretary of the Interior did designate Fort Christian as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977. A National Historic Landmark nomination NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Pari? Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form form was not required for the reaffirmation of a finding of national significance for the fort. In June of 1982 the firm of Robert deJongh and Frederik Gjessing was retained by the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a historic structures report of Fort Christian, entitled Fort Christian Historic Structure Report, which . . . gave a complete history of Royal Archives in Copenhagen and in Washington and other sources, report were measured drawings of looked at various periods, [and] taken during that prison period communication, 1996]. the fort from the the National Archives Included in the how the building photographs especially [D. Jowers, personal In 1983 the police and jail moved out of the fort. The Virgin Islands government provided funds to the Fort Christian Museum to clean up the fort and remove the prison bars from the prisoners' cells. A gift shop and reception area were created in the rooms to the west of the north entrance, and a museum office and kitchen were installed in the rooms to the east of the entrance, allowing the majority of the fort to be opened up as a historic site (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1985, with funding from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the government of the Virgin Islands contracted with the firm of deJongh and Gjessing to develop overall plans and a scope of work for the restoration of Fort Christian. Based on their earlier historic structures report (1982), the restoration plan was "to retain the features still existing from the 1600's, the mid 1700's expansion and the 1874 north entrance and incorporate these into the museums plans" (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996) . In 1990 the Civil Defense office, located in the southwest bastion, moved out of the fort and the first phase of restoration work commenced using $500,000 in HUD CDBG monies and $60,000 from the Virgin Islands Enhancement Fund (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1990 a contract was awarded to Coastal Construction with the firm of deJongh/Gjessing drawing specific plans and specs for funds allocated and their supervision of the project. This phase took in demolition of [twentieth century] interior walls in the courtyard which formed corridors into prison cells and certain [police] offices in the west and south [curtain walls]. Demolition of [modern cinder block] walls in the narrow west [curtain wall] side cells, returning them to their 1730's appearance, new plumbing and bathrooms, [and] a handicapped ramp by the right side of the 1874 entryway [D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996]. NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States' Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This first restoration project of the west an(i south curtain walls lasted from 1990 until 1992 (see Photograph 8). A second phase of restoration saw $200,000, funded by HUD CDBG, go into the fort. The contractor was H & M Systems under the supervision of deJongh/Gjessing. Work included repair of the large rooms behind the east curtain wall and the rooms in the southeast bastion. It also repaired the roof/gun deck of these rooms and bastion. The work lasted from 1993 to 1994 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). In 1994 the Fort Christian Museum was informed that a major Intermodal State Transportation and Enhancement Act project for work on Veteran's Drive had been approved and funds from this project would be used to complete the restoration of Fort Christian, probably commencing work in 1997 (D. Jowers, personal communication, 1996). NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United Stiaties Department of the Interior, National Park Service • 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Boyer, William W. 1983 America's Virgin Islands, A History of Human Rights and Wrongs. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina. Br0nsted, Johannes (editor) 1952 Vore Gamble Torpe Kolonier. Volume II. A.G.H. Forlag, Copenhagen. Caron, Aimery 1988 St. Croix under French Dominion. Paper for the 10th Annual Conference of Caribbean Historians. St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. March 28-April 2. Cinquino, Michael A. (Principal Investigator) 1996 Phase lA Cultural Resource Investigation for the Proposed Veterans Drive Improvements, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Prepared for: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc., Maitland, Florida. Cissell, William F. 1993 A Synopsis of the Archaeological and Historical Significance of Salt River, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its Special Relevance to the Columbus Quincentennial. Paper on file National Park Service, Atlanta. Crain, Edward E. 1994 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Dahl, Bjorn W. 1992 The Military Engineer Gottfried Hoffmann and his Works in Denmark 1648-1687. Fortress, No. 13, pp. 3-12, May. deJongh, Robert and Frederik J. Gjessing 1982 Fort Christian Historic Structures Report. The Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Dookhan, Isaac 1974 A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Canoe Press, Kingston, Jamaica. Duffy, Christopher 1985 The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. NFS Form 10-900USD1/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service JUL 1 4 20««, 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Gjessing, Frederik C., and William P. MacLean 1987 Historic Buildings of St. Thomas and St. John. Macmillan Publishers, Limited. Gjessing, Frederik C. and Philip E. Gardner 1958 Historic Architecture of the Virgin Islands. Sections from the Historic American Building Survey, Number 1. On file with the National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta. Highfield, Arnold R. 1995 St. Croix 1493, An Encounter of Two Worlds. The Virgin Islands Humanities Council, United States Virgin Islands. Jowers, Dolores 1996 Letter to Mark Barnes describing the restoration of Fort Christian from the 1970s to 1996. Letter on file with the National Register Programs Division, National Park Service, Atlanta. Lightbourn, Jno. 1973 The Story of Fort Christian, 1672. Reprinted Walloe's St. Thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881. Museum Leaflet Series No. 1, Bureau of Libraries and Museums, Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Morison, Samuel E. 1939 The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cadiz to Hispaniola and the Discovery of the Lesser Antilles. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sauer, Carl 0. 1969 The Early Spanish Main. Press, Berkeley. University of California Westergaard, Waldemar 1917 The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754) The Macmillan Company, New York. Previous documentation on file (NPS): ___ Preliminary Determination of Individual Listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. ___ Previously Listed in the National Register. ___ Previously Determined Eligible by the National Register. _X_ Designated a National Historic Landmark. May 5, 1977 ___ Recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey: # ___ Recorded by Historic American Engineering Record: # NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Primary Location of A(iditional Data: _X_ State Historic Preservation Office US Virgin Islands ___ Other State Agency ___ Federal Agency ___ Local Government ___ University _X_ Other(Specify Repository): Mrs. Delores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Acreage of Property: 1.92 acres UTM References: Zone Northing Easting Zone Northing Easting 20 2029040 296040 Verbal Boundary Description: The boundary for Fort Christian is based on an on-site visitation to the fort in April 1996, in the company of Mr. Myron Jackson of the Virgin Islands SHPO Office and Ms. Dolores Jowers, Curator of Fort Christian. The boundary description is keyed to the enclosed sketch map (see Figure 1). A datum point was set at the base of the point of the southwestern bastion of Fort Christian. A line was projected in a generally southwest direction to the outside edge of the sidewalk. This is Point A. The boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk for 246 feet to Point B. From Point B the boundary goes due north for 356 feet to Point C (along the east side of a small road). From Point C the boundary goes across the small road and along the outside edge of a stone lined gutter bordering a open park area for 200 feet to the mid-point of the road leading to the entrance of the fort (Point D). From Point D, the boundary continues along the outside edge of the stone lined gutter of the other open park area for 100 to Point E. From Point E the boundary goes due south along the outside eastern edge of the street for 257 feet to Point F. Point F is located along the outside edge of the intersection of Fort Pladsen and Veteran's Drive. From Point F the boundary goes east along the outside edge of the sidewalk on the north side of Veteran's Drive some 37 feet to connect with Point A. Boundary Justification: Fort Christian was originally sited on a small peninsula which projected into St. Thomas Harbor. The boundary for Fort Christian includes the fortification area of this peninsula which contains extant seventeenth to nineteenth century standing remains of the fort. The boundary includes areas to the east, west, and north sides of the fort, which once contained ravelins that projected out from the curtain walls of the fort. On the northern side of the fort the boundary includes two small open park spaces. This area once held the ravelin that projected from the north side of the fort and other landside defenses which protected the fort when the fort was sited on a small peninsula. The open water or lagoon areas which once existed on the west and east sides of the peninsula were reclaimed from the sea and filled in between the late 18*^’’ and later part of the 19*'^ century are not included in this boundary. The only non contributing building in the boundary is a 1950's fire station (see Photograph 6) that occupies the area to the west of the fort on which the west ravelin once stood. JUL 1 4 ZOuli NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) 0MB No. 1024-0018 FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 11. FORM PREPARED BY Name/Title: Mark R. Barnes, Ph.D. Senior Archeologist Org. : National Register Programs Division National Park Service, SERO Street/#: 1924 Building 100 Alabama Street, SW City/Town: Atlanta State: Georgia ZIP; 30303 Telephone: (404) 562-3173 Mark_Barnes@nps.gov Date: November 29,1999 Revised by with the assistance of; Mrs. Dolores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 St. Thomas, USVI 00804 (809) 776-4566 Virgin Islands Preservation Office Staff Department of Planning and Natural Resource Foster Plaza, Anna's Retreat 396-1 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00802 (809) 776-8605 NFS Form 10-900USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) FORT CHRISTIAN United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service 0MB No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form m Parking North Drive ATURE Figure 1. Site map showing the boundaries of Fort Christian and the layout of the surro\onding area. Provided by M. Slater. I" • # FORT CHRISTIAN, ST. THOMAS, V. I. Fort Christian is a late 17th century fortification. It is the oldest standing structure on St. Thomas and probably in the Virgin Islands. During the early decades of its existence it was the nucleus of the Danish settlement. It served not only as the military and admini­ strative headquarters of the infant colony but for close to a century it also housed the residence of the governor, the courts, the Lutheran Church, the hospital, etc. , and was a place of refuge for the settlers as well as thesetting for all formal activities of consequence. The fort is located on a slight rise at the base of a small spit of land projecting into the easternmost of the two deep and well protected bays on the south coast of St. Thomas that now are known collectively as St. Thomas Harbor. It faces the entrance to the bays and is located in the approximate center of the present town of Charlotte Amalie. In the 1870s the Fort was demilitarized, since then it has served as a Public Safety Headquarters and now in addition also houses Civil Defense and the Virgin Islands Museum. Fort Christian by its antiquity, its historical association as the hub of the early Danish settlement and its continued importance in the com­ munity up to the present day makes it a landmark of the first order of significance. By order of December 24, I960, Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton designated Fort Christian a National Historic Site. On November 2, 1962, drafts of'Resolution respecting the management and operation of the Site" and a Memorandum of Agreement were for­ warded to the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands. No action has ever been taken on the Resolution or on the Agreement and St. Thomas National Historic Site since its designation has never received the for­ mal sanction of the Virgin Islands Government, and the federal ownership and Park Service control of the fort and its land has been disputed. Attached are copies of:- 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Proposed Boundary Lines Order of Designation Boundary Description and Survey Drafts of Memorandum of Agreement and Resolution National Park Service Land Ownership Record Survey Report Virgin Islands Government Position Paper \ .In ?r-r.^r to; i.58-R?S To: Froa: ProbTca: IC^v^T:;^KT Ti'-T ;:x'.‘T, r.'.p : ^irrs^ V.’c.,‘5h.'X,i.;u-:-a 2^, T. C, COVZimn rRJIF -■•: c l>:ccri'3r d\, 3-9'0 Secret airy of tbo Tnterior B.1xecto., national ForJe Sa^ce ^ *!'■> assu.re the precervatlon and protection, for the puh.tj.c .4 benefit^ of histoioLc Fo:ot Chr5,ctian 3,ix Charlxtte ihnalie^ St. ThoxaSj United States Virijin XsJnndSo Dir, CUPS ion: Port ChrlGtlm is teXieved t-* be the cJ.dest stcndlng atructu're 5,n the United States Virgin Ps^-ands. its ?r.lg;ln dates had: to the beginnl-ns?. of the i'anish crU'cizatiTi of Sto Th'TJas In 1671. The foi% •Khi.ch :ras svibstr.ntiali.ly :oiirartetsd by 7i.680, tac undergone Gone ne6.lficat.ionS; but, ecGentiafJ.y_, it reruxlns as it ■^-ras o.’hen it served as the hub of the earj.y De.nl sh sctti'-Oiaent on the Xsland of St. Thonas. It iX-,ustrater nany signif.Leant phases of the aisi::aT of ranish settlement In the Virgin ls.land3; bavins h'uned the islend-s governors, ihe fort garrison and the lutheron iain.i,S';er3. A3/chough seiving priaav;li.y as a fcrt.ifieation it uas utilj.zf , aino. as a p-lace of trorship; c«3uxt and prison. Presently the fort serves as the headquarters of the Virgin Islands I>epar-cuent of Public Safety. As such, it houses units of the police anf fire departments and is a detsnticn renter for prisoners. This shci’J.d not deter recognition of the hi.6- toricnl significance of the site :/lth a view to its preserva­ tion for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States, i/hen other Qtru.ctures and facilities become available in Charlotte .bneXie to house the actrlvities of the Virgin Islands Depaid:nent of PabifLc Safety, the fort will, provide an ideal opportunity to .interpret net ''ri'y its historical significance but to pi*esent the cvera'J. storj' of the United States Virgin Is.lands--inc.luoji ng Introductious to other uni.ts of the national Parh System in the is:ixncs. Aside from the interpretive values cf such use of the fort, it chcu3.d be of considerable benefit to tour.ism, in gonereX, in the V.'rgLn Islands. The Ad:/i.sory E'ard on Pati'nal. Parks. ELstoric Sites, Buildings, end Idnumenls. in Decerber .'.956, resolved that F-'rt Christian, because of its antiquity, histor.ice''. asGcc.leti-ns, and strategic locati'n f'uo visit'':* ure ard lnt-?rpro;tcti-n, is a lard-ark rf cati-cor. s.i giti-f^ can,cs. ✓ inh c ,'lic‘.r-r:r. '■’I J^r c ^'' '- ? r'l - *■ ■i C 3 •il'c'.s A'".';r..'']i •"’.r ;'vA\!ro era - --- ....rrr ru.;\:'A’,' ■:;>.'■ : exevcrrca tar 7’V;^ln Ta’ra.u i Travrt'rr.r". thrroi :. ;Le tn rl r r,r ocn. 07.;.: a ar 1 caal: in hj.ca'rxce.', 3;i.(aaii‘iCia"a& j.c 1g eiijJ/oj.c i■^a' decri.Saiaoi'ii ar l presarvet *":! urd-r drj jjrrvar I'aa ■•;? aar Act rr".’j ri't £A 1935 (^:9 S-iat. 666; a6 IT.3.C. iv6l~467), Acrardn'^lot a deoA^L'ctr-^n orrirr (Tc'b .\) hc-r l:?rvon p-rr^'crod for yoor rierrt^vc* vhlch voii.ld este.'bl.i.ah tho fort Christian property, as d^Jxeatad on tho Eiap ocenmpanyins such order, as the St. Thoaias ITaticaal Historic Site. ■uap^.esentatioa; If you sign this designation order, it viil provide a neans for the i-.lt?r:te p^’eservat? on cf Fort Christ inn, there - hy serving and aavoiioing the heat interests of the peon.i.e of the Ua,U-ed Shaves and of the Yirg-ln islands. Ke v.-a.id '.rorh out cmtucdly nc.oeptn'b‘'.e a.rmjne-r:a^nta, cAovrugh the Office of TeiuH-ories for roXocat.ior of the faciJU.ties and serTrlces cow being cenductsd in the fori:. Recoeaiendation; Tliat you sign the attached designation order (Tab A) es-tab.u.shing the St. 2,'borac ?:htien£A. Elstoric Site /s/ Cc-r-.rad L. Wirtb Dj.rector Attachiceat : or:, c-3? or o.h:. r:..:.L.r-Rr KAsin:i:rr'll o, j. c. ir-oTrOr:?jT:o th? or. or-Rs ir.Tvo:-.L iiisv>:rD:c rn/o 12^ .yiALIE.- STc "vFO;'':gr V:?EGTIT ”0T?J!r~. 0? TTR? UI3',;iiXD OJ1JVI23 ITEtJPr’/iS, viie C-ngracs of th- United States has dec-l^ed it to Ise a national policy to preaen-e for the public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration airl hsceflt of the people of the Unitad Stages; and Foi-t Christian in Cheealotta ^ra.l:Le, Sto Ihsi-as, V;..T3:ln Islands, dating fro:a 16^/1, cor’/cd as the hub of eai-iy DarD.Bh settlerent on the Icl'.and of St, Tnr.=.zs, housing the Governor, the iutneran niaisterc, as ’.re3J. as the ?-rc garrison, and -ran utilised -noth as a fortification and pla.ce of trorship and, as such, illustrates mny phases of the history of Dc.ni.sh settlement in the best Indies; ajid the Acrriaoiy Eoard on National. Par-ks, Historic Sites, Eaildi.ng3 and Monuments, at its thirty-fifth zaeeting, December 1-7, 1956, resolved that Fort Christian, because of its antiquity, its historical, associations, and its strategic location for visitor use and interpretation, is a landiiark of nationa.1 significance; and ^^BSPvSAS, Fort Chz’iGtian "as inc.luded in the F^-blic, gavemr or cmrn property ceded to the United States by Denniark / '-7 t,.' . eriw j.’od .tut? turrj.r-t k-^ ?Pl6, and •- Prc5ld-at Jani^c;-r 2?, dolTj and cvJ. ?r-carty thja acquired Trc^ rnnna;rk; nnt oy vue l.n.va?a States £ov pub.Uc purposec prior to Jure 22, -•»937, vas p:taced under the control of the Government of the Virgin by tb= Aot Of Juno 22, 1936 (I>9 Stab. 0.807; 48 U.S.C. 1405-Ito5 b), vrch the Icgxl title remaining in the Urd.te0. States; end ITHniSdS, r.--rt Christian :/as not ,i-enerved by the Uni.ted States public purposes prior to Jnee 22, 1937. title thereto has lean hold by tho Unitod Obato, cbutiuv.ou=0.y oinco tho oonvont-,n ,ot«, Becmarh in I916; and Itt-Era.5J3, tho Gorornnont of the TJ.rgin Tn5.aadn an-1 tbo R-..,;- Samoa of tho Itepo,rte=nt of -efca Irrtarier ,r!.^h to oall public attantton to th- natirnaS. olsiil.fiooaae of p-m ChrlGtlan on.d are lutereotad in loouring ita preoemtioa for the benefit and inopiration of the Pucorican people by providing for its designation as a nationa.1 historic Bite: KOW, THEhEFOSE, I, Fred A. Seaton, Secretary of the Interior, by Virtue and pursuant to the authority contclned in Section 2 cf the Act of August 21, 1935 (1-9 stat. 666; I6 U.S.C. h62), and subject to valid existing rights, do hereby designate the f.?llcT;ing described lands, together vith all historic structures thereon and oppurcenances connected t..^.rr-.:±cc.. xo r,c c. nat'.crr.\ I’.•■Tc'-ric Gi.tc, hav;’r-j' th'- "Ci, Sicras irav.:Ir;T.a'. Hxot'ri- Sits”; trzo'.c. CT p-rce'.c rf -n th- ha>t-" on t.:e s5Uvh sice 3f the Jolcad of S:. Tu-i^tae iu Chsrlr.vie i-ralie. gg Chriotirn, -a ly-;: vho ''' i-a^^ on uhe north and the Fa.rine Earrachs rn.d C-Tant Guai'd Gcc.tion cn ohe south, as oho;m on the dia^ran horrvo attached aee a part hereofo Warning is expressly given to all unau-t!jorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, deface, or resiove eny feature of thJ.s hictoric cite„ XII HlTnXSS I have hereunto set. iry hard and ccuGed the omcl.al seal of the r'eijarfcnent of the Jnts.rior to he alf^ucea, in tha City of'Wa^hl/ngton, this 2Uh day cf roceraber i960. /g/ Fred Ao^Saaton Spcr3tb.y'"si~’clie .‘ft cerj,or Attachment ORGANIZATION VOLUME Cooperative Agreements and Historic Site Desl^ation Orders Part 10 Historic Site Designation Orders Chapter iL General Section 1.29 Page a ORDER OP DECEMBER 24, I96O DESIGNATING THE ST, THOMAS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE VIRGIN ISIANDS_____________________________________ WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States has declared it to be a national policy to preserve for the public use historic Bites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States; and WHEREAS, Fort Christian in Charlotte AmaJ.ie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, dating from 167I, served as the hub of early Dan­ ish settlement on the Isleind of St. Thomas, housing the Governor, the Lutheran ministers, as well as the Fort garrison, and was utilized both as a fortification arid place of worship and, as such, illustrates many phases of the history of Danish settlement in the West lAdies; and WHEREAS, the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments, at its thirty-fifth meeting, December 1-7^ 1956, resolved that Fort Christian, because of its antiquity, its historical associations, and its strategic location for visitor use and interpretation, is a landmark of national significance; and WHEREAS, Fort Christian was included in the public, govern­ ment, or crown property ceded to the United States by Denmark by the convention entered into August 4, I916, and proclaimed by the President January 25, 1917j and WHEREAS, all property thus acquired from Denmark, not re­ served by the United States for public purposes prior to June 22, 1937> was placed under the control of the Government of the Virgin Islands by the Act of June 22, 193^ (49 Stat. l807; 48 U.S.C. l405-l405b), with the legal title remaining in the United States; and WHEREAS, Fort Christian was not reserved by the United States for public purposes prior to June 22, 1937^ but title thereto has been held by the United States continuously since the convention with Denmark in I916; and Release No. I8 February I96I ;7: ;. w.v; ■ VOHME Hl.torlc Sit. De.lffnstlcn Orayr. Pjrt^lO Hlifenrsite Designation Order_s C^P^er Genei^ p^ge ^ whereas, The Government of the Virgin Islands the Nation- Sd Sspi^aSof S Se"^SicL^pL?S hy providing for its desig­ nation as a national historic site; NOW, THEREFORE, I, Fred A» Seaton, Secretary of the Interior, hy virtu4 9nd pursuant to the authority contained in section 2 of tL Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. " Ject to valid existing rights, do hereby designate the following described lands, together with all historic struct^es thereon and appurtenances connected therewith, to be a national historic site, having the name "St. Thomas National Historic Site ; All those tracts or parcels of land on the harbor on the south Bide of the Island of St. Thomas in Charlotte Amalie, ^w known as Fort Christian, and lying between the Emancipation Park on the north and the Marine Barracks and Coast Guard station on the south, as shown on the diagram hereto attached and made a part hereof Warning is expressly given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, deface, or remove any feature of this historic site. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the official seal of the Department of the Interior affixed, in the City of Washington, this 24th day of December I960. fRGP'l FRED A. SEATON (SEAL) Secretary of the Interior Release No. lo February 19^1 88318-61 , t ANTILLES LAND L L O P Wl E N T INC. SUBDIVISION PLANNING and ENGINEERING • REAL ESTATE • PROPERTY SURVEYS P, O. BOX 1627 • CHARLOTTE AMALIE ST. THOMAS • U. £L VIRGIN ISI ANDS CABLE: LANDEV • TELEPHONE 661W William B. Bachman, President Mor\/in Berning, Chief Engineer lif CRUZ BAY. ST. JOHl'l. VIRCIN ISU-^NDS iiO, Uu .a'y I ' U-o:i i Ifwfe iXie.il, dicxlaWi /k-ihilU 0 s%, ata.'t lui- at oa Iran boot id ijast Xocatad at tlva at; * i!iu oi’ -'ii'uaiyaUoa and oa Uu» ,i; I.i Li if'XTXita 3trad!uu, U» lift3 raiu 8 3,3 22 iisliwjtctJ \t A ditstnuco of 109*7 fattfi aXximc of di’vs.iAftvy* dit'jU ixi iiiaiiiorn. oida of Uaancl|>-atl<m i'^rk to ati iron bsaiTl i::t;;av;acUou at tlraJna^ra dltchas on I-oiitiioaot oarwar of f«U«no» linossja .. :,A av,;rLaL Id U a iMiitsrc ^ of 21*7 fvLt txtrcfjn^ \X<axmie to &i% iroa' to'md posit &t tda Southy»at ot*nusp of Batmioo bflvo ««kI fc-i’ctioT. C'f drklr.a;:o dltci'iao, th;no<» 1.; 67 lii) ■■;a‘;;3.'.i inla'itoai '-.i a of A'cut uloL-i; isili'a of aitin on tUo f.^v’4tiiv:i,'u Viouadfa'/ of 'i'.,icvKs3nat.loti Park to an ".X‘' out la ooncfota at {.uj ir.torDiiutloii of iU'ai»a,.',a dliicana, tlioriia f» y.} SP tnlnutoa '/ « «Ust;LiL-.t of 72*'^ foot aoroao Batrance ixpJvo to All “i'’ cut In coaorato ous't, tiioneo i> s%) ao.-TCid:;i 37 nliiutco a « diatrmco of 1$1*$ feet aXon^j od;vo of fHiMio .load pnfiit tl’3 f’lra i:.';,artiw.it banding to An »X« out In conoroto ctlb^tlioiw# tQu..iir;c..fxr].y thou .iniitcrly a dlatunoa of h02 foot mi-ai or IosSaJ almv- oiii'b of V-.tii.v-,.a nrlvn to an iron bound r.osfc tlwnco k vs vk) -IV-OJ 2J» v:da;.tca /. a dlst^uca of 137*? foot to an tron bcuni past tlJijnoo u n dv^raas; !i6 jaliadia W a distance of 72*6 fotst to au iron bound poot tlwuco II 36 39 Mtrviitoa v/ a clijitaatja of 16*9 foet to a concrxitf* toiuid poat tUirioa k 7*i ntiiutait d a dlotiwico o.f 27*1 foot along ,?ubllo syr to m hvn be ini engt thiauia d X.) '-t! X'/ rl a dJiitaLicii!! of 60*7 fo'ot along i?uUllo Hl;Tlit»0f-v<aj?' to iui Uva bin.nd [xiat vjtdoh la point of origin* Itta wliolo o-a.i^prlainis an aroa of 1*65 d* S# Acres* AJimiiif. UbD iK/KUimdat, Lic. 1/«i' ^----- H, H* smulrd ^ UOvXjZP ;.n0l6-.d,il \ h H mm Esfsolution Il3sp«ctlns tlia A&ainletratloa end Operation cf Hlsjtdilo Fort Chrietlan and Adjacmit Fort lands at Clierlotto Assllft, Ot. Tbame, Virgin loland0, ea a S'atlopnl Historic Oita ........... . ........ VBMIEAS, Metorio Fort Cbrietlen and adjacent Fort lanOs In (%arXotte AmXie, St. IZluaaa# Virgin Xslands, were designated as a fetionifiX Matorle Site liy tl» Secretory of the I^iterior on Baceeawr 19150, Iiarettint to the Blotorlo Slt©» Act of Ana?A»t 81, 1935 (*»9 666| 1<> U.S.C., 19^9 od., sec* <Kj1), In furtherance of the natlc?aml policy of the UWLtod State* CoveiTOJoat to preseinre for puhllo use Metorio sites, Isulldlnge, and objects of mtiooal eignlflcance for Vty» liwpiiatiott and heneflt of tJie people of the United Statesi and HHEEKAS, the legislature of the Virgin Islands in the Intoreot of tha people of the Virgin Xslends, helievea It deslrehlo to Ij^letaent designation order of Deceaiber 24, 19^0, mtpra, hy providing for and assurlsg tha sdalnlBtmtlon and opemtlon of historic Fort Chxlotlan iiy^, tihi'iK Fort gywjade the national Bark Service as a Katlonai Historic 01te iWlIjar to the Oirlstlaneted National Hlotorio Site on Gt. Crol% Vl5fg:l.n Islaade, and otlaer alnllar sites udilch are accorded national and liiSSSas, lfev©xt»at of the Vlrtsln lelatids end the National Itelk to pTOTlde for the faf©gu»irai.tig for public net of Mstoyio objects relating to tlie history of 8t. Thcama and tht Vir,:|J.n. Xolaada at4 ore deairems of prorvidlng suitable Rp<ace In the Ifest.twal m&torie Site for the Department of rtoatlsm. Hwr, ’nioioforo, ■ »i) It rf!S50l.-*»od and it is l»rebv itjcolvcd by too tha_Vi3r_p'1n that Qcvssmor of ttiS Virgin Islands enter''Into, or to bo Cffiit'erod into, coatmeta or egreeiaenta as sway be necessary and ■ desiwMo with iim Mroctox* of the totlorial i'ark Ocxvlee, U. S» D-tpar k-^nfc ©f thfuii Interior, for the adralnlotmtion end opeiutlon of For-fc ttrlctian . end atijacont Itort Iwids as a Katioiml Historic Site Vy the Hatioml Service, including appropriate provlBlons for the cafoi^iardliig of histor ic objects relating to,the rich heritage of St. Thores and the provlolcn of space within the fetlonal Ilctorlc site for th® Pepartaenfe of Tourlr.m. .. i 1 DRAFT memorandum op agreement op BETWEEN THE MTIOIHVL PARK SERVICE AI® felfe GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGH^ ISLANDS RELATING TO IRE ST. T1IOI4AS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE AT CIIARIOTTE AMALIE. ST. THOMAS, V. I. THIS AGREEMENT, jiiade and entered into this day of , by and between the National Park Seivice of the Dejm'•tment of the Interior, acting by and through its Director, and hereinafter referred to as the "Director", and the Governiueut of the Virgin Islands, acting by and through its duly appointed Governor, here* liiafter referred to as the "Governor". WrTNESSETH: VNIEl^S, Historic Fort Christian and adjacent Port lands in Charlotte Amlle, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, were designated as a National Historic Site by Secretaiy of the Interior Fred A, Seaton on December 24, i960, pursuant to the Historic Mtes Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S. C., 1949 ed,. Sec 46l) and in furtheranae of the national policy of the U. S. Govenunent to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings, and objects of national aigiilficance for the inspiration and benefit of the peo|>e of the \ 1 V.\ United States; and WHEREAS, the Govenunent of the Virgin Islands and the National \ Park Service of the Department of the Interlpr, to effectuate the above-mentioned Designation Order, wish to provide for the adminis­ tration and operation of the Fort and grounds as a National Historic ‘ Ite aliflllar to the Christiansted National Historic Site on ‘I '11 V 'I ■ at. Croix, V. I. KOVf, a'llERlU‘’OI{E, In consideration of th» foregoing and tlio Boxtual proialeea herein expressed, and. pursuant to the authorLty Rontnlned In section 2(e) of tlie Act of August 1933 (^9 atat, 666} 16 U.S, C., 191^9 ed,. Sec. 46l), entitled "Act to prwlile for the preservutlon of Historical American sites, hulldlnga, iunV ohjects of national oignlflcauce, and other jJUi’pones", the Wild parties have covenanted and ogreed and ‘by these presents do eov'enant and agree to and ^fith each other as follows* ARUTICLE I. 1‘hQ Governor on helialf of the Government of Virgin Islands ogreos: 1. 'fo perjnlt the National Park Service of the Department of the I]itarloi‘ to occupy Fort Clirlatlon raid tl-je adjacent Fort grounds for the purpose of administering the Fort end historic area as a national Historic Site, comsmorating all phases of the rich history of the Island of Gt. '.Uhoraas and Charlotte Amalie, Including social, religious, political, and economic development and contacts and associations with other Islands in tlie Virgin Islands group, the Caribbean, and the American mainland. 2. To pexTait the national Park Gervlco to xitlllze In the national Historic Site Program such trophj'’ ordasjace of the Ooverninont of the V. I. aa juay presently be in the Fort or on display in the grounds nearby and to permit the national Pari: Sei-vlce to move, repair, maintain, and use such trophy ordnance for the best Interest of idxe lilstorlcol program of the St. Thoms National Historic Site. i. • 6%i ; ■j 1 . '’1 AKTICLE II, The Director, on behalf of the Ifetlonal I-brli: Service of the Department of the Interior, agreeai 1, To adKiinlater Fort Chrletlan and the adjacent lbi*t lauds In coJiforiiilty with the purposes of the Act oi'’ Au^..ust 2^, I9I.J (39 Stat, 535) establishing the riationol Park Sei’vicQ and the iobant of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935 (^1-9 otat. 666), so Oi> to call public attention to the national significance history of the St. Thomas National Historic Site, V. I. 2, To maintain and preserve the St, Thomas National Hlotorio Site for the benefit and inspiration of the people, 3. To cooperate with the St, Thomas Historical Society (correct name to be inserted here) in the preservation and public appreciation of its museum collections through the advice and' counsel of the Museum Branch of the National Park Service and throu^ the display at an appropriate place within the St, Thomas N.H.S. of such historic objects, in accordance with the approved museum policies of the Service and including the maintenance of study collections for the care of pieces not on display. 4. To assist the above-mentioned Society in the preserz-atlon of the more iropoi-tant parts of its collections through techn;Lcal preaeivatlve treatment of historic paintings, metallic objects, etc., as funds become available to the Service for this purpose, and subject to such priorities as may be established for the preservation of the many historic objects in the care or custody of the Service. '1 5. To permit the Department of Tourism to have apace within the National Historic Site. ARTICLE III. It is mutually understood and afifreedi 1. 'iliat the ultimate objective of this e{jroc„ieut Is to devote the national ILlatorlc Site exclusively to public use as a national historical eJdiiblt udalulstered by the National Paidt Oexvloe and that to attain this end a high degree of coopexution Is deal!able and the parties to the agreemexit will worh with each otlxer («..) to- Bolve the apace needa of those agencies of the Virgin lalandn Govenxment preaeixtly within the Fort or i/lthln the Natiotial }aBi;orlc Site area, (b) to solve the apace needs of the adrnlniatratlv«^ staff of the lIead<xuartero Office of the national Puric Service on St. Tlxomo, and (c) to provide space wltliln the Ilntlonol Historic Site for the Department of Tourism for contact tmd orientation sei'vlces for visitors to St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, and for historic museum collections. As the need for space In the Fort and NatloiuJ. Historic Site area devoted to other thtin lilstorlcal puiposes ceases to exist, such space shall be relinquished to the National Park Seivice for the furtherance of the historical Interpretive program. 2. nothing herein contained shall ho constxued ns binding the national Park Service to eaqjend In any one fiscal year any suriui In excess of appropriations mode by Congress for that fiscal year or to Involve the United States in any contract or other obligation for the future expenditure of money In excess of such approirlationa. • J il i ■k ■ :s • K- ■■ ■ 3, No meml>er of, or delegate to, Cort^ean or resident commlaaloner sliaLl be actaltted to any ahare or port of this affteeinent or to any benefit that iiiay arise therefrom, but this restriction shall not be construed to extend to this agree, .ou t if Hade ’wltl). a corporation or coinpeny for Its general Iwnei'lt. IH \ai'ilESS VjhEiiEOF, tlie said parties liave h&x'emto eubscribed their names and affl>xd tiielr seals (in <|alntuple) the day, >uonth, and year afoi-eeald. aiiE aov£RNMhiri' of tee vuaiif isianib Governor MTIOm PARK SERVICB !birecior Appx'ovedi Secretary of the Interior 5 US ' Vv- Wm IS,':,„f.iJs- •- ■■• ■''f-‘--■ ■ «,’V t«r» 9*3# i-mt- -n ,, . , ipMI jiiM dw«^mH fviHMjwM SVf«OHl *1* MMi& ^^VNQUI MPMUNI »U #0 ifCMUMMOa 1~ c? gwiBWwt ♦ w tan A) <«•«#( t -wq^ -«M« «n maiHHni vq vnmmi %m p «ti 0| , jwm»wq y wwiiiMiiq on* >» . >A»4i]|ndrMnntii AiiP»iiinRa}» 'I -xukmpv inn :»wi m vmma tw* ^ aqi <mqi A—wWMoa M wwa «n» *1 vm aw<i *«i oiMwai iMi 'uiT ‘n wmr <>} -«>i^ ■—o<uwl mi^ joj Mf*9g Hima «n 4 »■«<»■< «Hi fl«* mmao *mi 'wmr- pe»! mm m m mmnwiM nm fa*n m im« ‘(«o»i-io»i ova n 'um mt «♦) dtti a «»f >0 iw «» Ai a|J^ «in JO lOMBOnMO MR JO ItUfOW «it» ^am m»p ••* ‘u« •« «<n* o» MoCJbi ORq^ m rnumVPBm aq mtrnu m pMjntan Mno s%nOua {|« pm :Aiii u iiiawwf nwpWMit •J« Ai pwB|op6«l pm 'tijn ‘* mi|atr <no{ p«nn» uoRUAnos »n xq vaBMaq Ai i»n« mm m «n pn»« £pmm. am» M ■qaHnuvAoP ‘mvP am n m mmm WJ ‘awu»«ai: po« teaawvHdto }o innpavi « A 'mniiiK poB Nn nqmA to| eo»MiMttl|| •ftm m pm ■■■BttoiooMtj taapmiff#- veiimim m p mmmi mmita vm vmm mt 'in .ntmiMa -■mm nu9*«MPR m %* tvmmmm t«qpaB€ mm mmem mm “ oo pnoa XJOtjApv ra vmh «4© wi mmm w»*a j* asR ft iwm njupmn 'VM •• •SHn «npaM JO •mpi p«p mmgmt 3KB SB ss -s %W«W V «u fW«) ■MSI juppMsa JO j«p (UK mm mmmp ]otnv> mm mm “♦q fii mmm m p m p !•# I#P»«W P«0*> IW» ptmj Ansat MWI 1 *)0UK<A swatBiA m •»K« spomq «pn j«> womoj Am #«8QSM so ‘smpp ‘XoiiMp ‘iktitrai m pa foouad mmutvt -xm. s* o| oai.(a Atsssjcbn st tttfMM. %jmA « spra vm pniaass* osu*n MB w> ««<nis m •opm mb ■• S«(A pm ‘wmasimf MB* «• VAOmi MOfI <*)|«IIV SSSOISWR) 8| BWSItt -ss n iwnni sm j» «P*» BUM* •#* po JMimn •« no pwn JO nvuts » ■tsB&s ««KB m ttUOnUM MWMU Wt., «WiO «t» telAW? ^ apoiBit 1TO0BTO O aq o» 'tfumiain paiaomno aaaonaiJiuMB pm ooamn MABaivBB BMom Ro mj* mmm XQMaq op niiaM miapM ptfM o% pm •nxm pm ‘<am os-n n -m ms •»> •ioaxtAOO BtlR pmm 9IR «B vnmmmf rnmmm m p*u»» ‘xm mm nra«u •"**12. -m mmmo m twmwD wm 'wwmu| pnum «»i» apnotf twR i> ffj »8 w»T»tM|aanj am joj M>magp»np .iaiaiinn |0 ayaafqa m «*aiKPai ‘»»wl «uo«mi am mum •« aof aAnaMd o» Xaqotf lwwR«a <0 turn n pamfoap m mm vnvm. «m J» aaai*ao£> am 'taawmA p tmo 9omm umiA 'u» 3t«OISm 1VN0UVN SVWOltt *l» 3 •r BOD^Oj^ 1 \ ' Z......... - . _ 6^ • SCAI. i; IN Mites 64' 5 0 5 10 ■o t.-! I ' ^ “-ORTO>^^ ^ drnJ ST. THOMAS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ,<)J IG'IS VICINITY MAP \\\CMANCIPATION PARK emancipation park (FORT CHRISTIAN MAR ATTACHED TO AND ro:;MiNG a part o:- the ORDCl? OF THE EtCPETARY ''\ r\C- *rttf ____________ ______________> OF THE INTEf:;OR LECICNATING THE ST THO.MAS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE. ISSUED__________ LEGEND MRS BOUNDARY !H A^v.fj riY: p H t /.srri UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR national PARK SERVICE ST. THOMAS NATEONAL HiGTORIC SITE ST. THOMAS . VIRGIN ISLANDS . J NH.‘M .ST - vnT - ;? AqtAoas of A^isory on HatlomX ParlciS} EL&U)ti<s i4 -it - Sitev, MonMffleats 7/a4.c^J FQB!f CBBZ8!HAn, CltarloUe Aaelioi Six, HS^Qsaadj^VZfSla Zdleats m? - akp. 'W, sa Xtecembs^ Z-7» 195^ JEtlESOlA/SD^ 1!kat fbrt ahristicm, la CUki^^lotto Assalie^ 33;. ^euxKiSf Virgia of it« «»a*l<}.uity, its bisbixeia assoOiitiocs, and its Qtrate^c Xooaticfft for visitor u:^ and intor^retatioas, i^rticularly in relation to the 'Vlrgia tsi^ds isiaticnal BariCj^ id a lonSaacJs of xs^tloaal signifjxaHcc, ^ tlie Advisory Bo2^d os National Parks> Histoa^ Sites, Baildisgs and ttenii^eafis receasesds that the Daperiaient of the Interior endeavor to arrange for its further Sceservation and greater mhlic use vithin the National Pa:St fiyafceei^ sTAmjs ^ Service aalctaiag its interest in the histcg?lc f^t aa& vould like to see it iadnded in the ystiimeX Parh ^stea. !Saxe GovetJ^iyh of the tfirgin lelends still hah need for it, however, as the headgiKirters for Its Palice Separtmeat, Thh Service Hill he alert to cny oppofttanity vShich my occur vhich tould lead to the further prcsesvation sajad greater public use of the Port. status Seport Ho. 1 Keating April 1959 - h X SURVEY REPORT on CHRISTIANS FORT Virgin Islands National Park St. Thomas, Virgin Islands Prepared by Frederik C. Gjessing Architect October 1969 U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation SURVEY REPORT on CHRISTIANS FORT Virgin Islands National Park APPROVAL SHEET Recommended Superintendent 0 . Approved Regional Director,' Southeast Region Date OCT 14 1969 ^^;;^Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Date CHRISTIANS FORT Christians Fort is a late 17th century fortification. It is the oldest standing structure on St. Thomas and probably in the Virgin Islands. During the early decades of its existence it was the nucleus of the Danish settlement. It served not only as the military and administrative headquarters of the infant colony but for close to a century it also housed the residence of the governor, the courts, the Lutheran church, the hospital, the quarters of the surgeon, the ©nergency food stores as well as other community services. It was a place of refuge for the settlers during the early troubled years of the colony as well as the setting for all formal activities of consequence. DESCRIPTION The fort is located on a slight rise at the base of a small spit of land projecting into the easternmost of the two deep and well protected bays on the south coast of St. Thomas that now are known collectively as St. Thomas Harbor. It faces tho entrance to the bay between Cawell and Muhlenfels point 1-1/2 mile to the . south and is located in the approximate center of the present town of Charlotte Amalie. By typo the fort is of a standard 17th century design, rectangular with a central courtyard and projecting bastions at the salient angles, but in layout it is irregular. Tlie north-south dimensions from tip to tip of bastions are on the west and east side 192 feet and 188 feet respectively, while the east-west dimensions are 180 feet and 164 feet along the north and south sides. The central irregular courtyard has an elevation of 10 to 21 feet above the surrounding terrain and is enclosed on all four sides by the one-story curtains and bastions. To the east, north and west they support a con- tinuous brick paved guardeok approximately 15 feet above the level of the court. A basement story 10 feet below the court extends under the southeast bastion and part of the east and south curtains. The main entrance to the fort is demarcated by a three­ tiered tower centered in the north curtain where the terrain out­ side the structure forms a ramp up to a series of steps. In addition there are three secondary means of ingress. A sally port in the south curtain is connected to the courtyard by a narrow and steep passage. An exit from the east wall of the southwest bastion of more recent date and one from the north face of the southeast bastion, both with exterior staircases, lead down to outside grade level. On the east side of the fort the truncated remains of an earlier ravelin form a small walled-in enclosure. Cisterns, a cooling tower, and other secondary structures have been built against the walls of the ravelin and the adjoining bastions. Demolition of these structures was started in 1968, but it has not been completed as of this date. On the south side an enclosed wooden balcony at court level ( . supported on pipe columns extends between the two flanking bastions. To • the west St, Thomas fire station abuts the fort and completely obscures the lower parts of the fortification walls, CONSTRUCTION AND CONDITION Christains Fort is a rubble and brick masonry structure with a considerable amount of brick vaulting in both the base­ ment and main story. In the areas of the main story where the gundeck is not supported on vaulting the roof construction is brick pavement supported on closely placed rafters and heavy beams. The north curtain has metal roofing on a light wood truss. The gundeck of the east curtain has been covered with a corru­ gated metal roof laid below the parapet walls on a light wood frame supported directly on the gundeck. Except for the north curtain where the brick is used decoratively and left exposed the walls inside and out are either plastered or parged. Al- though most masonry pavements and floor finihses have been rehabilitated in cement plaster there are traces of earlier brick, flagstone and tile floors. Wood floors occur in the offices on the court level within the south, east and north curtains. The structural condition of the fort appears to be fair with the notable exception of roof conditions in the south and east curtains. Condition of finishes, however, are fair to poor only, and where renewed the repairs have been made without \ V regard to the architectural character of the structure. In general the maintenance work performed on the fort over the past decades indicates little concern with economy or pteserva- tion. It has evidently been haphazard and it has tended to brutalize the structure. USE The fort has served as the Public Safety Headquarters since the 1870's, TTie rooms in the north and east curtains on the court level contain the Desk Sargent Office, license bureaus and related offices, the police court, court chambers and the Marshalls office. The Investigation bureau, the administrative offices and services occupy the southeast and southwest bastions and the south curtain. Detention cells and prison facilities are located in the west curtain and in the northwest and north­ east bastions. The basement level, with the exception of one casemate, is currently used for storage although until quite recently it was used as detention cells for juveniles. The fort is wired for electricity and in addition to three cisterns within the fort is also tied in with the munici­ pal potable water system and the city sewage system. OUTLINE HISTORY On the 30th of March 1666, Danish settlers took formal possession of St. Thomas. They started to fortify Smitberg, f ) now known as Bluebeard iull, a steep hillock about 1/2 mile east of the present Christians Fort. After 19 months of desperate struggle the settlement was abandoned and the fort was never completed. On May 25, 1672, the second expeditionary force arrived under the leadership of J/6rgen Iverson. The experience of the first settlers had proven the absolute necessity of a fortification strong enough to fend off raiders and shelter the settlers during an attack. In the instructions to the settlers and the new governor the defenses of the island and the colony were given considerable emphasis. Jurgen Iverson, who had traded and sailed in the West Indies in the past and had firsthand knowledge of the "dog eats dog" conditions that then were the rule of the Caribbean, was in perfect accord with the Danish West India Company's recommendations. He proceeded imme­ diately to carry out his instructions. The site of the earlier fortification on Bluebeard Hill was considered, its advantages as a defensive position were obvious, but it was rejected as the task of transporting building material and of the construction was found to be beyond the powers of the small group of settlers. Instead, Jurgen Iversen selected the site of Christians Fort as easily accessible and a good defense against sea raids if more vulnerable against attack from the landside. Governor Iversen was by trade and experience a merchant and sea captain. He had no formal military training and no technical aids beyond a standard textbook on fortifications ! \ r \ c (Admiral Freytag: Befaestnings Kunst). His lack of preparation for the task was compensated by his determination and energy and the work proceeded rapidly. By 1676, the outer walls of the fort had been erected and a three-story oval tower 26*-6" tall had been erected in the courtyard against the north curtain. It had gun platforms on the two upper stories and on the roof and was named Trygborg. The fort itself was named after King Christian the Fifth, then reigning in Denmark. In February 1678, a French task force attacked St. Thomas, and was repulsed. The work of Jjirgen Iversen had proved its worth but the weakness of the site had also been demonstrated. French raiding parties were able to cut off and capture several planters and their households without interference from the fort. To remedy the situation and to strengthen the landside of the defenses a three-story fortified tower Skytsborg was built on the hill to the north (Blackbeard Hill) later the same year (existing tower 18th century replacement) and in 1689, a similar tower, Frederik Fort, was erected on Bluebeard Hill to the east (still standing). In 1680, Jjiirgen Iversen stepped down as the Governor of the Danish West Indies and in the inventory listings Christians Fort is described as having 800 running feet of outer walls from 12'-6" to 22' high and varying in thickness from 3'-6" to 5*-0", a general description of the fort proper that fits the existing structure. f' A ■ { During the 18th century considerable work was carried out both within and outside the confines of the 17th century walls to accommodate the changing requirements and uses. A ravelin and guard house was constructed to the north (after 1724 and before 1733) and subsequently a second ravelin was added on the east side of the fort. About 1716, a church was built within the courtyard. By 1753. the crowded conditions within the fort necessitated remodelling and expansion of existing facilities and the church was demolished to give room for an enlargement of the east curtain. In the next few years the courtyard and the buildings on its east, south and west side got the appearance and shape that in a general way has been retained today. By the end of the century, Christians Fort was once more in need of remodelling and drastic repair and during the early decades of the 19th century there was considerable construction activity. However, it involved mainly the interiors of the east curtain and southeast bastion at court level and of the roofing and resurfacing of the gundecks. ' During the 1870's, Christians Fort was demilitarized and converted into the police headquarters of the Virgin Islands. In the remodelling process drastic changes were made. The 17th century fabric was affected that until then had been preserved under 18th century additions and alterations. The tower Trygborg and the north curtain, both 17th century, were demolished together with the entire north and most of the east ravelin. In the basement of the east curtain interior walls predating the 1780's and possibly dating back to the 1600*s were removed in part, and replaced by the existing walls and vaulting. In place of the demolished north curtain the present one- story Gothic revival structure with its centered three-tiered tower was built between the northeast and northwest bastions. Although considerable work has been carried out on the fort since then it has been limited within the fort to refin- nishing and changes not affecting the structural elements except for an exit from the southwest bastion to the south. The exterior on the other hand has been marred and partially blocked from view by additions made during the U.S. Navy Administration of the Virgin Islands and subsequently. They include the cisterns on the east side of the fort, the fire station to the west and the wooden balcony and porch to the south. EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER The proposed emergency operation center of the Civil Defense will occupy all but the northernmost casemate of the basement level that extends under part of the east and south curtains and the southeast bastion. It is an area of 2995 square feet, plus or minus, measured from the interior face of exterior and inner walls. The existing outer walls throughout date back to the 17th century and the original construction of Christians Fort. The age of the interior walls and vaulting of the bastion and the south curtain can not be established definitely from available documentary evidence. They predate 1780 and may be part of the original construction. Two partitions added in 1874-75 and the roofing of the small light court at the junction of the east and south curtains (laid between 1780 and 1817) are the exceptions. Under the east curtain the vaulting and the interior por­ tions are all part of the 1870's construction with the single exception of the walls and vaulting of the southwest casemate that predate the 1780's. It should be'.noted, however, that traces of the vaulting shown on the Oxholm survey drawings of 1780 can be observed on both the face of the wall towards the bastion and on the inner west wall. Presumably, other traces exist in the pavement below the recently applied cement plaster floor finishes and below the plaster of the exterior walls. A superficial check of two areas on walls predating 1780 showed a number of layers of limewash and finishes. A thorough inves­ tigation will undoubtedly provide considerable infozmation on the earlier conditions. Existing floor finishes are all the 1* I results of successive repair and maintenance jobs with the sole exception of the steps and pavements in the sail/ port passages where early brick pavements are still exposed in several large areas. The work proposed for the remodelling by the firm Environmental Design Associates Architects Engineers and Planners includes refinishing of walls, ceilings and floors throughout, new ceilings of precast concrete supported on stebl columns in the two unvaulted rooms of the east curtain, installation of bathroom facilities and plumbing in the southeast room of the bastion, enlarging of all window openings in the east curtain and installation of air conditioning, shower facilities and plumbing in the room west of the cistern and a completely new and extensive electrical system. The existing vaulting and partition walls are retained and the requirements of the Civil Defense headquarters have been trimmed to fit into the existing rooms and casemates. The Planning Board's response to the requested building permit has included following conditions: 1) No window openings could be enlarged and that air conditioning units could not extend beyond the outer face of the masonry; 2) All electrical conduits to be exposed; 3) Footings of supporting columns of the new roof where it occurs should not be carried below existing floors, and; 4) Original conditions should be retained whenever possible. , Although these conditions provide some safeguard of existing masonry and of the exterior appearance of the fort they are not sufficient to insure the existing fabric from damage and disfigurement. The working drawings of E.D.A. are based on a superficial survey of the area and aside from an error in the number of rooms within the south curtain, they are based on the assumption all angles are right, thickness of masonry partitions uniform and floor levels, except where steps occur, the same throughout. None of these assumptions are correct and the floors for example, besides being uneven, are pitched as much as three feet from north to south in a run of less than 70 feet. The work required will be considerably more extensive than it appears to be from the drawings for all of it will have to be tailored to fit the existing irregularities. Floors will have to be levelled to take the vinyl tile specified and even though electrical conduits are carried exposed, considerable cutting of the masonry walls and floors will be required for both the elctrical and the plumbing installation if the systems are to function properly. It is inconceivable that the proposed construction can be made without marring and destroying in parts the existing walls and pavements, many of which are part of the original 17th century construction and of 18th centuiry additions. The proposed emergency operation center is purported to be of a temporary nature and to function only until a more suitable space can be found or constructed, at which time the space will be vacated for a more compatible use. Considering the irregularity of the spaces as well as the relatively cramped condition prevailing it is unlikely the proposed remodelling can be done for the estimated $60,000. Addition­ ally, whatever work goes in will have to be removed, involving not only the damage done during installation but also the possible damage caused by removal and, of course, the addi­ tional costs. Since an office with less waste space and better suited for the requirements of Civil Defense could probably be built for the same amount of money or little more than has been estimated, the proposed construction seems both wasteful and ill-conceived, particularly s^e it is generally agreed the location is not desirable for an emergency operation . center. This would also provide the opportunity for selecting a more desirable location for an emergency operation center. Illustration No. 1 Basement Plan and Sections of Christians Fort prepared by P. L. Oxholm about 1780. The drawing is one of a set of five drawings showing the existing conditions of the fort at the time they were made. The Ravelin towards the north (to the left in plan) is shown on the first floor plan but is omitted on this drawing except in the section shown in the lower right hand corner. The area proposed for remodelling as the Civil Defense Emergency Center includes all rooms shown on plan except for the cistern (Regnbakken) to the far left. Note grade difference in sections and the Sally Port to the left in the lower section. Christians Fort Royal Library Copenhagen, Denmark c ■.■'p ; f Illustration No. 2 Undated photograph (circa 1910) of main entrance to Christians Fort showing the Gothic revival replacement of the north curtain constructed during the early 1870's. The structural conditions shown have remained intact to the present time and are identical to existing ones. A wrought iron date (1671) has been added above the archway of the entrance. Photo Collection Virgin Islands National Park •f U- i ''^ fe‘«*:-’S4?i'‘ Sfe..- ’ i%‘ ■ 3 ;!;!f '^K:»3;!■.(..:..ii, >- Illustration No. 3 Christians Fort courtyard viewed from the south. The iron gate to the right in the photo gives access to the stair­ case leading to the lower story casemates. Historic American Buildings Survey Photographed by Don Toschi May 1958 iM 4.^. Illustration No. 4 Courtyard of Christians Fort viewed from the north. The staircase leading to the casemates of the lower level is to the left in the photograph. Historic American Buildings Survey Photographed by Don Toschi May 1958 c c i Illustration No. 5 Interior of casemate constructed during the early 1870's against the east curtain of the fort. The photograph was taken while the basement level of the fort was still in use as a detention center for juveniles and shows a typical interior. The casemates that came into existence as part of'the 1870's alterations of the lower level are identical in arrangement except for slight differences in dimension. The wall to the rear is of an earlier date and presumably is part of the original 17th century fabric of the fort. Historic American Buildings Survey Photographed by Don Toschi flay 1958 (' ■' ‘r Illustration No. 6 View of Sally Port in south curtain. The Sally Port is shown on the 1780 Oxholm section and is either a very early addition or ]art of the original 17th century fabric of the fort. It is included in the area proposed for use as an Emergency Control Center. C National Park Service Pliotographed by F. C. Gjessing February 3, 1969 * G: . I Illustration No. 7 South curtain and part of southwest bastion viewed from the southeast. The photograph shows the 20th century addition to the fort. The staircase to the left leads to an entrance to tl)C southwest bastion. It was constructed during the remodel­ ling of the 1870's or shortly thereafter. Part of the original Sally Port can be seen along the right margin of the photograph. National Park Service y ^Pliotographed by F.C. Gjessing February 3, 1969 I i-i G (' ^ 1 f V ‘i- - Illustration No. 8 View of southeast bastion where it abuts the south curtain sliowLng existing conditions of plumbing, supports for the enclosed balcony above and the blocked gunport of the bastion. National Park Service Photographed by F.C. Gjessing February 3, 1969 ^ r|: h ■ ■ r o APPi^NDi:': (2) ♦ : ? ' •'.' CO. ..::r oi- v;::i vl:c;a 'clam.;;: c..- vac UAtvcD vtatvs"''' -■'h? -.9 dc?acvv;.a;t c.- law p. o. a;.^ 2c,a Churlvfto Aiv.aliuv S:. Tl.oir.ss, V. I. OOVjI 99 77/v - 3n • '‘A- March 7, 10 G 7 LIIGMCHANDUM TO: The Govoruo-r PEOM; Assistant Attorney General Subject; Title to Mimleufeidt‘3 Point Light Station, St. Thomas, Virgin Islomls of the United States Tlio question of title to the above-described real property arises from an Cpiihon of the Attorney General of the Umted States, signed by W, T. Hiter, Assisiant Attorney General, dated December 11, 1023, which held in favor of the United Stales Government and stated; , ^ "Aliprivat;c rights in aaol to the properties under eonsidera- . • tioa ..... sccin to have passed to the state prior to the cession act, and by its terms all right, title, interest and estate of the Crown has become vested in tlie Uihted States „...» I tharefo'ro conclude that rhe tnle acquired by cession is sufficient \\’’e respectfully differ with tins Opinion, and submit that title in and to this real property is vested in the Government of the Virgin Islands for the following reasons; The Treaty, of Cession betv/cen Denmark and the United States, in releyaht per liens j provides: (/iy. lvn Ais Majesty the iGng of Domnaz-k liy this convention cedes to the Uniicd States all territory, dominion and sovereignty, possessed, asserted or'claimed by Denmark in the West Indies including the Islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint CroiK:, togetlmr with the adjacent islands and roclts. I • -’■1 •1 ■'1 - V ■' • ‘ ( , ^:- llo-xc.^nr.diun to: Tjio Govonior March 7, This cession malucles iha ri^it of property in. ail public j govora- nient, or crown lands, public buildings, v/harves, porta, harbors, fortifications, barracks, pviblic funds, riglds, xrancMses, and privilege^., and ail other public property of every kuxd or descrip­ tion now belonging to Doninark together with all appurtenances thereto ..,.. Article 2, Denmark gaai'antees that the cession, xnade by the preceding Article is free and luxencumbered Ixy any reservations, privileges, fran­ chises, ga-aats, or possessions, held by any governments, cor­ porations, syndicates, or individuals, except as herein mentioned. Bat it is imderstood that tliis cession does not in any rosixect im­ pair private riglits xvlxlch by law belong to the peaceful possession £;• di£Pm£i-J kinds by private individuals of whatsoever nation- alityy by municipalities, public or private establishmcints, eecle-' siastical or civic bodies, or any'other associations having legal capacity to accuire and possess property in tlie Islands ceded. (Underscoring supplied) Tnese Articles indicate two things: (1) that Bemnark, in addition to ceding f..ll dominion and sovereign, rights m the Virgin Islands (West Indies) to the Uxiited . states, also ceded the property rights of Denmark in all of those properties in the Virgin Islands (West Indies) which belonged to the State Treasury; and (2) that property i.aercsts of the Amnio ip aUties (St. Thomas and St, Jolm, and St. Croix) were vmt It becomes itcccssary then to show whether Muhleiifeldt’s Light Station,. iocaicu on Parcel of Estate Eakkero, St. Thomas, at the time of the Treaty of Cession belo..-geu to the State Treasury of Denmark, or to the Ahmieipality of St. 'I'hnmn;^ nud Si. Joh;p or the 'i’-tihrKmnc uiddti vv:-d y part igp m aemp.. mmc mAop the terms of the Treaty oj; Qossion whether it belongs to tiie Goveyvencih id the United States, or the Government of the Virgin Islands. The record in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, .St. Thomas, show that the State Treasury of Denmark aGc^uired the Parcel of Estate Bakkero, St. Tnomus, Am 5 Frenchman's Bay Quarter, on which the Muhlenfeldt'^s Light Station is located, m ' I '‘■ S':: -.:'- \ . t ' =:• 3 i\Io:x.o,.'nud;un to; Tiic Go /oj iiov-' Mvircsi 7, 1007 by c.3cd of August 4> 1BS3, recorded August 13, 1803, from D. A3vorly. Bock 2-M' page-383, Docuinent rTo. 2, The acxc shows a trausde:r ol this prop^;rti' to the. Harbor Board of St. Thomas, hi aocorda/ice with Colonial Luw No. 113 of April 6, 13OG, ]H:rc \70 h^ive prima facie evidence of ownership of this property by tso hiunieipaiity of St. Thomas and Sc. John, of \>'hich the Harbor Board was an instra-*' :nentaliu% ceinprised ns it was by the Governor as Chairnia'a, the Despat jhiag Scermary as acting chairman in the absence of the Governor^ mid at least one member from the local eglsiaiure. in a letter dated Febraiary 19, 1927; from E. H. Van Patten, Acting Governor to Surgeoii J. 11. Hurley, Cliiof Quarantine Officer, U. S. Public Ilealdi Sorvice at St. Thomas, it was explained that the reason for the transfer of the property from the Banish State Treasury to the Harbor Board was 'ho imve such property locaity available as security for Iionds sold to raise fimds ro make certain iirprovemenis in the harbor. ” lliis inforimhiou was submitted to the Acting Governor by G. L, Holleit, then Legal Aide, in a Memorandum dmed February 17, 10S7. The imal entry is deed of July 29, 1919, recorded April 12, 1920, from me Harlmr Board of St. Thomas to the Ihiited States of America. Book 3-N page 192 Boeument No, 55. However, this deed was not approved by 'the Governor, and in any event the transfer was not authorized by the Colonial Council, tlioreiore, we con- chme that this deed is a nullity. In consegucnco, at this point we are back to the pcsition Vvhero title is reposed in the Barber Beard. From the Harbor Board title 'vested in the Municiptiiity of St. Thomas and St. John by virtue of Ordinance , approved Mareh i, 1341, Section 2 of v/lucli provided that ail properties owned by and eyarusted to the St. Thomas Harbor Board were transferred to said Municipality. (See Historical Note, 25V.I.C. 131, Vol. .4 at page 287). Confirmatory evidence of the ownership of this property by the Gc( ernrnenc ::.f the Virgin Islands is a letter dated February 28, 1917, from the American Consul ;:i St. Thomas to tl).c U. S. Secretary of Stale, in reply to a cabled request of February so, 1917, from the U. S. Depnrtmont of State "TMFOHMA'ITON AS TO NUiMiVSH, pAp h5:Afln.01'4hl Gh LGvhliiHfi.ih'IiTuf'h'hib W*-;hik/Bc-; kav-fv wi-n' WliLTilBil TREY BELONG TO BANBiQ QGVBBNMBNT OH TO GOLOEVn- i; The. letier contaiiis several lists and states that although every effort has ynade to make it as complete and accurate as possible, the inforimtion should yded as "uncflicial''. Conceding 1;his. ■ ,.y.is t’ye most reliable and bast available evidence as to the 'vve submit nevertheless that this documo tuai stale of title 'I -1 J f: k i . f »v * ^ (■ 4 ?/;':).r:.b. 7, If'// iu UiCiiv: pro.)orlxcs in 1017. Co. the list of property beIongi.iif- to the'St, Tlior-ias Har­ bor" tLoro appears caiwrier as loiiows; Gouerai Mu,h.ienfolUi.-e GafLury Parcel of BaWcero (Tlio Quaraui;i.ao S!:atiou Groimcls) C0iixprisi:rg- 7 .1/2 acres Harbor and Rxinge Lig'Ltbouse on Muhlon£eldt-s Point Quarantine ar*d Disinfecting SteXtion . Prom the foreg-xiraQ it is our opinion that Muhleiifeldt‘s Point Light Statiorij at the time of the Treaty of Cession \va.s the property of the Municipality of St. Thomas and St. John, and subsequent to the Treaty of Cession under tlie'terms of .ippilcable lav/ (Section 2, Organic Act 0.1 tlie Virgin Islands, approved March 3, .1917) it con­ tinued as saoli. Upon the consolLcaCon of the soparate numicipalities by Aie Hevised Crgaaio .let of the Virgm Islands., approved 22, 1954-3 68 Stat. 497, it became the property of the Government of the Virgin Islands. The promises considered, v/e advise you that title to Mulilenfeidt’s Point Light Station is vested in tne Govornment of the Virgin Islands. James A. Bough\- Assistant A.ttorney General / jAB;ha $ \ / T ' *1 '■ Fui-iu - i-«^tk- i-«ta /, u' THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS November 27, 1967 Mr. Joe Brown, Superintendent Virgin Islands National Park Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, Virgin Islands Dear Mr. Brown: On Wednesday, November 22, 1967, we met to dis­ cuss your letter of November 8, 1967 to Mr. Oscar Bough relative to the relationship of the St. Thomas Historic Site to the proposed site improvements at the Barracks Yard Urban Renewal Project in Charlotte Amalie. At that time I outlined to you the position of the Government of the Virgin Islands. The Attorney General, who was present at that meeting, was instructed to prepare a position paper on this matter, a copy of which is enclosed. Sincerely yours. ?alpI/M. Paiewonsky Governor Enclosure U,..a..,44 .. ‘ POSITION PAPER RE; ST, THOMAS HISTORIC SITE (FORT CHRISTIAN BARPA.CI^ YARD URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT) This paper sets out the position of Hie Government of the Virgin Islands vdthr espect to the relationship of the St. Thomas Historic Site (Fort Christian and environs) to the pro­ posed site improvements at the Barracks Yard Urban Renewal Project in Charlotte Amalie, St, Thomas, Specifically, in comiection with such project the Virgin Islands Urban Renewal Board has planned a southerly extension of a certain street Imown as ’’Fortets Sraede " across an area of land adjacent to and east of Fort Christian, the extension to comiect with the Veterans" Drive along tlie St, Thomas Harbor. The National Park Service in St. Thomas c..Hed attention to the fact uiat the area to be traversed by the proposed extension is included in the "St, Thomas Historic Site" declared by Order of Designation by the Secretary of the Interior, dated December 24, 1960, As established by the Secretarial Order, the historic site comprises not only Fort Christian, but also parts of its surrounding area in Charlotte . Amalie, hicluding an area recorded as "Parcel of No. 1 Fortet Straede" (outlined in red on attached Appendix 1). ^t is this "Parcel of No, 1 Fortet Straede" through which the ex- te:-sion of the street is proposed and which the Park Service claims is part of an historic siie under its jurisdicucn. However, an examination of this matter reveals that (1) the establishment of the "St. Thomas Historic Site" has never been actually accomplished and (2) in any event. Parcel of No. 1 Fortet Straede is a plot of land separate and distinct from Fort Christian, acquired by the St, Thomas Colonial Treasury in 1874, and since then the property of tlie local governmental entities, i. e. the Municipality of St. Thomas and St. John and its successor in interest, the Government of the Virgin Islands. 1. The Order of Designation dated December 24, 1960, recited, among other things, that. "... Fort Christian was included in the public, govern­ ment, or crown property ceded to the United States by Denmark by tlie convention entered into August 4, 1916; " ... all property thus acquired from Denmark, not reserved by the United States for public purposes prior to June 22, 1037, was placed under the control of the Government of the Virgin Islands by Act of June 22, 1936... witlr the legal title remaining in the United States; r "... Fort Christian was. not reserved by the United States for public pui’poses prior to June 22, 1937, but title thereto has been held by the United States continuously since the convention vdth Denmark in 1916; " The Governmexit of the Virgin Islands and the National Paiic Service of the Department of tlie Interior wish to call public attention to the national significance of Fort Christian and are interested in insuring its preservation for the benefit and inspiration of the American people by pro\achng for its designation as a national historic site;__" It is to be noted that although the last of tlie above quoted recital states tint the territorial government and tlie Park Service were jointly involved in the desire to establish the historic site, in fact such designaiion was confined to the miilateral declaration by the Secretary of the Interior in 1930. By contrast, in the case of tlie establishment of Buck Island as a National Monument by Proclamation of President Kennedy one year later, in addition to essentially the same recitals ' as above noted, ii was found necessary also to recite the fact that the Government of the Virgin Islands b}^ legislauve action had relinquished such control over the area as had oeen vested in it by the Act of June 22, 1936. It would appear, therefore, that the designation of Fort Christian as an historic site has never been finally consummated, action by the Legislature of the Virgin Isiaiids still being required. It follows tliat the Order of Designation of December 24, 1960, did not operate to divest the Government of the Virgin Islaids of such control over Parcel of No. 1 Fortei Etraede as it may have been acquired under tlie Act of June 22, 1936. 2. The foregoing discussion mider (1) has assumed argjuendo that legal title to Fort Christian and it enwrons was and continues to be vested in the United States as part of the property ceded to it by Denmark at the time of acquisition of the Islands. In point of fact, however, the assertion to tltis effect in the Order of Designation of December 24, 1960, is inaccurate. As appears from Enclosure No. 4 in dispatch No. 354 dated February 28, 1917, from the American Consul in St. Thomas to the Secretary of State "Christian's Fort witli the underlying battery" is listed as one of the "Buildings, Empty lots and other property in and about St. Thomas and St. John lolonging to the Colonial Treasury" and not to the Danish Crown. Thus, legal title to Port Christian passed not to the United States but remained in tlie Municipality of SI. Thomas and St. Jolm and later became vested in the Government of the Virgin Inlands. La this connection please see Opiiaion of tills office of March 7, 1967, attached Imreto (Appendix 2). The United States in I960, therefore, had no such legal title or i-iterest in Fort Christian as would sustain a unilateral declaration by the Secretary of the Litericr that the area and surrounding properties constituted a National Historic Sito 3. In any event, as before noted, it appears quite clear that "Parcel of No. 1 For.et Straede" has nothing to do witli tlie title to Fort Christian. Research of tiiep.u ■k I :xrcu II ■■•■■ m - nmmimnm - W-.»* ,C 1-eveals the following: Parcel No, 1 Fortet Straede is a parcel of land separate and distinct from Fort Christian. This Parcel No. 1 Fortet Straede originally belonged to one W, A. Mimter, Mr, Munter subdivided the property and sold it in two parcels; as follows; a. Parcel o^No. 1 Fortet Straede, which adjoins Fort Christian to the east. This lot was sold to St. Thomas Colonial Treasury by Mr. Munter in 1874, by deed recorded at the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, St. Thomas at Book U. U. Page 246, This is the area through which the street extension is proposed. b. Parcel No. 1 Fortet Straede (being in fact the remainder of Parcel No. 1) which Mr. Munter sold to Mr, Kruse in 1883, Kruse in turn selling to Eggert in 1890. In 1921 Alice Eggert had the Public Surveyor divide Parcel No. 1 Fortet Straede into two parcels, designated Parcels No. lA and IB. These latter two parcels remained in private ownership until acquired in 1963, by the V.I. Urban Renewal Board pursuant to order of the District Court of the Virgin Islands in a condemnation proceeding. In the light of the foregoing it is the position of the Government of the Virgin Islands that: 1. The title to Parcel of No. 1 Fortet Straede is in the Government of the Virgin Islands and such Government has the right, as a matter of law, to transfer any interest in the parcel to the Virgin Islands Urban Renewal Board for the pur­ pose of street extension. Title to the parcel is not related to any question as to the title to Fort Christian. 2. The title to Fort Christian is in the Government of the Virgin Islands as successor in interest to the St, Thomas Colonial Treasury, 3. The Order of Designation of December 24, 1960,..did not effectively establish the "St. Thomas Historic Site because a. The United States had no title or interest in the property in­ volved insufficient to sustain such a designation. b. Even assuming the existence of legal title to Fort Christian in the United States, it would have been necessary for the Govern­ ment of the Virgin Islands to relinquish the control it acquired over the area under the Act of June 22, 1936, i V* ; U<-Si:[V-!'L X KjGU Vr.V- JU;/ 2 1 £)74 To:. Rcijiojial Solid tor* So'Jtiicasf. Rcolon Koglonal Diroctor, Soothoast Ueglon, Matlonal Park Servica Subject: Possible* affect of pc-n-:'ina lci;islat1on on Katioricl PiiHc Service jurisdiction of certain lands In tho Virc:1n Islands Enclosed for your rcvic;-? are copies of IJ.R. C>135» lUR. C775‘ and ll.R. IH.dQ s*pon.sorod by .'ir. uel.i.no or the V1r-:;in Isltiid-Sr and ethers, fev' the pi.r[.oso of placinc; certuin lands v/lthin thu jurisdiction of tcrrltcrlal covcriv>.N:nts. l‘e are toncerned that any of the blllSt If eiiactod In pro-sent foria„ \.ould not only affect siibrereed lands outsldo tlio jirrisdlction of the ilauio-.-al Park Service-----an objective wiidi vdrich wo iiave no cn'ouaiejit —but Vjrjn'Jd. ni^risn/iti uriintoi*.rjn>v»nv. nMioi- v>h1''^ rr*' rrpd'T iced's jurisdiction* l>i "id tUe i5f?..4s and to St, Yno.ras hat1oi;<il liisloric Site, both on St, Thainas Lslanc^ and to certain structures at CInistlansteu i^atlonal liistaric Site cn Sc. Croix Island. A copy of Supcr'inteiidcrit bcbb‘s ir:cr.;orendu?a of April 24 outllnlfuj U’.G probler:i is enclosed. Custody of tliC Crown Hciintain Ifuuis was secured fi’cni the Office of Terri­ tories for the purpese of oxchannuiG the lands for privatoly-ownod lands within tiic boundaries of ViroiJi Islands b'aficjial Park. AUoi.pts to exch.ango the lands have thus far been unsuccessful, priru’rily due to tho fact tho lands have l)een oncu-rbored idth a kG-ycar lea.so^ Wiwh ti:c- tena- Inctloii of this lease on-'June GO* ly74, chances of cvfectino an 'exchnnre will iriprovco A copy cf the Sefvice‘s request for transfer of jurisdiction (cn which tlio Office of Territories* concurrence is InJicato-d) Is enclosed. It sliould be noted that the lands in questlcn arc not ad;r«1n“ Isterod (IS a pert of the h'aticncil Fail; Systen, and this fact is the reason that v;e believe Sections 4 of H.R. 013S and li.R, C77G and Section 3 of ILR. ussy {f.ay bo applicable* Tno second area ——- St, Thonas Rational iilstoric Site —v.'hlle noiiiinally a part of the Rational Park System Is jif.vei’tiieless rialntainad and operated by the Vlroin Islands l'Ovorrir:>cnt, ft fact vdiich could also bring t‘ia afore­ said sections of the bills Into |dlay* Copies of appliceblo jr.acorial rtlalod to St. Tb.cn.at Rational iilstoric Site arc cncloSL-d* IS!!----hL i-Jcpara.cnc, ai;U tha afreets of these bUls on the sUtus of \4iat strucLui'c need also to be considered. -uicns It shculiJ be noted that iiJL has ?ilreac?y been nasseci by the l!oir.& and tUu toe Seneca ;ts cor-ouvolnns i-.tarin:;:, tins hontiu it Is cppnrcntlv too late r - ycpart..ionu;s position on the bills as it },as already ra,.vitt-u on fi.rw C/7j. yt copy of die Uepartn;enta] fepre is enclosed. Your opinion as to tlis nfvcct of H.R. Gljo, H.R. 6775 or H.R. 17559, If cnacteu, upon vne Service's j oris diet ten of these areas is request^'^d In Obrisdlcticn would be ten.inak'd, yollr loitho) c...:.!>;on-,r. reparoino n.Gt-ion to l;o •taken by the Sf-‘rvi'cf=' nvnt/i vorr’i iv^r-inn rnv- r,v.------ ■ - - —-------- - ^ r. - legibility of sc!:x2 of the enclosed tiotcrial. If Fiikh rfc^sociato Director L. boyd U ‘ Cooparative Actrvitios Paul Swart;: •Enclosures: SGD. (ROBERT STANTOti) . I IN REPLY REFER TO: United S®tes Dei)artment of the I®crior OITICE qi' Tin: SOLICITOR ATLAN^'A REOIOXAL OIT-ICE I,-8 CAIN STRIXT NE. ATLANTA, Cl.OHCIA 30303 d ^ d. .CL September 4, 1974 >Ieaorandum • • ■ ' To: Resional Director, SEP.O, ir?S ; • * Proa: Recional Solicitor, Atlanta Region , . • * Subject:' Possible effect of pendinR legislation on national Parle Service jurisdiction of certain lands in the Virgin Islands The following is in response to Acting Regional Director Stanton’s e:er.orandun of June 21, 1974. It ;rppeern frer; the notice in tlie Pcderal Register filed Januar/ 13, 1961 desig— ;-i-vr i.nri-r-!;j'""i nr- t-ti •r.CTsr.C’ iuvtat.:astcr;;.c u.vtF 1. Fort Clxristian was included in the property 'aedod to the United States by Deratarh by the coaventicn entered into August 4, 1916, and prcclalned by tf.a President on January 25, 1917; 2. Port Christian was placed u'ndar the control of the ' Government of tlie Virgin Islands by Section 4 of the Act of June 22, 1936 (49 Stet. 1307), with legal title remaiiiicg in the United States; end 3. Port Christian was not reserved by the United States for public purposes prior to June 22, 1937, and therefore, in accordance with Section 4 of the Act of June 22, 1935, . ' renains under the control of the govemnant of the Virgin Islands. Therefore, iaesnuch as St. Thcm.s Katicnal Historic Site xjould not, on the cate of enactnant of IZR 6135, HR 6775, or RR 11559, bo a property which is adninistered by tha Secretary of tl:c Interior as a part of the national parh syates:, it is my opinion . I th^t lentil t:itla to ti'.c site V.’0;’ld pasa to tha sovornnant of the Vir^;in lala.'.clG uaca caactr.ant or. aay of the bills. luasi'.uca as VC interpret the !'ational historic Preservatien Act as preclualn^ restoration,' reco'.'.stri'.ction, and relishilitaticn of historic properties to x.iiich th.e United States does not lir.vc title, such pcDsa^c of title nay bo adsiinlstrativeiy undesirable. If so, ve su;^3cst that the Department's nositicn cn the natter ba knovn to the Chnirnan of the Senate Cc:r-rittee on Interior and Insular Affairs. lade It ic possible tlist the le^al status of the structures at Chriotiansted national Historic Site referred to in Mr. Stanton's xccmoranduri is identical to that of St. Thcr.as. Ue arc not in possession of sufficient information upon x.iiich to base a conclusion as to th.c effect of the bills on these structures. (In this regard. Hr. Stanton’s menorancuai indicates enclosure of a copy of a February 22, 1972 asreanent vjith. the Virgin Islands Governcent but no such agreenant vas received.) Hr. Stanton's cenoranduai implies that the Parle Service retains custody of the co-caiied Crcirn Mountain lands. Me therefore assume that the property vas not placed under the control of the Goverrauent of the Virgin Islands of the United States. If we arc anendra-.nt of 43 u.b.c. tih-;e>(b)a i-urther, ve nave been infornec: that these lands vere acquired by condcranation in 1941. Therefore, even if they fit the description of land to be conveyed to the £overrsaent of tlie Virgin Inlands under Section i(a) of the three bills, they \70uld not be conveyed because they fail v/ithin the •exception set forth in Section 1(b)(iii), Raymond C, Coulter. Regional Solicitor .,«fd c. coultor .* * 4 IN REPLV REFER TO: UniteH J hues Department of the interior NATIONAL PARK, SLRX ICI' Sm-THFAST RFGIONAt Of F 1C F 3401 WUMM'I F AVFNFF ATLANTA. Cil OKGIA ,10U J L14-SER-P l-ienorancJum NOV ! 1974 To: Fran; Subject; Deputy Director, t'lASO Regional Director, Southeast Region Effect of Public Law 93-435 on Christiansted National Historic Site and St. Thanas National Historic Site, Virgin Islands When signed by the President on October 5, 1974, P.L. 93-435 (H.R. ^ motion a "time clock" which affects St. Thanas NHS and probably affects Christiansted NHS. Ihese effects on the National Park System apparently were not thoroughly considered at the time that the Department sent to the Congress its report on simil^ legislation (H.R. 6135) under date of September 24, 1973. Early tiis year this Region became concerned about the possible effecte of this legislation and we have been con.sulting with the Regioiial Solicitor on the matter since June 21, 1974. In brief, the effects appear to be the following: 1. legal title to St. Thomas National Historic Site will pass to the Government of the Virgin Islands and this will preclude any preservation, reconstruction or restoration of that property by the National Park Service; 2. While the situation is less clear, it appears that certain historic properties within Christiansted National Historic Site will transfer in fee title to the Government of tlie Virgin Islands. Should he wish to do so, the Secretary of the Interior can prevent the conveyance of any of the properties subject to the terms of P.L. 93-435 ^ reserving them to the United States prior to the expiration of 120 ^ys after the October 5, 1974, enactment of the legislation. Failure by the Secretary to act within that time v/ill result in "autcmatic' conveyance of title to the Virgin Islands. CONSERVE .AMERICAS ENEROV Save Energy ant! You Serve America! J A paper setting forth the situation in detail, as we see it, is enclosed, along with pertinent background documents. The most important asprjct of the situation is, ha^ever, that the full attention of tlie Service aiid of the Departn^t should be given to this matter prior to the expiration of the 120 day "grace period." Insofar as this Region's available data allow, I have considered the situation and ntike the follaving policy reconnendations: I recoTTTOid that we allaw the title to St. Ttonas National Historic Site to be conveyed to the Government of the Virgin Islands and that further we take irrroediate steps to change the designation of that national ; jxLstoric site to a national historic landmark, roroving it frem all senhlance of inclusion in the National Park System. I further reconrend that the Secretary take steps now to prevent any further diminution of National Park Service jurisdiction over and administration of properties within Christiansted National Historic Site, by reserving to the United States all right, title and interest in those properties. A iteiTorandura dealing specifically v/ith the effect of P.L. 93-435 on sutnerged lands of interest to the Service in the Virgin Isl^ds was sent under date of November 5, 1974, :m response to a specific request frem the Associate Director, Legislati^. Enclosures 16 Effects of Public L^iw 93-435 On Historical Areas of The National Park System The brief title of H. R. 11559 which became P.L. 93-435 is/"To place certain suLmerged lands witliin tlie jurisdiction of the Governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, and for other purposes." The major concern of the National Park Service, Southeast Region, is not with the affected submerged lands; our concern is with the "other purposes" which are contained in section 3 of the Act. This section involves two Nationcil Historic Sites in the Virgin Islands. ST. THOMAS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE St. Tncsmas National Historic Site corprises 1.66 acres of Federally- cs\ned land containing Fort Christian, believed to be tlie oldest standing structure in the Virgin Islcinds. The structure is in do;^nta.v’n Qiarlotte Amalie, and houses the local police and fire departments. This NIiS, while ncniinally a part of the National Park System, is naintained and operated by the Virgin Islands Government. There is no National Park Service interpretation at the site and no NPS eJiployees are on duty there; the site is not administered as a part of the National Park System. \ Ctir' f irst: wrirten inquitv' on these matters to the Regional SoMoiror. dated June 21, 1974, is enclosed, as is his rremorandum of reply dated September 4, 1974, most of which deals with the Fort Christian Property v.’hich is designated cis St. Thoras National Historic Site. As the Regional Solicitor notes, this site is under the control of the Government of the Virgin Islands and is not a property administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a part of the National Park System. He, therefore, states that"... it is opinion that legal title to the site vrauld pass to the Govemnent of the Virgin Islands xjpon enactment of any of the bills." It appears to us that the Regional Solicitor's discussion in his'memoremdum to us of October 10, 1974, (while discussing the Crc^vn Mointain lands which v/e will touch upon later) would lead him to agree, with reference to St. Tnonas National Historic Site, that "...the Secretary of the Interior could prevent their conveyance to the Government of the Viigin_ Islands by reserving them to the United States within 120 days after the date of enactment...," if this should be desired. Reccrmiendation: Tlie Regional Director recommends that the conveyance of St. Therms NHS to the Virgin Islands Govemrmnt be permitted to taJee place, and that steps be taken to withdraw the designation as a National Historic Site. Designation as a National Historic Landmark would be appropriate. 1%! Public Law 93--135 93rd Confi-cPS, H. U. 11559 Oclober 5, 1974 Sin Set /• pn S7AT. 1?10 To pliicc CtTf.itn siilii!U‘r(T>’<l laiirts wiMiiii tlio JiiriMlIilliHi of (lie civcriiim'Ols of-, Guam, the Vii,';iii l:<l:imls, and Amorii-.ni ^anioa. niul (or o:1kt iimi'tou's. I ry I He it ciKtchd hy the Scimfi and lJou.se of Hepn^ntativee of the United States of .‘luwriea in ('taiyress (t.'Semldi li, That (a) snbji ct to valid existin'; nolits, nil rij;!it, title, and iiiteresi of the lliiiled States in laruls pcnnauently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to Ltd. not above the line of mean hioli tide and seawaid to a line tlucc geographical miles distant fiom the coastlines of the territories of CTiinm, the Vii <.dn Islands, and American Samoa, as heretofore or here­ after inodilied by accretion, erosion, and reliclicn, and in artitieially made, filled in, or reclaimed lands whidi were fonn.crly permanently or periodically coveted by tidal wateis, are hereby conveyed to the government's of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, as the case may be, to be administered in trust for the benelit of the people lliereof. (b) 'J'hcre are excepted from the transfer made by subsection (a) hereof— ^i) all de|iosits of oil, gas, and other minerals, but the term •miiiierals" shall not include coral, sand, and gravel; (ii) all submerged lands adjacent to projterty owned by tlic United States above the line of mean high tide; (iii) all submerged lands adjacent to proiierty above the line of mean high tide aciiuirod by the I’nited Slates by eminent domain jnoccedings, ])urehase,- exchange, or gift, after the date li! mac;c; ; ins .ve.. as ic-i;iirt'a i>;;' eiaujiicemii i;;,. i.- nieni oi liie Xavy Land Acqinsinon j-rojeet reiauvc lo liie con­ struction of the Ainmunitio)! Pier autiinii;!cd by the. iMilitar.y Construction Authorization Act, PJ71 (81 St at. l‘2o'l), as amended by section 201 of the Militarv Construction Act. lOTtl (80 .Stat. 1135); (iv) all submerged lands fdled in, built uj), or otherwise i-eclaimcd by the United States, before the date of cnaclmont . of thi.s Act, tor its own use; (v) all tracts or jiarcchs of subnierged land coniainiug on any part thereof any structures or iinpiovonicnts constructed by the -■ l.’nited St sites; (vi) nil submerged lands that have hcretofoie been deferinined by tlie I’icsident or the Congress to be of such .scientific, scenic, ' ■ or historic character as to warrant jire.sctration and administra­ tion under the provisions of the Act entitled ‘'An Act to'A.'stablish ■ a National Park .Service, and for other purpo.ses”, appiovcd August 25, I'.MG (If. U.S.C. 1 et seq.); *• • (vii) all submerged lauds designated by the President within one hundred and twenty days after the date of enactment of this Act; (viii) all submerged lauds that are within the administrative ■ rcspoiifibilily of any agency or department of tlie United States ■■ . other than the. Department ot the Interior; ■ • (ix) all submerged huid.Sjlawfully acijuircd by persons other than the United States through purchase, gift, exchange, or h otherwise; ■ (.x) all submerged lands within the yixgin.lsjand.s National . Park established by the Act of Augii.'t 2, 1950 (10 U.S.C. 393 ct seq.), including the land.s described in the Act of October 5, 1002 (10 U.S.C. 39Sc-39Sd); and Gvuen, ttic Vir­ gin Is lends, Olid A.~.trloan Sonoa. Sub-.erged lands, con- veyanc c. 4a U:-C 17Cb. Certain lands and cdncrol rigilts, re­ tention U.S. I. r • j 4 Cfl ST\T. l?n Pub. Law 93-435 - 2 - October 6, 1974 7G Sta-t. 5441. 16 loC 431 note. 4- Conveyance S| eorple.natory stRtrmont, Butciittal to ooivjrcssional ooemittees. - i land and na\-l cable Tiaters, use. 48 use 1706, Virgin Islands. public property. (xi) all r.ub!!i'‘! rfii lainls witltin iIk,' Hiick Islai'il IJraf National as U; s.-i ilvd iu I’n-.-idciitiai rnvlainiuio;i SMS dnU'd l)c. > i:ilu'r ’JS, l;‘;.l. Upon rtfini-st i>f tlia tiovanior of (iaain, t!»e \ir(;in Islainls, or Ami ii;..' can Samoa, llin Sorrr'.ary of tho lalrri.T inav, with or witliout rrim- inirsiMnriit, and f.ihjrrt to thr i‘.iocnluiv b])OL-ilital in Mibsortion (c) of tliis section roiivcy all ii"i'.l, title, and intcreM of the Uniicd Stalc.s in any of tlio laiuls ilcserihed in clauses (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii),'or (viii) <>f this siihsection to tho gorenuncMit of Guam, the Virpin Islands, or .Vineriean .'samoa, as the case may be, with the concurrence of tlic apcncy having custody thereof. (c) No conveyance shali be. made by the .Secretary p\irsuant to this E-ection until the expiration of sixty calendar days (excluding days on which the House of Uepre.sent.-uives or the Senate is not in .sescsioii hecause. of an adjournmeiil of innio than three days to a day ccrt.ain) from the date on which the ,'^ccretary of tlic Interior submits to the Committees on Interior and Insular AlVair.s of the. House of Kcpve- scutative.s and the Senate an explanatory .statement iiuHcatiitp the tract pro))c>sc-d to bo conveyed and the need therefor, iiidess jirior to the exitiration of suclt sixty calendar days hot It committees inform tho Secretary that they wish to take no action with respect to the propo.sed conveyance. Six. 2. (a) Nothing in this Act sliall affect flic right of the Presi­ dent to establish naval defemsive .«ea areas and naval nir?i)acc. reserva­ tions around and over tlic islands of Guam, .Vineriean Samoa, and the. Vii'giii Islands wlien deemed necessary for national defen.se. (b) Nothing in this Act shall affect the use, development, improve- inen:., nr iiv nr under ilie cnnsiitiuinnai auiiioriiy nf iue I Iv.u.-H oi ti„-» l.TOfis t ! anstprr.''-fl liy the tirst section ol tins Act. and the navigable, waters overlying sucli lands, for the pur]ioses of navigation or flood control or the production of power, or be con­ strued as the. rcle.a.se or relinquislimcnt of any rights of the ITnited States ari.sing under the constitutional niithority of Coiigres.s to regu­ late or improve navigation, or to provide for flood control or the production of power. , (c) 'I'he United State.s retains all of its navigational servitude and rights in and power.s of regulation and control of the lands conveyed liy the first .section of this .Vet, .and the navigable watei-s overlying such lands, for the con.stitutifiiial purposes of commerce, navigation, national defense, ami inleniationa! .affairs, all of which shall be iiara- inouiit to, blit sliall net be di'cmcd to include, proprietary right.s of owncisliip, or the riglit.s of maiiagemeiit, admini.slration. leasing, use, and development of the lauds and natural rc.sourccs which li^e s])ecifi- cally conveyed to the government of Guam, the. Vii-giu Ishuids. or American .Samo.i, as the case may he, hv the fust section of this .\ct. (d) Nothing in lliis ,Vct shall affect the status of lands beyond the tliree-milc limit desc.rihcd in .=ection 1 of this Act. Skc. o. Sub.-ieclion (b) of station ffl of tlie Kevised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (-1SU.S.C. lal.afb)) isnniemled to mid as follows: “(b) All right, tith^, ami interest,of the United States in the prop- cil}' jilaced under the control of the government of the Virgin I.slumls by stxlion 'l(a) of the Organic .Vet of the Virgin I.slands of tlic United Slates ( IS U.S.C. ilfi.'.c(a)), not rc.scrved to tho United .States by Die Secretary of the Interior willii’i one Imndred and twenty days after t^c date, of tuactmeiit of this suhsectioit, is hereby conveyed to .such goventmeiit. 'I'lie comeyniicc eirected by the preceding sentence shall not apjily to l!mt laud and other property which on the date of eiiact- inciit of this siib.sect ion is ndiiiinistcn-d by the .Secretary of tlio Interior r i . • L: > October 5, 19?'l - 3 - Pub. J^aw 93-435 .......................... of this Act. all n.Mfs MU-.h itaro of (.r„u-!;npnt l.y tl.r J Sl„|,.^ v. id, ,v.,„v! lo t-u- l iii.t l«y l!ie am.iuimoiM in:i,!o hv i],U Act i;n>i siibiner-:c(l hiiicls to Ilia ''ovcniinonis of Guam, the Virmn Inlands and iniiac 1)^ till.-. Act, on llie basis of race, ivli^ion, crcod color ‘pv shairnnt T'""’’ - Aoin vrr, That tliis soViiou April n isi3ofs;:;roSr..“irAri„7Sr;'.S'^ Approved October 5, 1974. t>' r;-'-.'. I'-'ri R.-ri*;:, rcy_ aia;-. 1 fcrs, i A-: ;.t to Irrn’ 'Avorr.- , .*■ 4S pSC 1707. RfiJialo. Kondiscrir.ina- tlon. <t3 use 1703. ■ 48 use 1661. LECISUTm: 13ST0RV; . . 93-902 (Corn, c'n Interior enl Insular Affairsl isss^; “*—sn’;,. Kar. IP, considered and passed House. Sept. 18, considered and passed Senate, craended. sept. 2a, House concurred in Senate ar.endnents. ’r. ■ V : ' !. Cf*0 .1 i * . . » . • > J ■1 . 9310 nV!.- r.;ov.'l> In Am.'i l.-.Vs triTltorirr -'■ rcUn" tv.o o'->JiV> ivcr.. >.ir. c;n..,v^r. I thorrfoic rvunnund Uio vii‘i:ii'.i;r.oi;s (onbCiil or ih^ incasurc by iny collciir.ucr,. Mr GKO:vS. Then th'.s ler.!.: latlon lu v.:-.y orrtcU .vib-nc:cca to O’- i-elro’.ouru o-J tnb:iicn;.’a )aiu-!.s"orTr.h.irc Iroai Uic conUiicn'.ol tinitcdS-.a'.is? Mr. 1X)N’ 11. CL.M.'r.-Kr. Mr. Spcalcr, Uic luisTi c r U "Ko.'’ Mr. CP.OSS. Mr. Bpeahwcr. I thank the gcntlcr.-.an. I withdraw tnj rCEcnallon ol objec­ tion. <Mr. i-s LUGO o-sked and \ras clveii pom'.!s.-"lon to rc\-hc and ceetend his re­ marks.) Mr. EK I.UGO. J.Tr. Epce.kcr. It Is with very rerJ idtasure that I rise lids aiter- noon to r.sk for unauixno-os consent for the accf'i.-tance of IIao tisnate'r. amend­ ments to my bill which would transfer Er\:bri'.!T;;ed Ir.nci.s to the i;o\crnments o( KGRtSSlOXAL lU-COrsD — IIOUS j.-.-fTsaU-'n f r liio p.c.-enl and fu'-V.ic C.r.'-rai'.on.'. Mr. f':v.d-ir. I’le rmcr.rliv.ents offered hv the -.if.te !rn > Urn lull c.'.'.euiienre of boUi tee n r.Jorltv arid ndnority nu-m- lirr; of tee .■'.■l-:onii;'.U..'e In v i.Ieh hr.ir- !iv s on th!.<< Ic'.;. i.il-.on '.■ere held Inl- tl.dlv. and t-'iefiTe I a'k nnridmuus con.-.enl tor t'aclr r.crcp'.snee. 'fids will );? tho hnrvl lerhHU’.o act heforc this bill Is rrariy for the I'resldrnt's lurc and jr.arl.s an liisloris .‘lep for^.-iird In the rccoenjiloir of the lollUciU nia- turltv of tlic lorrlcories. 'I'ho BdlbMOlii. is there objection to lt>e rco.ue.st of Urc Ecntlcman fro-oi the Vlridn Islar.d.s? nicre w ivs no objection. 1„ September '25, 19U .liC rood for rcrr.e p;-oyn'.:n cor.l'-.'.ues to i/e U-.e i : ::.-.iry U.d. fe ed aid i.Mo.dy. Conce.s.-.lon;.! r.ales I'royi .Miis co'.-.tiiun d to cj'.eeu: ..-e rc'-.i;'!. i'.t eov:!d,-.-l.-.s to e-- t:d'ji.-.h r.clf-t.dl} objoctlve.s and .aho perl rron -oilc deveb.paicnt project.s. Tl-.c ) ;-i',-rr.iu let. ms ita nivdies'.; o:r Improv- ir.cr the mi‘of vre.;n.si-.t r.iid '.'urr.- b-e rnr.th'-Tv. h'-bir.-;. c.i.d riv-.'choot cl'.ll- ciren, tiie rnc.'-t niitnuo-.i.slly toiniUieaut p:slods cf h'jman life. most pro.'-ram.s i;-.v.c r..'p:e-„s of n!;.-;rv.l’.\!’.el ni'irlict ciovolDP'.:ienl. rpccldc prcyi.-.a'.s for trade r\v’.u'.s!on have been hn.ttcd b.'cause of f.irond cem.meieid dc'.nar.il. fiueh pro„'i a:n.s ccald he ix'sumed under -. chanped supply conditions. ' As lO'iS Irr.lalaUou niiU:orlr’s;d the e:<- Tiic s’ciiatc'’anicndmcnts were con- tmislon of^tho Fub^ Law 400^ pi:v;Tram motion to reconsider was laid on the vital role In terras of development r.s- . - < vr> i" rv t wr-l virriTVtrit Iritv table. GEflEH.'tL LEAVE Mr. cr LUGO. Mr. Speaker, 1 ask unanimous eonrent that rJl Mcinbero lhc vVriinlVrands;Gu:im:and Ameidcan j-cb-’-dlve days In which to REPORT OF THE ADtUSOHY /fHnKxn. atid wodd rj-o lr.uu-.rcr mm-.y on ^ bermte COUKCtL OH EfTERGOVKUN- to too om UJl. 1.55D Ju.1 t5“lu.'rrcoplb-rf tbe \ahyin tht-y' n-ltorial fiov.ernmcht. I wb;h fo thank tho dlEtlnfruhhed cli.alnn.an of the lnU-.rior raid insular •/dlr.lrs Ccrainlttec. Conpresman J/.tucs IL-.rur, for h!r r'-uUnuin'i c'jpi'oU '•r>d vl *W«. Tno SPEAlUflR. Ts there objecUon to the reciucst of tho ecntlcrnan from the Vlr;;ln ld.-u:d.s? Thcio Viu. no objection. VtnT.rj iiuRxow, me, oi.sunpuisnca cnuir- ,iri» of the Interior Conuniitoe’s .'Inb- „ corandtUe on Territc.ric.s and IruUd.ar Af­ fairs for hla tliov'ditfuincs in rclin- fnitsMne what tradltioriiOly Is Ills role In handUi'.g this kpL.!r.tlc.u on the floor of the Ho-are. I rlS'O '[vaiU i-o express my Rpprccl.vtion to my distingulslicd col- Ic-agu.'j from CallforrJ.n, Consres.smon AL L’dU-'U.'tr AL-J.lvliar>A (iOwoj FOR PEACE)—Mi'dSAGE FROM THE PREEbDEHT’ OF THE UirQ’ED fJTATES (II. roc. HO. &3-S62) Grr-Atn R 11 The Wirm: nousn. Scptanlu r ; Elst.'Uice. trr.da cxyianslon^ t.nd promotion of our foreign policy oblccUves. OKR.U.D R. Ford. Thb WhUTi: House, Scpfcrilicr 25. fS7i OM rUTERGOVKlcN- IdEirrAL PEPH-ONNKF. POLICY— IXE3SAGE I'HOM THE PPOEBIDEN'r OF THE UKITED STA’TES Tlie BPH'xHER laid before the Hoiiw tho foUowlnc nics.satre from tlio I’re.M- tlent of the United El.ales; v.hleh vs- lead and. torether with tho accoinpany- nH'ser-. veicrrcd •o ;ne ( •v'm'iHr-r nn is.-rj.-.snr.T-, r.nn i.-;xs- To the Conorcss o] the United Slates: It Is p. ijrivilCnC for mo to Ivau.'rnlt n- __ __________ -- - thoConprc-ssthclinalrcportofUie/..;- nxe rPEMEER L-.ld before the House Intorcovernmem . .... ..... ------------------------ top^tlwr1.'Kh'Lhc'}’ceon>pimy- Council, addresses three i - from CallforrJ.n, Consres.smam n-L.-vd to tho Committee cues of toportanoe to Govcriunent at ...: Don H. CT,.-.u.sE.n, the rankluE mmonty and ordered to b^ printed Icvels-.c-nuclemploymenUaborimmaA- jncraber of the subcommittee, for bin merit rolaUous. and Lbe dcvclopmcm Braclciis Lsststance Uu-ouchout tlic his- musvTa . -R’orkforcc policies by Ctato and Ita.f tory of tills bm. To the Conorcss cf the United States: eovemmenLs. Because the membcif U 1 am partlcuberly happv to be able to i am pleas.cd to transmit to tlic Cen- the Council have cx-prea-.ed tliem.*-’ ;.'- rncalt on behalf of t!d.s legislation which fn'es.s Urn ]C'<3 rnnue.l report on nttric’cl- forcefully and forlhriiihUy on h- < t luis such piofoimci cronoiclc and poliU- lurnl export rxifvltlc.s carried out under matters, Ih-Jr wer’i tliould serve :• • { cal siynlfiC.ance for the terrltcile.s. Tlds public luiw -HO tFoed for Peace). Tiib! u.<;eful rclcrcnee PoLnt for pui.'hc ui’ . , ICKlslaf'on ■vclU make the rental and per- irSiS been a r.ucccsslul pioKr.'un, It h.as everywhere. All of us .sfjould be Is..:-: . mil fees for the u; e of submerKed and providc-d a char.nel for humanitarian as- to Uic Council members lor thri; . tld.al lands payable lo the territorial rov- clstanco. promoted economic develop- cated service and v;isdona ornmeuts rather than to the I>cp.';.rt- • ment and, In general, supported foreign ment of the Inlrrlor. YYliilc these funds policy objeeUves of the UiUlod Stales, arc only a fraetioiial amount of the lio- Througneut tiic year, the Food for parlmcnl's hiKb-cl. they a'lU be of cub- Peace pro:;rani dcraon-strated Its flc.xl- iVantlal assistance lo these povcriuncnts. bllity In a chan„fnn anriculfaral silua- In addition, tb.c direct control of .•'ub- tlon. Kccause of the light comrnodity merged lands h-i’ tiic local novermnents supply rU-uatian In the United Lt.ates, In-.Qlvcd win rlinviaate the present 1-tng clvlpmcnts (iurln^c the year were soine- and fni-straUng ad^ilin^.^tratlvc process 'whrit rcslrietcd. This was csra-clally tiuo ..................................... ... ... - of whc.al and wl;cat prod-.-.ct .shipments. ( I ;! Invc’/ed In poln.t t.hrnugh the i’cileral burcnv.cr.'.cy ovi-st time an app'ica'.loa for use Is sub.raiMcd. '.'.7)110 nry l.-cifla- tlon will case l:)c i.i’.:ni!)istiatlvo burden Involved In tt.o jirvclopment I’f .'■ub- jnciAcd l.rud'.. liie pl.-.cin;r of these j-rop- vm’.'T local j-n-l ■.'llc'.lnn und ."uper- L\l ion vvi'.l ler..l lo ;‘victer adhi'ienre lo . '. -J c.-.: ■ tin.n Ir P ' li ’c V ;-.l! th- pie. I 't -il.- mif e o’v:;ci: hip. An Hal fiMline of tills le, i-l.it'.on ts ti. .! I'le t.-.Mi. forrrd -.-.'.M !,■' r.u- L.h.MiTe'l fur tile b'D-AL ef the li.'ople ruaranloein.-; Uielr productive me and However, our load ccnfrlbullcns to the droucht-.strkkcn African countrie.s, In- cluUniK KUnopla. were sulii.fantkd. In both li.rsl and V.'rst Africa. United Ptate.s food aid r'prcscnleu about 40 percent of the total -snpp'ted by l.he intcr'.iaiion.d conimunUy. 'I'i'.e b".el of li.S. coniiil.-u- lu’ii.', to Uie V. uriJ Ve.- ;i i i.m ii’M Ihc U.L volimi.iry f.-ieuclcs v.-.'s tinniUi’.lned nnd tile ’l';;:.) 1 ccaice -mnal .sale;; p:si- n:-.nn-, roi.lIn'oc-.t In .".-rh lil :b-p;t.iy oo;i;'.Ule:; r.) E,\;';;k;d.’.J). 1: iMvln, C.-an- bodlii, iM.i' i. I’.igisian, wid Vletiuun. CHANGING THE C.'OMPO.'in i. THE PHEiy Al-m AUTlK'i- GU.ANT3 TO EHKN< ■ COLLEGE Mr. PATTFAN. Mr. Speak.- lliat Uie llou.so le.solvc U ''If • CoimnlUev cf tb.c Whole lb'-- State of the Union for Uio r • tlon of the bid (U.R. 1C'3321 i ' the Seerrtary of the ’lYe.'. -n • ' Uic alloy and ■uelr.ht of Use i and to a..-.end the Hank H Amend:;;’ :i'g ef 1370 to a-.'-' lo Eiscm.ov.aT Coilcce. H.Y. The ppr.Mrun. Th- eu- ■ ■ motion olTeif d by Die r>:i* 'J'eXM (Mr. pATliAK). O United States Department of the Interiot/^^ / IN REPLY REFER TO: L14-SER-P NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE 1895 Phoenix Boulevard Atlanta, Georgia 30337 JAN 5 876 Memorandum To: From: Deputy Director, National Park Service, WASO Regional Director, Southeast Region Subject: Effect of Public Law 93-435 on Christiansted National Historic Site and St. Thomas National Historic Site, Virgin Islands This is in reference to a memorandum to you on the above subject dated November 6. 1974, from this office. In that memorandum and its enclo- sures, I recommended that the Service allow title to St. Thomas National Historic Site to be conveyed to the Government of the Virgin Islands and that immediate steps be taken to change the designation of that national historic site to a national historic landmark, removing it from all semblance of inclusion in the National Park System. Your office concurred in that recommendation. The Service and the Department took no action under terms of Pj,^-435 to forestall the passing of legal title to the GovernmenUof the Virgin Islands. This occurred without any overt action on the part of either the United States Government or the Government of the Virgin Islands in February 1975. To our knowledge no action has been taken on that portion of our recom­ mendation which was that the national historic site be redesignated a national historic landmark. We recommend that such action take place. It is important that this be done for the following reasons: 1. Recent newspaper publicity in the Virgin Islands has indicated that structural modifications removing historic fabric are taking place within Fort Christian which is the central structure of the former St. Thomas National Historic Site. Some local controversy has arisen qL^T/O/v % over the structural changes and it is evident that the role o£ the Federal Government in relation to Fort Christian is not fully understood by the parties involved. 2. It is evident to us that the December 24.. 1960. Secretarial designation as a national historic site was never intended to and in fact never did place the structure and its environs under National Park Service control in a manner similar to that of other national historic sites.. It appears that the intent, to all practical purposes, was to designate it as a landmark and that in current terms such a designation would be appropriate. 3. Formal announcement by the Secretary of the new desi^ation as a national historic landmark with the accompanying ceremonial presentation of a certificate and plaque would strengthen the hand of preservationists in the Virgin Islands who wish to maintain what integrity remains of Fort Christian and its environs. We do not know what procedural steps should take place to change the designation of St. Thomas National Historic Site to a national historic landmark. We assume such action is at the Washington level. If there is further action that should take place at the regional level, please k inform us. Nothing in the present situation involves either Christiansted National Historic Site or Buck Island Reef National Monument. Both of those areas were affected by PL 93-435, but in both instances the Secretary and the President took the appropriate steps to maintain the National Park Service interest, as was recommended by this region. r*HMfv7 ^1) THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS December 2, 1976 Everhardt Honorable Gary E, Director National Park Service Department of Interior Washington, D. C. 20240 Dear Mr. Everhardt; Fort Christian on St. Thomas, is a prominent struc­ ture in the city of Charlotte Amalie, and has been for many years. The Government of the Virgin Islands through the Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, is now taking steps to restore this edifice to an earlier and historically significant period. I am writing this letter to request that Fort Chris­ tian be officially designated as a National Historic Landmark, to coincide with our restoration program. I look forward to your usual cooperation in this, effort. Sincerely Governo cc; Director, NPS Southeast Region Commissioner, Dept, of Cons. & Cult. Affs. ACTION Rr-:OC'FST FPX DIRECTOR^. I0:AL PARK SERVICE No: DEC 1 p p^rn Date: 12/13/76 . . Request that Fort Christian on St. Thomas be designated as a National - Subject: _____________________ _______________________________ ______ Please route to: ^ ^ i. .-aer' 2. 3. 4. !_J IMMEDIATE ACTIOI' - R.USII /__/ Reply due from the Director /__/ Please handle for the Director under your signature and forv/ard duplicate copy to the Director's Office ■/X / AC "I’ ION e s saty __ '')'-Lo-Aj iir / i Review * * / / Comments / / Note and return /__/ For your information only - No __ resDonse necessarr /2-'AiEZk Date due / / Note and see me c-O _'_____ M- '- ■--•■■■ >. ■> V’A.r; *¥mi ■ ■ ■tf/f:-' H34-772 ¥ . :iv' "3-,- BEc ^ 7:Bre . / 'C'.' -':- Honorable Cyril B. King Governor of the Virgin Islands Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands •'V V ■H: ,. ('f ' Ji • Dear Governor King: Thank you for yoiar letter of Dece^er 2, 1976, requesting that Fort Christian in the city of Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands, be designated a national historic landmark. We will be happy to present such a request, witli supporting documenta­ tion, to the Consulting Committee to the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings. If that body approves, it will be recfsomended to the Secretary of the Interior's Advisory Board on Natioiml Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, ai^ Monuments, tlie next meeting of which is in April 1977. Because of the prior status of Port Christian within the boundaries of the St. Thomas National Historic Site, we are optimistic about the results. Sincerely yours. Erne;_l Co::iaalIy ■y. .■# v-r. Ernest Allen Connally Associate Director, Preservation of Historic Properties -i"- -s ^ i ’- 3., - ■■'A 4;- ■ . ■ 'H, FNP:GF Emery:ho 12/17/76 bcc; Regional Director, Southeast Region 001-reading file 040 700 ) 760 ) 160-Dr. Curry ) 772-Sheely 772-reading file ) w/c inc. H-fi- L/^ -BASIC FILE RETAINED IN 111 i ' 'V . m f flie United States Department of the Interior IN REPLY REFER TO: A40-SER-PC NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OEFICE 1895 Phoenix Boulevard Atlanta, Georgia 30349 FEB 1 e 1977 Memorandum To: Associate Director, Preservation of Historic Properties, WASO Attention: Chief, Historic Sites Survey Division From: Associate Regional Director, Planning and Assistance, Southeast Region Subject: Background materials on St, Thomas National Historic Site We have enclosed the materials you requested. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. Enclosure OV.V3TIO/V Ifik-- if"m ... ■ vi^- SiL^v ^hj?: I ,'!- •■‘\ ,-<f'.i ':; ij%- -s-i ~M- ws>»: : MM '5- ^ r&-.v ff-' ' ■ Ah ■ ;■... ^.■ .. ' -A'.' .s,,,. . Mu"-' -*■■' ft ^< ■ ■ e#/-.. ,;.«f*'y.' - ‘I . • mmm Sy;»^y - ' -'%t SJ'eQf- Mr.George Emory . ^ ^ .(pv Office of Archeology and HistorichSM^^^^Iy Preservation National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington,D.C. 202^0 February 28,1977 Dear George; ’ ■ -■'''- ' .' . Win:- - C :i ■•: . \i: ■ €rmkM In response to your request that I inspect Fort Christian.Charlotte Amalia, St.Thomas.U.S.V.I. with regard to its potential as a National Landmark,! offer the following comments.First,I regard the fort,parts of which may date as early as 1666,as the most important structure historically on this Island,and that it is without question worthy of Landmark status.As you probably know,the fort was the center of the early community life,as it was the site of the first Luther­ an Church (until 1793),the Governor's residence,the prison and the seat of all governmental offices for the colony.This is in addition to its role as the primary fortification protecting the settlement from attack by land or sea. While the fort has undergone considerable change during its 300 years of continued use,fortunately.most of the alterations are of an add-on type,that is appended to the original fabric,which remains intact under it all.A notable exception to this,of course,is the crenelated Gothic Revival north wall and clock tower,added in 1874.This construction replaced the original round tower, similar I suppose to Bluebeard's and Blackbeard's Towers,to the north and east of the fort,and a vault and passageway-the pointed arched windows in the NE and NW bastions were also added at this time.A plan of the fort drawn in 1074,before the north wall was changed,shows a Ravelin on both the north and east sides,but t there are no above ground signs of these features other than a stone terrace to to north. The east wall also had a Demilune within the Ravel in,but no signs of this are visible either,as this facade has been extended by later construction,in at least two periods,to fill in the area between the two end bastions.The battlements along this wall have also been filled in with concrete block,but it appears from a visual inspection that all of this is appended to the original wall.The south facade has undergone the least amount of change,with only a 20th C frame porch like addition to the SE bastion,and a stairway leading to the upper level of the SW bastion.The west facade,originally the front entrance,has been obscurred by the recent construction of the Insular Fire Department Headquarters,but again,this one story stone structure is appended to the original wall. The interior courtyard has had major alterations in the NW corner,a one- story addition for the Police Station,but most of it remains intact,at least from the pre 1874 period,when the fort was given over to use as the Police Station and Jail., . . ■ ^ H. >„- . ifmmimmm' iSsKI' imm >' rH?" . ' mmM. "■ :.; Pi:>•■■?: P "'• ' Pi-''P- ;,4PP, ■’W:|P^,-h4' "■ PM '■K PaMI j - .■ i; i;,i;t,^:- >';■ pP'" Pfc --- .P ^'i -v. .''I '■‘^'Sipi-'-'«/'■■'.a PM ?,-'p f^p," Pi »»«’■ While the visual character of Fort Christian has undergone rather signifi­ cant change,! am of the opinion that much of the original fabric remains to facilitate an accurate restoration to at least the 187^» period,with the poss­ ibility of taking it back even further if the contemplated architectural and archeological research is completed and the prerequisite information is discovered to warrant such act ion.However,I would stfongley recommend that the I87A north wall and clock tower remain as is,since it is of considerable architectural and visual interest in its own right and is an associative landmark of importance. Once agian,! strongley recommend that Fort Christian be accorded National Landmark Status by the National Park Service. W - ■ P ■ /J' 4*~^ > Sincerely, r' ■ # ^-Ps 'it ifiiIi5 ■ 1 PP/ J“ai i'■* PijKifrv,; j.fVI:- u "■ Cf, P©»*: ‘VM- • ussell Wright,AIP Consultant in Historic Preservation 56 Cornhi11 Street Annapolis,Maryland 2l401 m^4 mm , '^1 VPi ,- ■ ' --•‘.•.-ii.-- Vi'; '%- .■'-:, ;i3415-772 mar 3 1977 Mr. Thomas Blake Planning Director, Virgin Islands Planning Board Charlotte Ajiualie St. Thomas, Virgin Islands OO.^ux Dear Hr. Blalce- Interior’s Advisory Board on National r..rks, -iisto. ings, and Monuments. v;o plan to present this potential l^toxh Of ke History Areas Conmttea IS. VjS would full meeting of the Advisory Hob ^ pxonosal that you wish to appreciate receiving any comments on tnis proposal r maxe. Sincerely yours. iSi^nedJ George F. Emery Acting Chief. Historic Sites Survey Division bcc: ^^^^ional Director, Southeast Region Sv S- V.5 ■*r J ■ ?■ 'V- ■ '*' .': «■ - vii ,;%V H34-772 \4i::: m l 7 1977 «r. K i ; S;' ■ 1 Mr. Russell Wright Consultant in Historic Preservation 56 Cornhill Street Aimapolis, ^felryland 21401 Dear Russ: •M. Many thanks for your letter of February 28, 1977, detailing your recent inspection of Fort Christian, St. Thosias, Virgin Islands. It was exactly what we needed to bolster our position that Fort Christian continues to possess the integrity necessary for it to be considered qualified as a national historic landiaark. The statement was included in the asse^lage of factual material presented to the History Co^mnittee of the Secretary of the Interior’s Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and ifonuments on March 14. The committee endorsed our recosmiendatioa for landmark status and it will next go to the full board which meets April IS. sr'J ''i* Best regards. Sincerely yours. - \ y Signed ..-J -i George F. Bawjry Acting Chief, Historic Sites Survey Division cc: Mr. Thomas Blake Planning Director Virgin Islands Planning Board Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00801 FNP:G F Emery:ho 3/17/77 ' ^ bcc: Regional Director, Southeast Region w/c inc. 001-Reading File 040 700 75Q HP - Virgin Islands - Fort Christian / 772-Sheelv , 772-reading file BASIC FILE RETAINED IN 772 I', •S :’i. Iv . X.,.; 4.Nm0M V‘ -.«» -X-. .;: :-^v- :Kv ■y '-St. s-.Si'A if'k-- : ".ji^: . '---' i. tx L58(560) 2 3 jg;; X.4: ■■ S; Memoranchw) To: Chief, Legislative Division From: Acting Chief, Cultural Resources Manageejent Division Stdbject: St. T^ooias NHS L.- ■ ' , i ■ • ■ .^ ■ -V ~ . ■ ' ' .<;X X: ■ > ■• -X .'■- .,5 dS'- 4-, W'^ > Xv4 ' \j - ■ t-y., ' •'. -V ^vs ‘ ■■‘V ^ , -t - ^ k‘ ■ We believe your office is familiar with recent developments concerning tile status of St. TNwias NHS. At the request of the Governor of the Virgin Islands, the Advisory Board last week recomnended that this site (containing Fort Christian) be designated a national historic landmark. ‘^ $ i"':. Assuming that the Secretary acts on this recommendation, the pres«it national historic site designation should be rescinded. Since the designation isas made by secretarial order, we assume that another order will be required to rescind It. Mould It be well to draft such an order for presentation to the Secretary with the national landmark designation paper? 'fc- *^44 ■ i -xtr- e^ ■Xy ■ .... ^ fey-: (Steor^e Emery of the Historic Sites Survey suggested ws bring this faatter to your attention In case you are not already acting on It. You may know that the Office of Communications, anticipating the redesignation of St. Thwnas, has dropped It from the forthccnnlng edition of "Index of the National Park SystiUR and Affiliated Areas." ' - ■M. X|q 44, (signedJ Harry W. Pfana bcc: ■■■ Regional Director, Southeast Region?Hl^sx2£xi*raaof 1. VJ S: • ■ : y- . ... d*’’ .*,- >-X.- ^ . fix -I «"-::i 040 111 560-Mackintosh 400-Reading File 001-Reading File V •■ ' X >• ‘gi’-- ■ . V- ' ^ ' '. •,*• ■ '^4'' •'■•' •• . 'V» 4. '-.yi 560:BMackintosh:mjg 4/29/77 BASIC LFILE RETAINED IH^6Q _ .•jy/fex:#--:'4-' - y-^ ^:v.- ^ iV;^ ' y' ; fe ... ■ ■V. .p - S(-< 'm ■4 ■■ '■xy'''- ' -'Avjf a... WASO-145 (1-^1) UNITED states DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIO" NATIONAL. PARK SERVICE CONGRESSIONAL TELEPHONE REQUEST OFFICE Ron fleLugo, Delegate, Virgin Islands DATE time May 11 9:05 AM CALLER George F. ainery (to Del. de Lugo) TELEPHONE RECEIVED BY , OFFICE REFERRED TO NATURE OF REQUEST ACTION TAKEN May 11, 1977 Advised Office of Del. Ron DeLugo, Jjhat Secretary Andrus on May 5 had designated Fort Christian, St. Thtoas, V.I., a National Historic Landmark. This had been recommended by Gov. King, Dec. 2, 1976, and investigated by the SHPO's staff. To Be Hand-Carried To Asa is tant D irector Legislation When Action Completed -jl/ ~ - Honorable Alan Cranston United States Senate Washington, D.C. Dear Senator Cranston: am pleased to inform you that the historic propertS^es in your State described in the enclosed brief summaries have been found to possess national significance in commemorating the history of the United States. On the recommendation of my Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments these properties have been designated national historic landmarks. I am sure this action will be of interest to you and your constituents. I—(t -4 cn k ■I Also enclosed are leaflets explaining in detail the historic preser­ vation programs of the National Park Service. National historic landmark status automatically enrolls the property in the National Register of Historic Places and extends to it the safeguards provided by\he National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Recognition of the property's significance as a landmark is accorded by certificates and bronze plaques which are provided free of charge to the owners or administrators of these properties upon their agreement to adhere to simple preservation practices. The Director of the National Park Service vri.ll shortly notify the o’.^mers about these benefits and provide them vrith the appropriate agreement forms. The ovmers of these properties are to be commended for preserving these significant examples of our Nation’s cultural heritage for the education and enjoyment of all our citizens. Sincerely, /3/ Ceer f 7^. CECIL D. ANDRUS SECRETARY Enclosures FNP:HK Ostergardrkr 5/12/77; .V^3 bcc: Secretary Reading File Secretary's Files (2) FW CL 190 001-Reading File OkO 700 760 772-Reading File r L'' 772- ^-Sheely BASIC FILE RETAINED IN 772 ■■ i V-' \! ^'■-sA,, ■ '-^ i^T!^ ..-i- i -- . t S' u.^.su!U| rnftn H3417-772 S-'f ■ S? aw 2 S B77 r •'.,. •■ , yit. ■ ^S»« Mr. Thoaa* Blake Planning Director Virgin Islands Planning BeaiVit Charlotte Amalie St. Thcms, Virgin Islands 00801 Dear m, Blake: At the request of Governor Cyril B. King we presented Fort Christian in Charlotte Amalie, St. Ihomas, Virgin Islands, to the Secretary of the Interior's Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments for consideration as a potential national historic landmark. We mclose a copy of Governor King's letter to Director Gary E. Everhardt. We are pleased to inform you that Secretary Cecil D. Andrus designated Fort Christian a national historic landmark on ^^ay 5, 1977. A copy of the mwnorandum to Director Everhardt making the designatitm is also enclosed for your information. Sincerely yours. ^ i George P. Emery diief. Historic Sites Survey Division Enclosures FNP:HJ Sheely:kr:5/19/77:523-5464 Rewritten FNP:HJ Sheely:mc 5/26/77:523-5464 bcc: Regional Director, Southeast Region 001-Reading File 040 1772-Sheelv 7'^2-Reading File ' V-; '■ Vf w-.v> BASIC FILE RETAINED IN 772 HP - Virgin Islands - Fort Christian OEPARTMENT off ttie INTERIOR news release NATIONAL PARK SERVICE For Release May 25, 1977 Duncan Morrow (202) 343-7394 ANDRUS DESIGNATES 17 NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus today announced formal designation of 17 properties as National Historic Landmarks. Located in eight states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the newest landmarks Include the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic District in Atlanta, Ga.; a Danish colonial fort in the Virgin Islands; and one of the nation's last two major Art-Deco theatres—the Paramount in Oakland, Calif. "These designations," said Andrus, "involve properties in both public and private ownership and reflect the diversity of our rich historical heritage." "Although leadership in America's historic preservation movement rests with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service, this is a fitting reminder that the cause of historic preservation requires a partnership of individual citizens and organizations as well as the participation of Federal, state and local governments. With­ out a firm commitment to preservation, many of these mementos of our past might have been lost." With these latest additions, nearly 1,500 properties have been identified as nationally significant in America's histbry under the Historic Sites Act of 1935. Each of these National Historic Landmarks is placed also on the National Register of Historic Places, which will afford them the legal protections and benefits of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Those benefits, Andrus said, include eligibility for financial matching grants for preservation or rehabilitation of properties listed on the National Register. Following is the list of the 17 new landmark sites: CALIFORNIA:--------------------------- ;---------------------------------------- ---------------------------- Bradbury Building, 304 S. Broadway, Los Angeles. Built in 1893 by, George H. Wyman, this structure has load-bearing walls that open into a light-filled court of glass and court iron. Now regarded as a visionary structure, it is admired both for its structural design and use of soft lighting and glowing materials. (more) two—Andrus Marks (California—continued) Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange St,, Coronado. Built in less than one year in 1887 by James Merritt and Watson Reid, it is considered one of the "great luxury seashore hotels" in the United States. It was the first hotel to use electric lighting on a large scale. Mission Inn, between 5th and 7th, Main and Orange Streets, River­ side. Built in stages between 1902 and 1950 (by Beaton, Hunt, Gray and Wilson), it is the largest Mission-Revival building in California. It contains a hotel, shops and a chapel. Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Built in 1931 by Timothy Pflueger, it is one of the two remaining Art-Deco movie palaces in America. (New York City's Radio City Music Hall is the other.) It was recently restored. GEORGIA: Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic District, Atlanta. The district includes his birthplace home, grave site and church, where King served as assistant pastor. The environs of his childhood are largely intact. MISSISSIPPI: Champion Hill Battlefield. Hinds County. This is the site of a critical Union victory in the 1863 Vicksburg campaign. At Champion Hill, General Grant's troops forced Confederate forces under General John C. Pemberton to retreat into the defenses of Vicksburg, May 6, 1863. The j|onfederates surrendered Vicksburg on July 4, following a siege. OHIO: Cincinnati Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave. Built in 1933 by Fellheimer and Wagner, this is one of the last grand-scale Art-Deco teminals. It cost $41 million and could acconnnodate 17,000 persons and 216 trains daily in its heyday. Glendale Historic District, east of State Route 4, north of State Route 126, C&O-B&O Railroad right-of-way, Hamilton County. One of the earliest American communities laid out in 1851 on the irregular, "pictur­ esque" plan derived from cemetery design instead of the commonly used grid pattern. Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St., Columbus. Built in 1928 by Thomas W. Lamb, it is an example of the "Golden Age" movie palace. It has been recently restored in its original "Spanish" style. (more) IN REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240 B •H to <UK =t -P '■£> ra S I X! ro 4J C\J 3 in o .. CO - ''V t, t- o 4-> ^ s t. -H O >, rH rH dJ 0) w rtc o •H bOvCM >> i-l <D <D x: CO I ■-3 m au^vi PU O s o fc XI JUN 8 1977 The Director of the National Park Service William J. Whalen is pleased to Inform you that Fort Christian in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, has been found to possess national significance in commemorating the history of the United States and has, therefore, been designated a national historic landmark. The purpose of landmark designation is to recognize nationally significant sites and to encourage their ovmers to preserve them. Landmarks are chosen through studies prepared by the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings; evaluated by the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments; and approved by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the Historic Sites Act of 1935. A certificate and bronze plaque is provided free of charge to the owners or administrators of a national historic landmark upon their agreement to adhere to simple preservation practices that satisfy criteria for continuing eligibility. The enclosed leaflet on the National Historic Landmarks Program sets forth the standards for continuing eligibility. We will be pleased to provide you with a certificate and bronze plaque upon completion, and return of two copies to the National Park Service, of the enclosed agreement form. The third copy may be retained for your records. National historic landmark status automatically enrolls the property in the National Register of Historic Places. Under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, entry in the National Register provides each property with safeguards against damage by Federal undertakings and fulfills one qualification for participation in a grant-in-aid program to assist in its preservation. Further information is .contained in the enclosed leaflet describing the National Register. We are pleased to include this property among the sites already designated national historic landmarks. Honorable Cyril E. King Governor of the Virgin Islands Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands T I 1^8(170) Menorandua JUN i3)a/7 To: Solicitor Through? Aslstaat Secretary for Fish and Vildllfa and Parks Attantlon: David Hales Subject "xector, I c o e L_ P'* r'fe. *5 a r i fi, ^ ■) St. Thomas Hetlonal Historic Site* Virgin Islands Prior to enaetaent on October 5, 1974 of P. L. 93-435 (the St^nerged Lands Act), the Regional Solicitor in Atlanta rmedered an opinion September 4, 1974, to the Ragicmal Director of the National Park Service, Southeast Region, that Fort Christian, Virgin Islands, which had been earlier designated as St. Thomas National Historic Site by published Order of Designation dated Decaaber 24, 1960, in the Federal Hegister, was not in fact a proparty administered by the Secretary of the Interior. Conaequently under Sec. 3 of H.R. 11559 (later P. L. 93-435) legal title would paaa to the government of the Virgin Islands should ' no action" be taken by the Secretary during tha 120 days following amactaent of the lew, to reserve the site to the U. S. Govemaent. No such action was in feet taken by the Secretary. The Site has never bees adolnistered as e netlonel perk unit nor irare federal funds aver appropriated or used at the site. All parties, including the Virgin Islands government itself, have continually considered the site to he the property of the Virgin Islands govsmasnt snd not a unit of the Netionid. Park System, dating from Act of June 22, 1936 (49 Stet. 1807). The St. Thomas National Historic Slta is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. From 1960 the site has been listed (in error) in the Index of the National Park Syatan" (latest copy enclosed) as e national perk area; after 1974 the listing was changed to the affiliated areas category. The questioa has arisen as to whether the Federal Kagister designation as '‘St. Thcmuis National Historic Site of Deceadier 24, 1960, together with publishing (in srror) tha listing as an •tea mf Natienal Park Syatan, smy have incurred a legal responsibility feo Imslmda tha site as a part of the National Park SyatMi, notwithstanding this was mot originally Intended by the Service. •' ^. V ■ -'V liCCOvUiisly* wtt vould like e clarification as to viiathar, in your opinion, these actions have prevented legal title fron passing to the ' ▼irgln Islands government under Section 3 of P. L. 93-435 enacted October 5. 1974. Please advise also, whether in your opinion, legislative action will be necessary to affim the site's present status as Virgin Islands' property and not United States Govemmaat property. Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus designated the site as a National Historic Landiaark on May 25, 1977. Enclosed are copies of the Order of Designation, the Regional Solicitor's opinion, a copy of P. L, 93-435, the "Index of the National Park System,' and other pertinemt correspoxul«iee. Enclosures bcc: FW Regional Director, SERO (2) 001 - Director Reading File 170, Kasparek/Knopf/Lambe -^r. ^EFanzx^^^ *'3^ - Dr. (Jiirry 040 - Mr. Wilson FNP:FKnopf:hw:6/9/77 BASIC RETAINED IN 170 -'.V. ■ ■ s*. ■ ■■ ■ o' , -'i' ■.., v<c5hm5j?>v d'- 'S' gsfesSfgiii -. * V . ' " ■, *’■'-i . W-- s;:. -'V - ;v;*vS ;-. SS: &' & :'b. IMi*' >. 5' THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS ri .... .V'-A:v. •-::, -;r‘•>.•'A-' • A't - ■^r >'*S/ ^ ^ June 24, 1977 ,y ■£: r' ' *'7' ' f.'.„ t Mr. William J. Whalen Director v National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, D. C. 20240 ■ '' .t Dear Mr. Whalen: ;.'ArV; As the owner of Fort Christian, located in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands of the United States, the Government of the Virgin Islands of the United States hereby accepts your offer of a certificate and a bronze plaque, 17" X 18", formally marking this historic property a national historic landmark. 'W:i Fully conscious of the high responsibility to the Nation that goes with the ownership and care of a property classified as having national significance and worthy of national historic landmark status, the Government of the Virgin Islands of the United States agrees to preserve, so far as practicable and to the best of its ability, the historical values that will satisfy the criteria for continuing significance. Toward this end, the Government of the Virgin Islands of the United States agrees to continue to use the property only for purposes consistent with its his­ torical character. The Government of the Virgin Islands of the United States agrees to permit an annual visit to the property by a representative of the National Park Service, as a basis for continuing landmark status. If, for any reason, the three conditions mentioned above cannot continue to be met, it is agreed that the national historic landmark status shall cease and that until such status is restored by the Secretary of the Interior, neither t^e national historic landmark certificate nor the plaque will be displayed. b,M 'm ^ mm , ^’4 "W -mm .MM m&kmMmmMM-b ■ '.''W Sincerely, il E. King Governor ■ V ' A? V. MlB ... .'.A-VA'- ■■mm-A - IN REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240 H3417-772 JUN 2 4 1977 Memorandum To: Keeper of the National Register From: Chief, Historic Sites Survey Division Subject: National Register of Historic Places, Inventory Nomination Forms for recently announced national historic landmarks We are enclosing the National Register forms for historic properties designated for national historic landmark recognition by Secretary Andrus on May 5, 1977. Fort Christian, in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, was also designated a national historic landmark. Since the national significance of the fort had been established previously and no visit was possible, a nomination form was not required for the Advisory Board's consideration and reaffirmation of a finding of national significance. When it becomes possible at a later date, a National Register form may be required for record purposes. When that is done, a duplicate copy will be sent to the Register. We are also enclosing copies of the maps that redefined the boundaries for Doughoregan Manor, Maryland, and Fort Huachuca, Arizona. This action was approved by the Secretary or^ the same date. George F. Emery Enclosures omoNAi rotM NO. io may 1942 CDtTION OSA FfMK (41 CFft) 101-11.6 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum Con Heine,’WASO c date: August ^ 1977 FRO^'' : George Davidson, Landmarks, SERD subject: Secretarial participation. National Historic Landmark presentation in Virgin Islands As discussed with you today. Virgin Islands Commissioner of Conservation and Cultural Affairs Virdin Brown would like the Secretary or his designee to present the Fort Christian plaque on October 12, 1977. — — .... The Governor, of course, would be presentee. WcdljTL Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Kegularly on the Payroll Savings Plan AUG 1 2 1977 L5f5(170) MeciorandttiB To: Regional Director, Southeast Region Frornr' ^«Chlef, Office of legislation Sublect: St. Thomas National Historic Landmark Bnclosed Is an opinion of the Department's /assistant Solicitor, Parl's and Recreation, dated Jaly 13, 1977, vdilch affirms that the St. iTiomas National Historic Landiaark, Virgin Islands, is not n unit of the ;Iational Park System. The Assistant Solicitor states further, that 120 days after the enactment on October 5, 1974 of P.L. 93-435, title to St. Tl;cmas National historic Site fnow a landmark), passed to the v,'irgin Islands dovcrrmM>nt. We also enclose for your information our memorandum of June 13, 1977, v;hith discusses the need to clarify this point. V»e are. writing to the Governor of the \Tirgin Islands to inform him of the /issistant Solicitor’s ruling. Hnclosure bcc: Clay Peters, Subcommittee Parks and Recreation FW SOL TA 001-Reading File 002 040 160 (2) 190 510 400 200 790 880 170-Knopf 170-Kasparek 170-Pickelner FNP:FKnopf:jfc 8/9/77 BASIC RETAINED IN 170(N) ■f iv‘ ' '- ;,,,^, .4 AUG 1 7 1977 mi7-m Mr. Virdln Bwiffi, Cowaslssioner D^artraeist of Ccmservstitm and Cultural Affairs f. 0. Sox 57S Charlotte Avalie St. Thoaas, Virgin Islands 00801 r - V:' '1 Dear Hr. Srowi: ' -'i:' -■ In accordJBiee with your recent request, we are forwardiag 4i^a a» Fort Qiristisst Natiesa f^toric Laateaxlc, St. Thomas* Vixgte leloils. Sincerely yours, ^l^secL George F, Emery Chief, Historic Sites Surrey Division Bnelosveras cc: Mr. ’fliOBas Blake Planning Director Virgin Islands Planning Board Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00801 ) w/c of enc. FNP:GF Emery:mj:8/17/77:523-5295 bcc: Regional Director, Southeast Region ) w/c of enc. 001-Reading File 040 *«f72-Sheely 772-reading file HP - Virgin Isl. - Fort Christian (BASIC FILE RETAINED IN 772) - ■ f/r/7r ■■‘r -y. •H 4-1 W) C •H T3 . oj <D I 0 (U CO 1 ^ <N r-. oo H3417-700 SEP 12 1977 *- Httoorandua l/i(7 }A^ f/»^ C * o •H / bO 0) CC to <N lO I to CM LO +-> (/) 03 (U 4= 4-^ To: ^ Secretary Deputy Uvior ®- (Sgd) David F. Hales Through: Assistant Soeratarjr for Fish sail Viidlife and Parks SEP 1 9 1977 Prc»o: Director 3o s e C •H <uX Subject: !/) C fH -H (1) exo4-( o o QS o hJ \ ►-3 S ooo Request for Secretary or his designee to present the national historic laHdHiark plaque for Fort Christian in the Virgin Islands VA- Government officials of the Virgin Islands are hopeihil that a national '-^historic landmark presentation cer«aony can be held at Fort Christian October 12, 1977. The Governor of the Virgin 'y y ' t: ^ in the Virgin Islands on g Islands will be present to accept the honorary landmark designation o They hope that the Secretary or his designee will represent the s ^^ Department and present the plaque u u, oS z PL, ooX oa •H 4-1 O O > o 00 oo For your background information, this property, containing Fort Christian, was designated as the St. Thcmas National Historic Site, Virgin Islands, by the Secretary's Order of December 24, 1960. Title had been held by the United States since the convention with Dmraark in 1916. On October 5, 1974, Congress passed legislation tliat permitted various lands to be revested in the Virgin Islands unless the Department within 120 days specified lands to be retained. The Department did not specify retention of Fort Cliristian, and the consequent recession of the property changed its official status from a national historic site to a national historic landmark. \ bO Pi •H to C rH (/> l-l ¥ ai C d> o Q. e u) ^ +J -H IH rt O W >—t -H .-H e •TJ CIS > (Q u a e •H rt < •> tfl Q rH in cd cn e (d S bOH-i 4-> s OP! +J o S bO Pt • cd fH cd • r-l -H X 4J s a. > CJ to Wiile your personal participation in the landmark cerisaony wtnild be greatly appreciated, we recognize that your schedule may preclude it. Please advise us whether you can participate or whether another person can be designated as your representative. We will then assist with necessary arrangMsents. I'S ;¥l J. Whalen HP - Virgin Islands - Fort BASIC FILE RETAINED IN Christian 772 oo S •• '> ' -•‘V- ^ ■h> ,(■' a S IN REPLY REFER TO: K34-SER-PG United States Department ot the Infe^<®rrro*f4-^fi|^cf NATIONAL PARK SERVICE OCT ft Q SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE ° ^ 08 kff 4d 1895 Phoenix Boulevard Atlanta, Georgia 30349 SEP 3 0 1977 Memorandun To” I Associate Director, Preservation of Historic Properties, WASO Attention: Chief, Historic Sites Survey Division From: Regional Director, Southeast Region Sub,1ect: Presentation Ceremony, Registered National Historic Landmark: Fort Christian Date: Tuesday, October 18, 1977 Time: 9:30 a.m. Place: at Fort Christian site Presenter:James A. Josephs, Under Secretary of the Interior Presentee's): Cyril E. King, Governor of the Virgin Islands "lacue: SERO (Paul Swartz will hand-carry to VI) Certificate; Jn SERO (Swartz to hand-carry) Guests: —'^^•1. Chamber of Commerce members —V.I. legislators —State Historic Preservation Officer —Members of Governor’s cabinet Remarks; Coordinators are: —Mrs. Myrtle Mark, Executive Assistant to Under Secretary 8-343-7351. —Mr. Paul Swartz, Chief, Cooperative Services Division, SERO 8-260-9253, Mr. Virdin Brown, Commissioner, Dept, of Conservation and Cultural Affairs, V.I. (809) 774-3320 Mr. Swartz will assist the Under ^cjretary on Oatober 18. ,olOTio., / / \ ^ cc: Office of the Under S: Secretary, WASO Con Heine, WASO Supts., VIIS & CHRI Idlin’’ United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240 IN REPLY REFER TO: H3417-772 October 6, 1977 The Director of the National Park Service William J. Whalen is pleased to inform you of a ceremony formally marking the national historic landmark listed below. A National Park Service representative will present the landmark certificate and bronze plaque recognizing this as a nationally significant property in our Nation’s heritage. Plans and arrangements for the landmark presentation program are the prerogative of the owner of the property. The National Park Service is glad to cooperate in such activities when requested to do so. Pertinent facts about the ceremony follow. Please let us know if we may supply further information. Name of property: Location: Date of ceremony: Time and place: Presenter: Fort Christian Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands October 18, 1977 9:30 a.m., at the site Mr. James A. Joseph, Under Secretary of the Interior Recipient: Honorable Cyril E. King, Governor LETTER BEING SENT TO: Hon. Ron deLugo House of Representatives Washington, D.C. FNP:KP Ross:kr 10/6/77:523-5464 bcc: Regional Director, Southeast Region FW-Mr. Richard Rodgers, Room 3144 190 001-Reading File 040 SHPO-Virgin Islands 772-Reading File 2-Sheely HP - VIRGIN ISLANDS FORT CHRISTIAN BASIC FILE RETAINED IN 772 ^Pf SUPPLEMENT Designations as of January 1, 1978 ALASKA OLD SITKA, Starrigav^, Baranbf'Island." -1799. . ' : Site of Redoubt St. Michael, a Russian trading post established in 1799 and destroyed by Indians in 1802. June 13, 1962. CALIFORNIA BALBOA PARK, California Quadrangle 41;'San Diego County.' 1915, 1935. Bertram Goodhue, Carleton Winslow, Sr.,‘ Richard Requa, Walter Dorwin Teague.. ■' -: • Used today as San Diego's cultural center, the buildings are some of the finest Spanish-Baroque Revival structures in America. The complex was constructed for the Panama-Califomia Exposition in 1915 and expanded for the California-Pacific International Exposition in 1935. December 22, 1977. • ■- . BRADBURY BUILDING, 304 South Broadway, 'Los Angeles. 1893, George H. Wyman. . Load bearing walls open into a light-filled court of .glass and cast iron. A visionary structure that had no local influence, it is admired today for its structure and use of glowing material and soft lighting. May 5, 1977^ FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST, 2619 Dwight Way, Berkeley, Alameda County. 1910. •“ Bernard Ralph Maybeck. This masterpiece was created of stock contemporary materials but is based stylistically on Japanese, Byzantine, Gothic and Romanesque architecture. December 22, 1977. DAVID B. GAMBLE HOUSE, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, • . Los Angeles County. 1908. Greene and Greene. ■ This beautiful summer house in the California Bungalow style exemplifies the Arts and Crafts movement in the early years of the 20th. Century. Contemporary with Frank Lloyd Wright's "Prairie Houses," this house is the finest surviving example of the work of Greene alid Greene. December 22, 1977. HOTEL DEL CORONADO, 1500 Orange Street, Coronado. 1887 . James Merritt and Watson Reid. •• Built in less than one year, it is.one of the great luxury seashore hotels in the United States, the first to use electric lighting on a large scale. ... . May 5, 1977. 2 MISSION INN, Sth and 7th, Main and Orange Streets, Riverside. • 1902-1950. Beaton, Hunt, Gray ai^ Wilson. The largest Mission-Revival building in California; contains a hotel, shops and a chapel, May ' ■ PARAMOUNT THEATRE, 2025 Broadway, " Oaklarid.;^^ 1931. Timothy Pflueger'. ./ V One of the two remaining great Art Deco movie palaces left in America (with Radio City ^ftlsic Hall, N.Y.). Recently restored. . May 5, 1977. : / . ■"•.••...L < FLORIDA - BRITISH FORT, Six miles southwest of Sumatra, Sumatra, Franklin ‘ County. 1814. , I — Site of a fort established by the British in 1814 in conjunction with the War of 1812. After the war the fort became known as Negro Fort, because of the runaway slaves that occupied it. In 1816 the U.S. Army destroyed the fort, an action that contributed to the,outbreak of " the first Seminole War. May 15, 1975. / ■ FORT SAN CARLOS DE BARRANCAS, Pensacola, Gulf Island National Seashore, Escambia County. 1787. A semicircular brick fortification, this fort was an important northern outpost of the Spanish Caribbean empire until Andrew Jackson captured it in 1814 in response to British-Spanish collaboration in the War of 1812. October 9, 1960. GEORGIA V . HISTORIC AUGUSTA CANAL AND INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT, west bank of the Savannah River, Augusta, Richmond County.' 1845-1880's. Intact canal system and mills representative of the industrial aspect of the New South movement. The best-surviving example of an engineering system singularly important to the Southeastern United States. ■ December 22, 1977. • , ' ' ' . MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HISTORIC DISTRICT, Atlanta, Georgia. \ ^ ^ ; The district includes the environs in which Martin Luther King, Jr. grew .up. His birth home, grave, and the church which he served as assistant pastor, are special units of the district. May 5, 1977. INDIANA JOSEPH BAILLY HOMESTEAD, west ofJPojrter on^U;S. '.ao in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Porter County..- 1822: . •Log house and log storehouse that arff the remains of a trading post - established in 1822 by Joseph Bailly as^a stopping place and social..^ center for Indian and white tra-velers.' v,'’ jv , . December 29, t1 962. ■■ --v:'- - ■ " V.,' ■ ; CLEMENT STUDEBAKER HOUSE, 620 W. Washington Avenue, St. Joseph County. 1889: . The major contributor to the Studebaker Bros. Co., the largest .. producer of horse-drawn-vehicles in the world by the 1890's, made his home.here from 1889-1906$ The compalny was the only U.S. wagon firm to convert successfully to automobiles. December South Bend, 22, 1977. KANSAS NORMAN NO. 1- OIL WELL, Mill.'^d First Streets, Neodesha, Wilson County. -1892. ' _ . ij Norman No. 1 was the well that opened the vast Mid-Continent oil field • . which became the major producing field by 1900. The Mid-Continent Field yielded over half the U.S. oil supply into the 1930's. Contributed to , the breaking of the Standard Oil monopoly. v_ December 22, 1977_... KENTUCKY .-THE COVINGTON AND CINCINNATI SUSPENSION BRIDGE, Covington, Kenton ’ ’-County.' ,-ISSe-lSeT. At the time of its completion in 1867 this John A. Roebling designed . suspension bridge was the longest in the world. It remains today one of the Nation’s foremos-t suspension bridges. ; May 15, 1975. . "■■■ : .. '.y , ■ ^ . ’ LOUISIANA _ '/ - . NEW ORLEANS COTTON EXCHANGE BUILDING, 231 Carondelet Street,, . New Orleans, Orleans County. ‘ 1921. ' ^ • V C ■ Eight-storied, steel-framed, and stone building represents New Orleans as the principal spot market of the world and leading futures market- ' next to New York and Liverpool until the 1920’s. Associated with- ; Henry G. Hester, the "Father, of Cotton Statistics,” whose work reduced investment risk. December 22, 1977. ■ ■. MASSACHUSETTS 'nAMN APPLETON SESJMCE.MpUo S««t,' Bogon..- ^ S Snufa=tSS“o!.“h= first integrated factexT,^ the ■. ' ■’ ^ - Middlesex County. the first truly modem factory •mis manufacturing complex reptese^s^theJxrst^t ■ in the United States. Empl y , u s dependence on British Boston, BOSTON NAVAL SHIPYARD, East of Chelsea street, Suffolk County. 1800; shipyard functioned' as one of the From 1800 to l974_the f J^^^Sates. The yard pioneered ^ , Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, FANEUIL hall. Dock S^^are, Boston^^ i74o°^mneIS?Half with its market - ' , Given to the city by ^Jt of Colonial protest against " Stu^rSl! “d lSls“ ceatax I tha Boston abolition nova.ant. , '-; October 9, I960. ^ :;:v. ...■-■ ...... ^-LOWELL liXKS AND S“cot?Jn taS?;'S - Ual systan vhich lad^o tte s^rana^^f ,,, fixst «^vv ::• manufacturing center of the United Stat , Contains virtually unaltered K iSS^a^LTlSS^-anaxed .ills and Baohinaxy.V Daca.bax 22, 1977,„ v ■■--'•• - ....■'•- -- • . • • • - r • :.•• • .. _• •. -V: X ■ S'* •- MASSACHUSETTS. OLD NORTH CHURCH (Christ Church^Episcopal)193 Salem Street, Boston, Suffolk County. 1723-1740. ■ : ^ ; Built according to Christopher Wren's English church designs, this Georgian church became famous on April 18,. 1775, when patriots waved lanterns from its belfry to warn their compatriots across the Charles River that the British were advancing towards Lexington and Concord. . January 20, 1961. OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE, Milk and Washington Streets, Boston, ... . Suffolk County. 1729-1730. ; _ This Georgian building was the scene of numerous pre-Revolutionary War' protest meetings, one of which proceeded the December 16, 1773, Boston Tea Party. October 9, 1960. OLD STATEHOUSE, Washington and State Streets, Boston, Suffolk County. 1748. Excellent example .of late Georgian architecture, the Old Statehouse served this function from 1776 to 1798 and was the Boston city hall from 1830 to 1840. October 9, 1960. ....... ' ....... PAUL REVERE HOUSE, 19 North Square, Boston, Suffolk County, c. 1676. Home of the famous silversmith and patriot who on April 18, 1775, warned that, "the British are coming." January 20, .1961. U.S.S. CONSTITUTION, Boston Naval Shipyard, Boston,^ ^ Suffolk County, 1797-. V .Vf Affectionately known as "Old Ironsides," the U.S.S. Constitution distinguished herself in the undeclared naval war with France, in sea battles with Barbayy pirates> and during the War of 1812* . December 19, 1960. MISSISSIPPI > > vivy.: .'■/y C-. .• s' CHAMPION HILL BATTLEFIELD, Hinds County, Mississippi, y The Civil War battle of Champion Hill was a crucial Union victory in the campaign for Vicksburg, 1863. In this battle. General Ulysses Grant's Union Army forced the retreat of General John C. Pemberton's. Confederate forces into the defenses of Vicksburg, May 16, 1863. ■ ; The siege of Vicksburg followed, and on July 4, 1863, the Confederates surrendered. May 5, 1977. , ;.■ ■■ i .ft-;" ^ • •• . -' ■:-y: V-- •••■ ■J '' ' NEW HAMPSHIRE HARRISVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT, .;*.-Harrisville, Cheshire County. 1774-1900. Harrisville is the only American industrial community of the early 19th century that still survives in its original form. Its complex of mills, boarding and workers' houses, dwellings, churches, stores and other buildings is virtually intact and free from intrusions. December 22,,1977. NEW YORK GRACE CHURCH, Broadway at 10th Street, New York, New York County. ,1846. James Renwick, Jr. Renwick at the age of 25 designed this "archaeologically" correct church'in the English taste-. He later created St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, another brilliant demonstration of the Gothic Revival Style. December 22, 1977. JOHN A, HARTFORD HOUSE, 75 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, Westchester County. c. 1932. Home Ci930-51) of the merchandising genius of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, the first nationwide chain-store company dating back to 1859. Under Hartford's leadership in 1912.the firm was e:xT>anded to become the largest retailer in the Nation by the mid-twentieth century. December 22, 1977. LORILLARD SNUFF NHLL, New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, Bronx County. 1840. Constructed in 1840 by the P. Lorillard Company, the Lorillard Snuff • Mill is the Nation's oldest extant tobacco factory and a symbol of the importance of tobacco in the development of commerce and industry in the 19th. Centirry. December 22, 1977. NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 65 Liberty Street, New York, New York County. 1768. Founded in 1768 the prestigious New York Chamber of Commerce served as the organizational prototype for the development of this important institution for promoting the interests of American business on the local. State, and national levels. December 22, 1977. 7 NEW YORK NEW YORK COTTON EXCHANGE (India House) ,One Hannover Square, New York, New York County. 1870. ---- The foundation of the New York Cotton Exchange in 1870 marked the end of the factorage system for marketing America’s most important 19th Century domestic crop and also the growth of today's futures trading system for buying and selling commodities^ December 22, 1977. SURROGATE’S COURT (HALL OF RECORDS), 31 Chambers Street, New York, New York County. 1899-1907. James R. .Thomas, Horgan and Slattery. Modelled after the Hotel de Ville in Paris, this structure is the most accurate representation of this "style official" in New York City. December 22, 1977. THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURTHOUSE, (Jefferson Market Courthouse), Sixth Avenue at 10th Street, New York, New York County. 1874-1877. Frederick C. Withers. Known as a church architect and the author of Gallaudet College, this building in the "Ruskinian" or "Venetian" style is Withers best known work. December 22, 1977. NORTH CAROLINA W. T. BLACKWELL AND COMPANY TOBACCO FACTORY, 201 West Pettigrew Street, Durham, Durham County. 1874. This factory was the original home of Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco, the first truly national tobacco brand. In processing and promoting Bull Durham, W. T. Blackwell and Company introduced production, packaging, and marketing techniques that made Bull Durham a part of American folklore. December 22, 1977. OHIO 1301 Western Avenue. 1933, Fellheimer CINCINNATI UNION TERMINAL, and Wagner. One of the last grand-scale terminals in the Art Deco style, it is also a masterpiece of planning by Paul Cret, architect. When completed it cost $ 41,000,000, accommodated 17,000 people and 216 trains daily. May 5, 1977. OHIO . • . . GLENDALE HISTORIC DISTRICT, EastState Route 4, North of State Route 126, C § 0 § 0 Railroad right-ofrway, 1851. One of the earliest American communities laid out on the irregular, "picturesque" plan derived from cemetery design as opposed to the rect^gular grid then commonly used. May 5, 1977. CHARLES F. KETTERING HOUSE, 3965 Southern Boulevard, Kettering, Montgomery County. 1914-1958. Home of the founder of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company CDelco) and head of General ^fotors research activities, Kettering made many significant contributions to the development of the gasoline and diesel engines that transformed American transportation in the 20th Century. December 22, .1977. OHIO STATEHOUSE, Southeast comer. Broad and High Street, Columbus, Franklin County. 1839-1861. Henry Walters,. A. J. Davis, William R. West, .Isaiah Rogers. . . One of the great Greek Revival buildings in America embodying the ideals of the movement in a public monument. December 22, 1977. OHIO THEATRE, 39 East State Street, Columbus. 1928, Thomas W. Lamb. This example of the "Golden Age" of movie palaces has recently been restored in its original "Spanish" style. May 5, 1977. '» PEOPLE'S FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION, 101 East Court Street, Sidney, Shelby County. 1918. Louis Sullivan. One of the commissions executed late in Sullivan's career that profoundly influenced 20th. century architects. December 22, 1977. OREGON DEADY AND VILIARD HALLS, University of Oregon. Eugene. 1876 and 1885. W. W. Piper and Warren H. Williams. These original buildings for the University of Oregon were designed in the French-Second Empire style. May 5, 1977. OREGON PIONEER COURTHOUSE, 520 SW Kbrrisori Street, Portland. . ’ 1869-1875. Alfred B. Mullett. Formerly the U.S. Courthouse, Customhouse and Post Office, it is the oldest standing Federal building in the Northwest, and has been recently restored. May 5, 1977. SKIDMORE/OLD TOIVN HISTORIC DISTRICT, Twenty blocks-Bumside Street to the Willamette River in the old center city. Portland. Last quarter of'the 19th. Century. The district is Italianate architecturally with a large number of cast iron fronts. Large commercial district. May 5,. 1977. TIMBERLINE LODGE, Mt. Hood National Forest, Clackmas County. 1935-1938. W. I. Turner, Howard Griffin, Dean Wright, Linn A. Forrest and Ward Ganno. . Margaret Hoffman Smith, Interiors. The finest example of 1930's WPA "mountain architecture," it was dedicated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. December 22, 1977. PENNSYLVANIA GRUBER WAGON WORKS, Tulpehocken Creek Park, Reading, Berks County. 1882. The family-owned Gruber Wagon Works produced both standard farm wagons and custom vehicles from 1882 to the 1950‘s. Its fully preserved machinery, tools, and materials make the works an outstanding example of what was once an essential American industry. December 22, 1977. PHILADELPHIA CONTRIBUTIONSHIP, 212 South Fourth Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County. • 1752. In 1752-Benjamin Franklin helped organize the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from- Loss by Fire, the first fire insurance company in the United States and a pioneer institution in the development of the insurance business. The company has occupied this Thomas U. Walter designed building since 1835. December 22, 1977. VIRGINIA TOUNDERBIRD ARCHEOLOGICAL DISTRICT, - Warren County, Virginia. ; The district consists of three sites (Thunderbird Site, Fifty Site, Fifty Bog) which provide a stratified cultural sequence spanning Paleo Indian through the end of Early Archaic times. (ca. 9500—6500 B.C.). . May. 5, 1977. TREDEGAR' IRON WORKS, 500 Trede^r Street, Richmond. Richmond County. 1841. The Tredegar Iron Works was one of the largest iron works in the United States from 1841 to 1865. During the Civil War the works supplied the South with the major share of the iron products that helped the Confederacy sustain, four years of war. December 22, 1977. WASHINGTON PIONEER BUILDING, PERGOLA AND TOTEM POLE, 1st Avenue, Yesler Way and Cherry Street. 1892. Elmer H: Fisher. This complex is at the heart of the commercial district in old Seattle. The Pioneer Building is Richardsonian-Romanesque in style, the Pergola is constructed of cast iron. May 5, 1977. PORT TOWNSEND, Scott, Walker, Taft and Blaine Streets and the waterfront. Second half of the 19th. Century. Once a custom station on Puget Sound, the town flourished in the 1880's, but collapsed in the 1889 land speculation debacle. The district contains many fine late 19th-century commercial and residential structures. May 5, 1977. [N REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Field Area 75 Spring Street, S.W. Atlanta. Georgia 30303 December 13, 1995 Memorandum To: From: Subject: Chief, National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register, Interagency Resources Division Chief, National Register Programs, Southeast FDO National Historic Landmark Boundary Study and Documentation Improvement Project This office recently received a copy of the latest status report for the National Historic Landmark (NHL) Boundary Study and Documentation Improvement Project. We are most pleased to learn that all of the NHLs in the Southeast FDO have had their boundaries approved or are currently under review by the National Register. Please note, however, some of these NHLs (eg. Columbus Landing Site (Salt River Bay), USVI; Stallings Island, Georgia; and Okeechobee Battlefield, Florida) are being updated by this office in conjunction with the appropriate State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs), and may require additional boundary or significance adjustments. This office is developing a centralized slide file for Southeast FDO NHLs. As part of this effort, we are also developing a computerized "needs sheet" for all the Southeast FDO NHLs. Each sheet shows the endangerment status of the property, when it was designated an NHL, whether it has received a bronze plaque, when it was last visited, the NHL's theme and significance, photographic inform.ation, and the cv/nsr/contact of the NHL. The NHL slide file and "need sheets" should be finished by the end of FY 96. An important "need" identified in the above effort, is the computerization of Southeast FDO NHL nominations. This office believes it is very important to be able to have these NHLs computerized not just for reproduction of the nomination, but also as a means of keeping the nominations up to date. For example, the Columbus Landing Site, in the USVI, was designated in 1960 and its NHL nomination consists of a one-page study. We recently sent an updated and improved NHL nomination to your office which expanded the boundary and significance of this property, which will be a new unit of the National Park Service. The Virgin Islands National Park staff are already using elements of this nomination for planning, interpretation, and publication purposes. ‘As for the Documentation Improvement Project, we note that only 22 of the total 233 NHLs having some deficiency are in the Southeast FDD. We are currently planning site visits for five of the twenty- two properties noted as having some deficiency during FY 96. They are as follows: 1. Gaineswood, Alabama - We plan to visit this former Priority 2 NHL during Round IV Program Review. Gaineswood was the subject of a Condition Assessment Report done by this office, which the Alabama Historical Commission used in the restoration of this property. 2. St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District, Florida - Currently listed as a Priority 2 NHL in the annual report to Congress due to proposed modern intrusions and the need to update the existing NHL nomination, in terms of boundary expansion and significance. This office recently met with the St. Augustine Preservation Board which desires to enter into a partnership with this office to resurvey the district and develop a new NHL nomination. This is anticipated to be a two-year project. 3. Columbus Historic Riverfront Industrial District, Georgia - This property is slated for an on-site visit during FY 96 to check on its status as an endangered Priority 2 NHL. This may require changing the boundary of the NHL and updating the nomination. 4. Hinton Rowan Helper House, North Carolina - We plan to visit this property during Round IV Program Review. This visit will determine whether the NHL nomination will need to be updated. 5. Fort Christian, USVI - We plan to visit this former Priority 2 NHL to determine the extent of damage to the structure, if any, from Hurricane Marilyn during Round IV Program Review. The Territorial Government has expended about half a million on restoration of the fort over the last few years. This visit will determine the status of possible endangerment of the property and whether the NHL nomination will need to be updated. In January of 1996, I will be in Washington and would appreciate receiving from, your office a detailed report of the deficiencies the National Register has identified for the five above noted NHLs. With your assistance, we should be able to resolve any deficiencies for these properties and then work in a prioritized manner to resolve deficiencies on the rest at a later date. If you have any questions please contact me at (404) 331-2643. >)• rn’iU__ cc: -^atty Henry , National Register, History and Education Division Susan Escherich, Heritage Preservation Services United States Department of the Interi IN REPLY REFER TO DRAFT RECEIVED 2280 -NA* NAT REGJSTER Of. HISTORIC PLACO IVICE NATIONAL PARK SERV lONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Field Area 75 Spring Street, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 •ROVEi 2286 MAR 0 8 1996 Memorandxim To: From: Subject: Chief, National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register, Interagency Resources Division Attn: Marilyn Harper Chief, National Register Programs, Southeast FDO National Historic Landmark Boundary Study and Documentation Improvement Project - Fort Christian, United States Virgin Islands At a recent meeting, we discussed a process to enhance our Documentation Improvement of specific National Historic Landmark (NHLs). In particular, we are moving forward with the five previously identified (see enclosed memo). We will identify what we feel are the specific needs and convey this information to you for concurrence. If we do not hear from you in 30 days we will conclude that our initial findings are correct and proceed to address them. In the case of Fort Christian (see enclosed) an NHL nomination was produced by this office in 1986, but we have no documentation that it was ever accepted by the National Register in Washington. We, therefore, believe the following documentation should be undertaken and a revised NHL nomination for this property be submitted for review to the National Register: 1. Put the 1986 NHL nomination for Fort Christian on the WordPerfect NHL format. 2. Revise the text of the 1986 NHL nomination to include new information on the Danish colonial history of the property and military architecture as developed from the Skytsborg (Blackbeard's Castle) NHL Study. 3. Include in the text information on restoration of the fort accomplished by the Government of the Virgin Islands since 1986. 4. Develop a sketch map of the property. 5. Provide a USGS Map showing the location of the f^*opert$i^» with UTMs and acreage. 6. Provide new Black and White photos and illustrations of historic views of the fort. Thank you for your assistance with this Documentation Improvement Project for Fort Christian. If you have any guestions, please contact me at (404) 331-2643. ’7) Enclosures (2) IN REPLY REFER TO United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Field Area 75 Spring Street, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 "U V November 14, 1996 Memorandum To: Chief, National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register, WASO From: Chief, National Register Programs, SEFA Subject: Fort Christian, USVI National Historic Landmark Enclosed is a draft of the revised text for Fort Christian, a National Historic Landmark (NHL), located in Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. This NHL had previously been identified by your office as "Needing Additional Documentation" and an initial attempt to revise the NHL nomination was accomplished in 1986. This current effort to revise the text of the nomination has proven to be both lengthy and complex to complete. Therefore, we are requesting your staff comments on the text, before we add the figures, photos, and maps to the final nomination. We believe the input of your staff is most desirable at this point due to our enhanced working relationship. The Fort Christian Museum Director, who provided updated information on the status of the restoration of the Fort, has indicated an interest in working with this office to use the NHL nomination as a publication on the history and architecture of the Fort. Please contact me at (404) 331-2643 if you have any questions. 6^ Enclosure Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 12/23/96 4:07 PM Priority: Normal TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Fort Christian and Ball Courts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Dear Marilyn-- I will be going down to continue my field work on the ball court sites in Puerto Rico on January 14th. Have you been able to review the draft cover nomination yet? Or better yet do you have it? Also, do you have any comments on the expanded text of the Fort Christian NHL? Upon receipt of your comments we will then add the photos, figures, and uses Map. Merry, Mark Memo To: Marilyn Harper Patty Henry From: Susan Kline Date: January 8, 1997 Re: Fort Christian NHL (Boundary Revision), St. Thomas, V.I. I have finished my review of the nomination and I agree with you that the significance of the Fort has not been established in this version. I wouldn't think that it would take much to do that. I have not seen the original nomination but I am assuming that it was designated for its significance as the seat of government of the Danish West Indies. The point is made on p. 26 but needs to be played up. It gets lost in the repeated physical descriptions of the fort. Other comments include: The summary statement of significance has no statement of significance (page 9). It does not answer the question "so what?", particularly in regards to national significance. There's not a consistent use of either "Westindia Company" (p. 12), "Danish Westindia and Guinea Company" (p. 11), or "Danish West India and Guinea Company" (p.ll) Period of significance: Why is the period of national significance from 1671-1917? Why would the fort still be significant if in 1755 the Governor's residence was moved from the fort to Christiansted on St. Croix and by the 1750s "it was recognized that the fort no longer was adequate to the task of defending the island"? (p.26) Even after the capital moved back to the island, the fort was converted to a police station. My opinion is that the period of significance should be 1671-1755. (However, even this is questionable as page 9 states that it was constructed from 1672-1680 so the period of significance should actually be 1672-1755). Section 8 gives a good history (although extremely lengthy) of the physical development of the fort and its administrative history but no context for its significance. There is not even a context of comparison between this fort and Skytsborg NHL and Fort Frederick (pending NHL). Boundaries: The boundaries seem adequate to me but a check of the sketch map, USGS map, and photos needs to be made before they are accepted. There were a few typos or grammatical errors that I didn't mark but nothing substantive. I'm trying to picture this place in my mind. Is this the building that is now painted a dark red? Hope this helps. Author; Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 1/10/97 7:38 AM Priority; Normal TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Subject: Comments on Fort Christian NHL draft ----------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Mark— I am enclosing (1 hope), our preliminary review comments on the draft boundary study for Fort Christian. I will mail you the draft with attachments and edits. Enjoy your trip to Puerto Ricol Marilyn Fort Christian National Historic Landmark St. Thomas, VIRGIN ISLAND (Preliminary Review of Boundary Study) Reviewer’s Comments This documentation contains a great deal of detailed information on the evolution of Fort Christian over time, but lacks a description of its present layout and condition and a clear statement of the significance of the property. The nomination, particularly the proposed boundary, is difficuit to evaluate without maps and photos. In the future it would be very helpful if documentation submitted for preliminary review included legible Xeroxed copies of these materials. Description We need a clear description of the current appearance and condition of the fort. Since you will need to submit a site map and plan with the final documentation, the description can be based on that. Paul Hawke’s documentation included what seemed to be a good description of the fort in 1986 (much of it apparently taken from the historic structures report)--maybe some of that could be incorporated in the final document. The description of the evolution of the fort over time would be easier to understand if it were keyed to a series of maps showing the fort in three or four different time periods. Presumably the series of historic maps included in deJongh and Gjessing’s Historic Structures Report could be used or adapted for this documentation. Maps showing the harbor and the peninsula in the 1600s, and maybe others showing how the area changed, would also be very helpful. I would move much of the detailed description of the various changes in interior arrangements from Section 8 to Section 7, possibly editing out some of the repetitious material. The present text says that there was a ravelin on the west side of the fort, but historic maps in the original NHL file show only the ones on the north and east. Please clarify. Isn’t Emancipation Park north of the fort? Please include a brief description of the non-contributing fire station. Significance Piease include a clear statement of why Fort Christian is significant in the summary paragraph at the beginning of Section 8, answering what we generally call the “so what” question. The NHL files here have a copy of a 1969 survey report from Fred Gjessing that has a good summary statement (copy attached), and the 1960 St. Thomas National Historic Site designation also emphasizes the importance of the fort as the hub of early Danish settlement on St. Thomas. Because the landmark focus seems to be on the early Danish period, the period of national significance should reflect that. I think probably the best thing would be to use 1672 (according to the text that is when Iverson arrived and began construction) and 1755, when the capital was moved to Christiansted, as the beginning and end dates. It appears that the military importance of the fort was gone by the 1750s and when the capital returned, the fort was converted to police use. Probably the best way to deal with the 1874 replacement of the north curtain is to claim State or local significance under maybe politics and government for the fort through 1947 (the usual more-or-less arbitrary 50-year cutoff for properties for which you do not want to claim exceptional importance). The summary paragraph can simply differentiate between the two types of significance. I don’t think the Section 8 narrative needs to be changed much if at all. You would then show the period of national significance as extending from 1672 to 1755 and the period of State or local significance extending from 1672 to 1947. I would add the years of major building campaigns under significant dates. Please include a brief discussion of the impact of the 1874 alterations on the ability of the fort as a whole to convey Its national significance from the earlier period. If most of the fabric dating from 1735 and before survives elsewhere in the fort, that shouldn’t be hard to do. If some of the detailed descriptive material is moved to Section 7 (see above), it should be easier to emphasize the history that provides the context for establishing the national significance of the property, including such things as Iverson’s building the fort as one of the first things he did on taking over (p. 13), the role of the fort as part of a coordinated harbor defense system on the north European model (pp. 14-15), the importance of the fort in the 1678 French attack (p. 16), the sense that the new governor might have trouble replacing the former governor if the latter refused to give over the fort (p. 20), use of the fort in the case of a rumored slave insurrection (p. 22), and generally the importance of protecting the harbor at a time when trade was the principal source of profits for the colony. I think it would be useful to emphasize that St. Thomas and its harbor were Denmark’s principal holding in the Caribbean until they acquired St. Croix in 1733. Please check consistency in the use of Danish “Westindia Company" and “West India Company.” There seems to be some repetition in Section 8. The status of the St. Thomas National Historic Site designated in 1960 (not 1961) is extremely confusing. Apparently it was never actually part of the Park System, and in 1977 various reports in the files seem to have concluded that the 1960 designation was essentially the same as a landmark designation. You may have more material in your files than we have here, though, so maybe I’m wrong. Boundary Without a map we can’t evaluate the proposed boundary. It does not seem to correspond with the boundary provided in the 1960 designation or with the later reduced version of that boundary that excluded the parking area to the east that apparently shouldn’t have been included in the first place. I have marked a couple of typos, etc., in the text, but I probably didn’t catch all of them. Marilyn M. Harper Historian National Register of Historic Places January 8, 1997 Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 6/27/97 12:35 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Fort Christian, USVI Message Contents Dear Marilyn: Finally completed the Revision of the NHL nomination for Fort Christian an old NHL that the National Register indicated needed "Additional Documentation". Your comments (I presume they were yours) were helpful, and I wanted to know if it should go to Carol with an attention line to you. Mark Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 7/2/97 8:43 AM Priority: Normal TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Re[2]: Fort Christian, USVI Message Contents Okay and thanks Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 2/27/98 10:17 AM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Fort Christian and Parkin Site Boundary Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents — Dear Marilyn: We got calls on Fort Christian in the USVI to find out if a boundary has finally been approved for that NHL. They anticipate getting a chunk of ISTEA funds to complete the restoration of the fort. Could you give me a status of when we might have a boundary for this property and the Parkin Site, in Arkansas? Thanks for your help in advance, Mark Barnes Author: Date: 3/2/98 1 Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper Subject: Addresses Mark Barnes at NP-SERO 00 PM at NP-WASO-NRHE for Fort Christian Boundary Study ------------------------------- Message Contents Dear Marilyn: Many thanks in advance for moving the boundary Studies ahead. Don't worry about being a little late I still owe you the revised Okeechobee Battlefield, FL study. For Fort Christian please send the notification letter and nomination to the following: Governor Roy Lester Schneider Government House Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, USVI 00804 Mrs. Beulah Dalmida-Smith Commissioner, Department of Planning and Natural Resources Foster Plaza Anna's Retreat 396-1 Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, USVI 00802 (Mrs. Dalmida-Smith's department runs Fort Christian) Mrs. Dolores G. Jowers Curator, Fort Christian Museum P.O. Box 103 Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, USVI 00804 Hope this helps, Mark Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 3/27/98 4:51 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Status on NHL Boundaries Message Contents Dear Marilyn: I apologize in advance for asking you this, because I probably already have! There are some NHL Boundary studies on your desk that I was recently asked about. In particular, the folks in the USVI wanted to know the status on Fort Christian. They would like to have a boundary and completed nomination at a fast approaching decision where to put a new highway project -- hopefully away from the fort, which funding is tied to funds to complete the restoration of the fort. I don't know your priority for these boundary studies, but if you can push this one the folks in the USVI would appreciate it. Thanks, Mark Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 5/4/98 2:55 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Fort Christian Message Contents Dear Marilyn: I just heard from Claudette Lewis and she and the Federal Highway folks are interested in when you will finish the boundaries for the Fort Christian NHL. The boundaries needed for an upcoming federal highway enhancement project in the next couple of months. Please let me know if I or Claudette can help you in any way. Thanks much, Mark PS. Claudette says Hi, Hi, Hi. Author: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 5/28/98 2:13 PM Priority: Normal TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Subject: Re: Status on Boundary Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Mark-- There are problems with the boundary for Fort Christian. The two small parts of Emancipation Park north of the Fort have never been included in the boundary before and your boundary justification does not provide a clear explanation of why they should be included now. Although there was a ravelin on that side, it appears to have been demolished in 1874 when the new north front was built. If any evidence of it remained after that date, it would seem that the creation of the park would have obliterated it. Unfortunately, since maps were not included with the material you sent in for preliminary review in 1996, we couldn't identify this problem earlier. In addition, the revised documentation does not appear to answer the concerns we raised in our 12/30/96 preliminary review comments. Principal among these was the need to differentiate the period of NATIONAL significance from the period of STATE OR LOCAL significance and the need for a stronger statement of significance. I am typing up detailed comments now and will get the file back to you as quickly as possible. Marilyn Reply Separator Subject: Status on Boundary Studies Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 5/27/98 11:29 AM Dear Marilyn: I just received a telephone call from Mrs. Dolores Jowers, Curator of Fort Christian, in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. They are wanting to know how the boundary study is coming on that property, as there is ISTEA monies pending on the outcome of our boundary study. I will be going down to the USVI to present a plaque on Fort Frederick on St. Croix on Junene 23 and 24 and they would appreciate a status update on your progress for the boundary. If you need to contact Mrs. Jowers her phone number is Christian. (340) 776-4566.at Fort Thank you in advance, Mark Barnes Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 5/28/98 3:51 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Re [2]: Status on Boundary Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents ---------------------- Please include copy of your "12/30/96 preliminary review comments" apparently never received them. we Mark Author: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 5/29/98 1:52 PM Priority: Normal TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Subject: Re[5]: Status on Boundary Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Mark-- I just FedExed the whole package to you. You should be getting it Monday. I included a copy of our preliminary review comments, but didn'i include a copy of the documentation with typos corrected, etc., because they are marked in the current version. I will be happy to work with you in whatever way will make it easiest to work out the problems. Marilyn Reply Separator Subject: Re[4]: Status on Boundary Studies Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 5/29/98 9:08 AM Marilyn -- A check of our NHL file for Fort Christian does not show we received a 12/30/96 preliminary review. Please send copy of this preliminary review with overnight Mail of Fort Christian. Will attempt to resolve your questions individually through e:mail to expedite this boundary issue if it is okay with you. Mark Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 6/1/98 7:16 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Re[6]: Status on Boundary Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents ---------------------------------- Dear Marilyn: Got the FedEx and have revised about 3/4's of all the items you've noted. Mark Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 7/24/98 2:40 PM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Re[3]: Fort Christian Boundary Study ---------------------------------------------------------------- Message Contents Marilyn: A red-faced Cecil thanks you. Mark AuthoK: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 3/18/99 7:44 AM Priority: Normal TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO CC: Carol Shull, Cecil McKithan at NP-SERO Subject: Re: Ft Christian, USVI Mark-- According to my files, we received the Fort Christian resubmission on July 22, 1998. The next day I sent you an e-mail saying that a cursory review of the package indicated that there was no map showing the boundaries and that the photos were still mislabled. On the same day, you replied saying that Cecil had apparently sent the wrong package and would I please leave it with Barbara Little so you could pick it up the next day, when you were in Washington for something else (I don't remember what). According to my records, you picked it up on the 24th. As I said in my 7/23 e-mail message, I had not had time to do a substantive review of the whole documentation in the day that it had been in the office. When you said it was the wrong package, I assumed there was no point in reviewing it carefully. So we did not send you detailed comments on that version. I think our comments on earlier versions were pretty clear. If the resubmission addresses all the points we raised, it should be fine. Marilyn Reply Separator Subject: Ft Christian, USVI Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 3/17/99 5:09 PM Dear Marilyn: I have finally cleared out enough mess on my desk to work on the returned NHL study for Fort Christian. The chronology is as follows: 1. We sent the study to you in July of 1998. 2. You responded by e:mail requesting a map showing the boundaries - this we can provide with the resubmission. 3. You also wanted us to label the photograph - this we can provide with the resubmission. 4. You said in the e:Mail "Haven't had a chance to do more than a cursory look at the pieces--will try to get a detailed review pretty quick". I presume this relates to the text of the Fort Christian Boundary study -- have you completed your review or have you sent us anything? 5. I do not have any attached memo with the Fort Christian Boundary Study that you sent back to us. Was there a memo and can you fax me a copy? (404) 562-3244. Please respond to the above -- If all you need is a site map and the photos labeled we can send it out next week. Mark Fort Christian National Historic Landmark St. Thomas, VIRGIN ISLAND (NHL Boundary Study) Reviewer’s Comments This boundary study still lacks a clear description of the present layout of the fort, and a clear statement of its significance. More importantly, it adds an area to the north of the fort, now part of the Emancipation Gardens park, without adequate justification. At the beginning of Section 7, please include a summary description that indicates that most of the fort dates to the 17th and early 18th century, but that the entire north curtain wall was replaced in 1874 (please check and be sure this date is consistently used—in some places it is shown as 1878). Please also expand the introductory paragraph in Section 8 to include a stronger justification of the national significance of the fort, for its association with the initial period of Danish colonial settlement, and a brief discussion of its continuing state and local significance. Please include an expanded boundary justification explaining in some detail why the portions of Emancipation Gardens north of the fort should be included in the boundary. Although the north ravelin apparently existed from the early 18th century through 1874, the documentation seems to indicate that it was demolished in 1874 when the new north curtain was constructed. What evidence of the historic ravelin survives? If no historic fabric survives, these two areas should be deleted from the boundary. The boundary established when Fort Christian was made a national historic site in 1960 does not include those areas. Please also clarify the confusing history of the St. Thomas Historic Site, which was created in 1960, but was apparently never a unit of the National Park System. I am including copies of relevant memos, etc., that more or less clarify that issue. Our file does not include a map of the area that was designated a landmark in 1977, but it would presumably have been the same area shown in the 1960 proclamation excluding the lots to the east that were separated from the Fort Christian property in the 1960s because of highway construction (see copy of memo from VI attached). Photographs need to be labeled following the guidelines in National Register bulletin 16a. There are many typos, which I have marked. I am also enclosing a copy of our preliminary review comments of January 8,1997. Marilyn M. Harper Historian National Register of Historic Places May 28, 1998 Fort Christian National Historic Landmark St. Thomas, VIRGIN ISLAND (Preliminary Review of Boundary Study) Reviewer’s Comments This documentation contains a great deal of detailed information on the evolution of Fort Christian over time, but lacks a description of its present layout and condition and a clear statement of the significance of the property. The nomination, particularly the proposed boundary, is difficult to evaluate without maps and photos. In the future it would be very helpful if documentation submitted for preliminary review included legible Xeroxed copies of these materials. Description We need a clear description of the current appearance and condition of the fort. Since you will need to submit a site map and plan with the final documentation, the description can be based on that. Paul Hawke’s documentation included what seemed to be a good description of the fort in 1986 (much of it apparently taken from the historic structures report)—maybe some of that could be incorporated in the final document. The description of the evolution of the fort over time would be easier to understand if it were keyed to a series of maps showing the fort in three or four different time periods. Presumably the series of historic maps included in deJongh and Gjessing’s Historic Structures Report could be used or adapted for this documentation. Maps showing the harbor and the peninsula in the 1600s, and maybe others showing how the area changed, would also be very helpful. I would move much of the detailed description of the various changes in interior arrangements from Section 8 to Section 7, possibly editing out some of the repetitious material. The present text says that there was a ravelin on the west side of the fort, but historic maps in the original NHL file show only the ones on the north and east. Please clarify. Isn’t Emancipation Park north of the fort? Please include a brief description of the non-contributing fire station. Significance Please include a clear statement of why Fort Christian is significant in the summary paragraph at the beginning of Section 8, answering what we generally call the “so what” question. The NHL files here have a copy of a 1969 survey report from Fred Gjessing that has a good summary statement (copy attached), and the 1960 St. Thomas National Historic Site designation also emphasizes the importance of the fort as the hub of early Danish settlement on St. Thomas. Because the landmark focus seems to be on the early Danish period, the period of national significance should reflect that. I think probably the best thing would be to use 1672 (according to the text that is when Iverson arrived and began construction) and 1755, when the capital was moved to Christiansted, as the beginning and end dates. It appears that the military importance of the fort was gone by the 1750s and when the capital returned, the fort was converted to police use. Probably the best way to deal with the 1874 replacement of the north curtain is to claim State or local significance under maybe politics and government for the fort through 1947 (the usual more-or-less arbitrary 50-year cutoff for properties for which you do not want to claim exceptional importance). The summary paragraph can simply differentiate between the two types of significance. I don’t think the Section 8 narrative needs to be changed much if at all. You would then show the period of national significance as extending from 1672 to 1755 and the period of State or local significance extending from 1672 to 1947. I would add the years of major building campaigns under significant dates. Please include a brief discussion of the impact of the 1874 alterations on the ability of the fort as a whole to convey its national significance from the earlier period. If most of the fabric dating from 1735 and before survives elsewhere in the fort, that shouldn’t be hard to do. If some of the detailed descriptive material is moved to Section 7 (see above), it should be easier to emphasize the history that provides the context for establishing the national significance of the property, including such things as Iverson’s building the fort as one of the first things he did on taking over (p. 13), the role of the fort as part of a coordinated harbor defense system on the north European model (pp. 14-15), the importance of the fort in the 1678 French attack (p. 16), the sense that the new governor might have trouble replacing the former governor if the latter refused to give over the fort (p. 20), use of the fort in the case of a rumored slave insurrection (p. 22), and generally the importance of protecting the harbor at a time when trade was the principal source of profits for the colony. I think it would be useful to emphasize that St. Thomas and its harbor were Denmark’s principal holding in the Caribbean until they acquired St. Croix in 1733. Please check consistency in the use of Danish “Westindia Company” and “West India Company.” There seems to be some repetition in Section 8. The status of the St. Thomas National Historic Site designated in 1960 (not 1961) is extremely confusing. Apparently it was never actually part of the Park System, and in 1977 various reports in the files seem to have concluded that the 1960 designation was essentially the same as a landmark designation. You may have more material in your files than we have here, though, so maybe I’m wrong. Boundary Without a map we can’t evaluate the proposed boundary. It does not seem to correspond with the boundary provided in the 1960 designation or with the later reduced version of that boundary that excluded the parking area to the east that apparently shouldn’t have been included in the first place. I have marked a couple of typos, etc., in the text, but I probably didn’t catch all of them. Marilyn M. Harper Historian National Register of Historic Places January 8, 1997 Author: Mark Barnes at NP-SERO Date: 3/18/99 9:11 AM Priority: Normal Receipt Requested TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Subject: Re[2]: Ft Christian, USVI Marilyn == Thanks for the chronology. I think we're on track with this. I'll look over the documentation that you sent and get back to you with any questions I have. Mark ^SCH^ IN REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interio • NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St., S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 RECEIVED 2280 NftT REGuEfR Of HISTORIC PUCES NATIONAL F.^RK SERVICE November 30, 1999 Memorandum To; Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, WASO From: Chief, National Register Programs Division, SERO Subject: Boundary Study for Fort Christian National Historic Landmark, USVI Enclosed is a revised Boundary Study for Fort Christian National Historic Landmark, located in Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas Island in the United States Virgin Islands. This revision is based on comments received from your staff and an advisory group of preservation consultants noted for their expertise in Caribbean history and architecture. The comments received from your office on the boundary, period of significance, and recommendations for the 19'*' century portions of the fort necessitated our office consulting on these comments with this select group of Caribbean specialists. Their comments are summarized below and are detailed in the enclosed Boundary Study: 1. The nomination and supporting documentation provide an adequate description of the present layout of Fort Christian. It was, however, recommended that we include a site plan identifying the construction dates of the different structural elements of the fort. This site plan is included with the enclosed Boundary Study. 2. The consultants all felt the period of significance for Fort Christian should be from 1672 to 1917. One of our consultants pointed out the fort was the focal point of the ownership transfer ceremonies on St. Thomas in 1917 from Danish to American authority. This information has now been included in the history section of the Boundary Study. 3. Overwhelmingly, the consultants believed the 1874-1878 Gothic Revival clock tower on the north side of the fort should considered part of the national significance of this structure. 4. Again, overwhelmingly, the consultants believed the open space area - north of the fort — should be included within the NHL boundary as this was part of the historic defensive area for Fort Christian. If your office has any questions on the enclosed please contact me at (404) 562-3171. Enclosure INRETLYREFERTO: United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St., S.W. Atlanu, Georgia 30303 April 3, 2000 Memorandum To: From: Subject: Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, NPS, WASO C3uef, National Register Programs Diviskm, NPS, SERO Status of National Historic Landmark Bmmdaiy Studies fiom the Southeast This oflRce has noticed a resurgence of work of a very high professionalism by the staff of the National Register with regard to the processing and review of National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) submitted for consideration by the Southeast Region to your office. We beUeve that this is due in no small part by the efforts of some of the individuals on your staff to try to maintain good communication with our office. In particular, the February 2000 NHL Status Report has been of great assistance to our office and we hope it can be provided to the regional offices on a regular basis. It IS in the spmt of maintaining good communication that we are requesting a status repwt or providing your office with new information we have on the following Boundary Studies for some of the older NHLs in Ae SouAeast Region, and making recommendations to complete Aese stuAes. 1. Poverty Pomt, Louisiana - This Boundary Study was completed and sent to WASO in 1989. The Notification Letter on this study went out years ago (September 26,1990) and our office has repeatedly requested information on Ae status of Ae study, but never received an answer. Last December we were informally notified Aat the comments received, a{^>arently in response to the Notification Letter "raised serious concerns" and your office elected not to "proceed fiirther with Ae process." This was Ae first time Aat we had been told Acre were problems wiA Ae study. We promptly requested copies of Ae comments from your office, but have yet to receive an answer. Upon receipt of this information we will investigate Aese concerns wiA Ae Louisiana SHPO. It is likely that Ae concerns of several years ago may no longer be so. 2. 3. 5. Marksville Site, Louisiana - The last communication on this Boundaiy Study was a request by this office, dated May 20, 1999, asking for a "revision by your reviewer as they believe appropriate" of the text of the MarksviUc Site study. As nearly one yeaa has passed since this last communication, we believe this might be a good time to a fiesh ^proach and view of this Boundaiy Study. Our office and the Louisiana SHPO would be willing to consider any new comments your staff would care to provide on the text of this property. Parkin Site, Arkansas - The latest official statement cm this Bounds Study was dat the "Documentation [was] ready for notice" as of April 8,1999. Our office requested a copy of the Notification Letta- for the Parkin Site that was mailed out We received an and out-of-date Notification Letter with the NHL nomination and boundaiy developed by this office. We responded by memo, dated November 29,1999, indicating that the Omaha office or Dr. Jeffiey Mitchem (Parkin Site archeologist) should receive copies of the Boundary Study as they may have changes to the text In feet. Dr. Mitchem did have some minm word chaises were passed on to your staff as per an e:mail request of December 12,1999. Three memths have now passed and we have heard nothing further cm a) the disposition of Dr. Mitchem’s lecommoKled text changes; ot b) the igtaftis of the final boundary notification 1^ your office. As noted in a previous communication, the Omaha Office is now responsible for NHLs in Arkansas. However, due to this office’s long involvement in the Boundary Study f« Parkin, we have been the main point of contact for tiiis study. Our office should veiy much like to "close its books" on this Boundaiy Study and send all of its remaining documentation cm the Parkin Site to Omaha. Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site), US Virgin Islands - At an October 2,1996 meeting in your office, your staff reported a positive endorsement of this study. It was agreed by all at this meeting that the Salt River Bay (Columbus Landing Site) NHL Boundaiy Study should be treated as a totally new nomination with more nationally significant aspects that the original 1960 Columbus Landing Site NHL, which it rqrlaces Your office provided final comments on the text and we returned the nomination to your offire on December 11,1996, along with the address of the local newsp^jer on St Croix required for public comment. We would appreciate knowing the status of this nomination, and what we may do to assist you in the processing of this nomination. Penyville Battlefield, Kentucky - The history of the Boundary Study for this NHL Civil War Battlefield is quite long and somewhat confusing. However, the Penyville Battlefield Commission has purchased lands, restored historic buildings, and developed several land studies to assist in the interpretation of this historic area in the last ten years. We believe that it may be in our best interest to start this study anew to achieve an appropriate boundary. We also note that the Battle of the Bridge, an outlying component of the Penyville Battlefield is currently under consideration for NHL designation. Would your office consider adding this component as an outlier to Perryville as part of a Boundary Study? 6. Biltmore Estate, North Carolina - Both of our offices realize there is an ongoing problem with the landowner in our attempts to develop a Boimdary Study for this property based on their response to the notification letter of April 21,1993. However, we have recently been informed by the state office that the landowner now appears ready to work with us and the state on a boundary. We will keep you apprized of any developments. 7. Town Creek Indian Mound, North Carolina - When the Boundary Study for this NHL was approved in 1984, the North Carolina SHPO did not get the draft boundary study until it was too late to incorporate their comments, in which they recommended a larger boundary. As the boundary was set in 1984, would it not be possible to expand the boundary for this NHL by going through the regular process with the Advisory Board, if the state agrees to assist us in this project? 8. Fort Christian, US Virgin Islands - Previously our office sent a revised text and boundary study for this property to your office some years ago. The comments we received fi-om your staff caused us to consult with a group of eminent scholars in the field of Caribbean history and architecture. Based on their response a revised nomination was sent to your office recently. Can you tell us what the status of that review is currently? The above eight Boundary Studies are "old business" which need to be resolved so we may both proceed with other projects. Our office has been quite successful in the development of new NHLs, because we have developed strong preservation partnerships with the SHPOs, Federal Agencies, private preservation groups, and historic preservation schools in the Southeast Region of the United States. The resolution of these old Boundary Studies will give both of our offices great credibility with the preservation community and make them more amenable to working with us in the future. If you have any questions, or recommendations, on the above list, please contact me at (404) 562-3171. Author: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHE Date: 4/19/00 2:16 PM Normal Receipt Requested TO: Mark Barnes at NP-SEROSubject: Fort Christian- age Contents Mark-- Mess We have decided that the Fort Christian boundary study is ready for notice. We need three things from you: 1) Names and addresses of everyone who owns land included in the boundary, 2) An electronic copy of the documentation, so we can correct typos, etc., here, without having to return the whole thing to you yet again, and 3) Some additional wording to justify the inclusion of the two pieces of Emancipation Gardens within the boundary. You can add that before you send me the file or we can talk over the phone after I get it to come up with appropriate wording. We're getting close on this one. Marilyn United States Department of the Interior IN REPLY REFER TO: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St,, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 April 28, 2000 Memorandum To: Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, NPS, WASO From: Chief, National Register Programs Division, NPS, SERO Subject: Boundary Study for Fort Christian Our office was most pleased to receive the attached e:mail regarding the Boundary Study for Fort Christian, a National Historic Landmark (NHL), located in Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands. Attached are the names and addresses of all the landowners and officials responsible for the administration of this property which should receive a notification letter and copy of the proposed boundary study. Our office appreciates your efforts to assist us in correcting typos in the text of the Fort Christian Boundary Study. However, if the corrections are as minor as alluded to in the attached e:mail, please have the appropriate text pages with corrections xeroxed and sent to this office. We will review the corrections with our preservation partners who assisted this office in the preparation of the Boundary Study and then send you a corrected hard copy of the text along with an electronic copy of the documentation. We do this as a courtesy to our preservation partners. Our office is pleased to see the two open space areas, north of the fort, will be included in the proposed boundary. We will provide wording to justify the inclusion of these areas when we send the Boundary Study back to your office. If you have any questions, please contact me at (404) 562-3171. «i 1. H34(2280) Memorandum torh may 25 2000 2. To: Chief, Natkmal Regista- Programs Division, NPS, SERO From: Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, NPS, WASO ^^9^ Carol D. Shull Subject: Status of National Jlistoric Landmark Boundary Studies from the Southeast In your memo of April 3,2000, you asked about the status of various pending National Ifistoric Landmark Boundary Stucfy and £)ocumentation Improvement Project studies. We will iiy to respond to each of your inquiries in turn. I. Poverty Point, Louisiana - This boimdaiy study was noticed in 1990. We received one response from the Louisiana State Archeologist which was generally positive, thi^h it did raise some issues of q>propriate attribution of quoted materials. This nomimdion has been held up because of amcems about the boimdaiy. The proposed boundary was drawn to exclude the Lowct Jackson Mound. There was, arid apparently continues to be, concern that the ownor of this mound would damage it to prevent its inclusion in tfie landmark. The Lower Jackson Mound eqrpears to be an integral part of the Povaty Point Sitei Although cuir^ research suggests that this mound may predate the oAer elemetds of the complex, the precise alignment between the main mounds and the Lower Jackson Mound indicates that it was intentionally included in the plan for this large and sophistic^cd project While the concern about possible damage to the Lower Jackson Mound aiiqrears to be aitirely justified, the National Register and National Historic Landmarks inograms cannot approve boundaries drawn on the basis of owner objection. Such a precedent would senously impair the usefulness of both programs as planning tools. In addition, in public testimony at the 1987 Congressional hearings vriiich led to the creation of the Poverty Point Natiimal Historic Site, then Associate Director for Cultural Resources Jerry Rog^s expressed concern about the proposed boundaries precisely because they excluded the Lower Jackson Mound. Until the Lower Jackson Mound can be safely included within the boundaries, it will jMxrbably not be possible to proceed with finalizing the boundary for this NHL. Marksville, Louisiana - This boundary study was returned to your office in May, 1999, with comments askii^ that it be revised to clarify the contributing and non-contributing resources. Barbara Little, National Register archeologist, also asked that apparent inconsistencies in defining the period of significance be clarified. We understood firom 6. 7. your memo of May 20,1999, that your office was not prepared to make tiiese changes. Since we did not have enough information to make the needed changes here, we have been unable to take any further action on this study. We are dehghted to hear that you are willing to take a new look at the boundary study, but have nothing to add to the comments we provided last year. If you have specific questions about our comments, please do not hesitate to call us so we can discuss them. Parkin Site, Arkansas - We are still waiting for comments finm the Arkansas Departm^t of Parks and Tourism, the owners of the property. Sah River Bay (Columbus Landing Site), US Virgin Islands - We reviewed the boundary study you sent us in December, 1996, and returned it to your office with our commits in September, 1998, at your request. This boundary study will have to go to the National Park System Advisory Boar^ since it includes new areas and p^ods of significance, but it will not be considered as a new NHL. The Columbus Landing Site cannot be dedesignated because it was made a landmark before 1980. The current study adds a great deal of information on the site’s importance for reasons other than foe somewhat conjectural account of Columbus’s landing in 1493. It wiU continue to be part of foe boundary study project until it is ready to be submitted to foe Advisory Board. PenyviUe Battlefield, Kentucky - Tom Fugate at the Kentucky SHPO has been working with us to complete an invaitcny of contributing and non-contributing resources within foe proposed boundary. We are in the process of incorporating this new invaitory information into a revised text provided by David Lowe. Once this process is complete, we hope to be ready to circulate foe boundary study for comment. We will, of course, send a cc^y of foe study for your review as soon as it is completed. Biltmore Estate, North Carolina - We understand that foe owner of foe part of foe Biltmore Estate that includes foe house is working to develop ^prcqiriate boundaries for this NHL. We have not heard anything about foe current status of foe project, but are delighted that work seems to be progressing. We hope that foe new documentation will make it possible to establish a boundary that includes all of foe original estate that has retained integrity. Town Creek Indian Mound, North Carolina - In February 1996, we provided Mark BariKS with foe following information in response to his question about foe current status of this boundary study: Town Creek has a very confusing history. A boundary study was signed off on in 1984. The North Carolina SHPO’s archeological department didn’t get foe draft boundary study until it was too late to incorporate their comments. They said that foe boundary was too small. Bennie Keel, who had worked at Town Creek, thought the larger boundaries proposed by foe SHPO were right. Apparently there was some sort of snafu in deciding on the new boundaries, and we ended up with nothing but the 1984 study. If there is now new and definitive material on the site, it does seem as if this would be a good time to upgrade the documentation and finally decide on good boundaries. We have nothing more recent in our files. 8. Fort Christian, US Virgin Islands - This documentation package was returned to your office on May 16, as requested in your memo of April 28, so that your preservation partners could review the corrections and other minor changes that we proposed making in the text. We hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please call Marilyn Harper at (202) 343-9546. Bcc: 0001-Stanton 2200-Stevenson 2250-Robbins f:\nr\harper\nhlmemo.ser\sj\343-9500\5\25\00 GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES -----0----- DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND NATURAL RESOURCES Cyril E. King Airport, Terminal Building Second Floor St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802 Tel: (340) 774-3320 Fax: (340) 775-5706 June 19, 2000 Mr, Cecil N. McKithan, Chief National Register Programs Division U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St., S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 RE; Fort Christian - National Historic Landmark Boundary Study and Nomination Dear Mr. McKithan: We are pleased with the changes made to this National Historic Landmark. As you are aware, our staff has been working with Dr. Mark Barnes and Mrs. Dolores lowers. Curator of Fort Christian, to have these boundaries adopted. Thank you for all your assistance in this matter; it is truly appreciated. Sincerely, Claudette C. Lewis Executive Assistant Commissioner CCL:jg ■JUN23 REC’D United States Department of the Interior IN REPLY REI-l-R TO: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St., S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 July 10, 2000 Memorandum To: Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, NPS, WASO From: Chief, National Register Programs Division, NPS, SERO Subject: Boundary Study for Fort Christian, U.S. Virgin Islands p: JUL I 4 2000 HiGiSTER, H/STORY HahK service On April 19, 2000 our office was notified by e:mail the Boundary Study for Fort Christian, a National Historic Landmark (NHL), located in Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was "ready for notice," with the exception of a few text changes and some additional wording to Justify the northern boundary. We requested your office send us the revised text to share with our preservation partners who assisted us int he preparation of this Boundary Study (see Attachment 1). We are pleased to report that all of the text changes recommended by your office have been approved by our preservation partners. These are the same individuals and agencies that should receive a notification letter (see Attachment 1). Additional requested wording on the north boundary is included in the Boundary Justification (Section 10) of the study. Enclosed is the final copy of the text, figures, photos, and uses map for the Boundary Study for Fort Christian and a computer disk containing the text of the nomination. When your office sends the Boundary Study out for comment, our office would appreciate receiving a copy of the notification letters for our landmark file on this property. Our office also requests we be advised of any additional revisions your office may decide to include in the study before it is sent out for notice. We make this request because we anticipate using this study to develop a visitors brochure for Fort Christian in conjunction with the agency which owns and manages this NHL. If our office has any questions on the enclosed please do not hesitate to contact me at (404) 562-3171 or by e:mail Cecil_McKithan@nps.gov . Enclosure Author: Date: Normal Receipt Requested Mark Barnes at NP-SERO 7/25/00 1:16 PM TO: Marilyn Harper at NP-WASO-NRHESubject: Re:Notification for Fort Christian Boundary Stu dy----------------------------------------------------------------Message Contents Dear Marilyn-- The Virgin Islands delegate office to Congress is correct. There is no elected mayor for Charlotte Amalie -- so sending a copy to the Governor is the best idea. He is the highest ranking elected official for the area. However, I cannot guarantee that you will hear from that person. In all likelihood he may delegate that action to the SHPO or the Deputy SHPO. I understand that you would like to hear from the Governor, but is hearing from someone delegated to answer for him okay? I assume you will also be sending this document to the SHPO and the Deputy and Ms. Jowers so one suspects this is whom you may hear from in response to your notification letter. If you do not hear from the Governor, but from the SHPO office, an office which owns and manages the fort will that be okay? Hope this helps, Mark pprn\/cn AUG 1 1 2000 United States Department of the Interior IN REPLY REFER TO; H32 (2280) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 AUG 4 2000 Mr. Myron Jackson, SHPO and Director Department of Planning and Natural Resources Kongens Gade #17, Kongens Quarter Charlotte Amalie, USVI 00802 Re: Fort Chnstian National Historic Landmark Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI Designated a Landmark on May 5,1977 Dear Mr. Jackson: Natiorial Histone Landmarks possess significance for all Americans; they are among the most important tangible reminders of our country's rich heritage. Designation honors both the landmark itself and the individuals and organizations who have helped to preserve it. The National Park Service has been working to establish boundaries for all National Historic Landmarks for which no specific boundaries were identified at the time of designation and, therefore, are without a specific delineation of the amount 01 property involved. " In accordance with National Historic Landmarks program regulations, the National Park Service notifies owners, public officials, and other interested parties, and provides them with an opportunity to comment on proposed boundanes. We are requesting your comments on the boundary proposed for the landmark identified above and described in the enclosed nomination form. Properties designated as National Historic Landmarks are automatically listed in the National Register of Histone Places. Landmarks are eligible to be considered for Federal grants-in-aid for historic preservation. All landmarks receive consideration in planning decisions of Federal agencies through requirements that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation be given the opportunity to comment on the effect of federally funded, assisted, or licensed undertakings on historic properties. Section 9 of the Mining in the National Parks Act of 1976 allows the Secretary of the Interior to request comments from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation on any surface mining activity that might irreparably d^age a National Historic Landmark. If a landmark contains surface coal resources, certain provisions of the Surface Mining and Control Act of 1977 make it less likely that surface mining of the coal will be permitted by the State or Federal government by ensuring consideration of a property's historic values in determining issuance of a surface coal mining permit. A landmark property which is dep -eciable may be eligible for certain tax treatments under applicalle Revisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Further information in this regard is available at your request The Tax Reform Act of 1986 provides for a 20 percent investment tax credit for rehabilitating historical commercial, industnal, and rental residential buildings. The Tax Treatment Extension Act of 1980 provides for Federal tax deductions for charitable contributions for conservation purposes of partial interests in historically important land areas or structures. Listing of private property in the National Register does not prohibit under Federal law any actions wh may be taken by the property owner with respect to maintaining, managing, or disposing of their pron as they choose. However, State or local ordinances or laws may affect the use or the development of historic properties. We recommend that you contact youpState Historic Preservation Officer to determine whether there are any such ordinances or laws which would affect this landmark. Finally, the Federal government, through the National Park Service, does not intend to acquire the land on which the National Historic Landmark is located. We would appreciate receiving any comments that you care to make on the proposed boundary within 60 days of the date of this letter. Please address your reply to: Carol D. Shull, Chief of the National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, National Register, History and Education, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Suite NC 400, Washington, DC 20240; Attention: Marilyn Harper (202-343-9546). We are pleased to inform you of the status of this proposed National Historic Landmark boundary delineation and look forward to your comments. If you have any questions, we will be happy to assist you. Sincerely, Carol D. Shull Chief of the National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places National Register, History and Education Enclosure IN REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Regional Office Atlanta Federal Center 1924 Building 100 Alabama St., S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 August 10, 2000 Memorandum To: Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, NPS, WASO Attn: Marilyn Harper From: Chief, National Register Programs Division, NPS, SERO Subject: Fort Christian National Historic Landmark Boundary Study This office has completed its review of the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark (NHL) Boundary Study. We find that this study is complete and accurate in all respects and reflects the hard work and diligence of the staffs of both of our offices. The text of the nomination shows the high standards of research one should expect of National Park Service professionals. The NHL boundary incorporates all of the nationally significant aspects of Fort Christian. Fort Christian Museum P. O. Box 103 Charlotte Amalie, U.S.V.I. 00804 Ms. Carol D. Shull Chief of the National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, National Register, History and Education National Park Service 1849 C Street, NW, Suite NC 400 Washington, D.C. 20240 '^6 i MUb 1 y ^uuu N/,. -Gi: ..STO, .'UC iO:. I- stRvi.-E August 14, 2000 Dear Ms. Shull, I received your letter along with the National Historic Landmark Nomination, which now includes the boundaries of this site, with which I concur. I want to especially commend Dr. Mark R. Barnes for his interest and work towards this project. Thank you for keeping me informed on this matter. Sincerely, Dolores Jowi Curator, Fort Christian Museum RECEIVE I •3 The United States Virgin Islands OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR GOVERNMENT HOUSE Charlotte Amalie, V.I. 00802 340-774-0001 NAHOMAL REGISTER. HISTORY & EDUCATION NAnONAL PARK SERVICE September 15,2000 Ms. Carol D. Shull Chief of the National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places National Register, History and Education United States Department of the Interior National Park Service 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 RE: Fort Christian National Historic Landmark Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI Dear Ms. Shull: RE D OCT - d 1'.ftX) NATIONA.i. €• NATIOt siVfoRy ■‘i\j 'VICE It is with great pleasure that I accept the submitted boundaries for the Fort Christian National Historic Landmark. The boundaries were developed in consultation with the staff of the State Historic Preservation Office and the Fort Christian Museum. The establishment of this long-awaited boundary definition will assist in the historic interpretation and protection of this significant Landmark. I would also like to personally thank you and members of your staff and the Southeast Regional Office for all your hard work and assistance in making this request a reality. We look forward to a continued working relationship with you and the National Park Service. Sincerely, ------ Charles W. Turnbull Governor DONNA M. CHRISTIAN-CHRISTENSEN Delegate, Virgin Islands COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON RURAL ENTERPRISES Congress of tlje ®nitcli S>tates lloufie of i^epresientatibes; Masfjinston, 29C 20515-5501 Please Respond To: WASHINGTON OFFICE □ 1711 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202)225-1790 Fax (202)225-5517 DISTRICT OFFICES ViTRACO Mall, Bldg. 2—Suite 3 St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802 (340)774-4408 Fax (340)774-8033 Member, Congressional Black Caucus Member, Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues Member, Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus Sunny Isle Shopping Center Suite #3 Mini Mall P.O. Box 5980 St. Croix, Virgin Islands 00823 (340) 778-5900 Fax (340)778-5111 September 20, 2000 Ms. Carol D. Shull Chief, National Historic Landmarks Survey & Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places National Register, History and Education, National Park Service 1849 C Street, NW Suite NC 400 Washington, DC 20240 Attn: Marilyn Harper Dear Ms. Shull: 109 Enighed Contant Old Hilltop Building T Jonfjf VmciN IslandsOOBST PTUD -(340)776-6209 L:. SEP 2 2 2000 NATIONAL REGISTER, HISTORY L :-i'UC,TriON I write in support of the designation of Fort Christian as a National Historic Landmark. Fort Christian was the site of several important historical events in the history of the people of the Virgin Islands and consequently, as the territory is part of the United States, a significant part of our country’s history as well. From its inception in 1671, Ft. Christian has stood guard at the mouth of the Charlotte Amalie harbor, first as a means of defense and recently as a cultural and historical icon that has come to symbolize the island of St. Thomas itself Ft. Christian is a symbol of our past, rooted in both the sugar trade and slavery. Its walls exudes the history of the colonizers and the colonized, the enslavers and the enslaved. In addition to its architectural value. Ft. Christian has served as the home of the early Lutheran congregation, various government agencies and finally its present use as a museum. Ft. Christian is more than deserving of the designation of National Historic Landmark as it continues to remind more modem generations of Americans and Virgin Islanders alike of the importance of stories of the past. DCC/mc Doima Christian-Christensen Member of Congj^s PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Government of the Virgin Islands of the United States Department of Planning & Natural Resources Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office “Preserving The Past For The Future” Dean C. Plaskett, Esq., Commissioner Myron D. Jackson, Director October 2, 2000 OCT i3aau i f^iATlGMAL REGISTER, HISTORY iu EDUCAfiON ■ NAnONAL PARK. SERVICE Ms. Carol D. Schull Chief of the National Historic Landmarks Survey and Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places National Register, History and Education United States Department of the Interior National Park Service 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 Re: Fort Christian National Historic Landmark, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI Dear Ms. Schull; Thank you for your letter of August 4, 2000 in reference to the boundaries for Fort Christian National Historic Landmark. As you are aware, the establishment of the boundaries for Fort Christian has been pend­ ing for some time. We are very pleased that they have been reviewed and approved. Thank you for your assistance and we look forward to your continued support and cooperation of our pre­ servation initiatives. Sincerely, Myron D. Jackson Director No. 17 Kongens Gade, Kings Quarter Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802 Tel; (340) 776-8605 Fax; (340) 776-7236 NATIONAL HISTORIC LAWD>iARK STATUS REPORT: 1978 General Backf;round 1. Official Landmark name:______// Address: 2. Name, address, phone number of the Landmark owner: 3. Name, title, address, and phone number of person responsible for the management of the Landmark: (If same as person in number 2, write *same*) Name, title, address and phone number of additional nerson(s) contacted about this Landmark: « hul ^ r ® of - Utr^tK 5. Name, region and phone number of IICRS official preparing report: L0A(kt.t H.JtKti Hcfts t). Bate of this report: Condition and Maintenance of Buildings, Sites and Historic Districts (If Landmark is visited, provide photographs (or slides) of serious problems or possible threats) (pkoi’Oi Ccm(0Lj^ 1. Architectural or Engineering Features a. llnat is the general physical condition? excellent ___ ^good J(_needs repairs (explain) ^ ^ ^ ^ S) d«. A (<u#A^ AmC Ci here any obvious structural problems or water relate^ problems? ’ - ’ b. Are thi c. Are _no Vves (describe). ^ lUcuj. re there plannedVfuture building alterations or new construction? yes. (explain) d. Are there historic interior furnishings present? ^ Are they \-7ell cared for? ^ yes ___ no (e:<plain) ves no Uiil they be retained? ^ yes ___ no (explain) mm e. Js there historic machinery or equipment present? Is it well cared for? ___yes ___ ^no (explain) _yes X^no if i| li. 17111 it he retained? yes ___ no (explain) «hnt is the Rcncral condition of the site. _e*cencnt _Ro^ ^ ,y ___needs repairs (explain) t.. Ate thete visihte Are they well cared for?___yes —. Are they C. Has thete been tecent site distuthance. digging, ot consttuctlont . ___yes. (explain) d. Ate thete plans tot futute site voth ot consttection? ^ no ___yes (explain) • . 3. Historic District Features . a. VIhat is the-general - other historic features of the dxstrict. ----- . . _ ___needs repair (explain) .... b In -eneral. what is the level of construction activity in the dxst .. . _high construction activity _jnoderate - . ■ ■ , j w-tc-frvrif district commission, or ■ - Sh:n:~Lnfr:i: ro-siction .netivit.. .0 district? ____>'es __ _no [I. Building, Site, ot Historic Disttict integtity , . i Ate thete anv conditions on the lands adjacent to th^ result in .serious no l^esJetplain) V. . f • ' 1 audible or atmospheric elements ’■ s::rs:: rx; "i;. d....... ___no yyes (explain) ... 3. Are there any oc;u;*in"?he"'futurer(explain) zoning changes, etc.; IxKcxy ' 5'. ;D’oes the owner show interest In the lonf.'term preservation of tlie*'tanclniark? no _^es (explain) flWVU-t- U. t/-» A ^ .. \ ____ (jL. fUuuuM^ U^m At lO-^cA*^ n ^ X yes no . IV. Supplementary Information 1. Does the Landmark have a plaque? Is it displayed? y yes ___ no 2. Has an agreement form been submitted? ves no If no, does the owner wish to sign an agreement with RCRS? V. Comments i/S ves Jt»iUinJUi fo t6 (/./. The Story of FORT CHRISTIAN cs. orn: 1 /51 4 u St. Thomas, Virgin Islands ca. 1778 The Story of FORT CHRISTIAN, 1672 by Jno. Lightbourn Reprinted from Walloe’s St. Thomas Almanac and Commercial Advertiser of 1881 with a letter by Jno. Lightbourn to his son Alberic, written ca. 1928 Museum Leaflet Series No. 1 Bureau of Libraries & Museums Dept, of Conservation & Cultural Affairs St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 1973 FOREWORD Fort Christian has been the center of the town of Charlotte Amalie for nearly 300 years. Both the appearance and the name of the town have changed. It was once known as ‘Taphus’ meaning Rum Shop (Tavern). Diasters have, at times, destroyed the town almost completely, but the basic fabric of the Fort has withstood hurricane, earth tremor, fire, and bombardment. The Fort served the colony as Governor’s residence, church, and town hall; even today it serves as police station, jail, and municipal court. Appropriately, this structure, with its history of community use, is now the home of the Virgin Islands Museum, which will eventually expand to fill the entire Fort. Preserved and restored. Fort Christian will become a center in which the Virgin Islands can view with pride and under­ standing their social and natural history. This Reprint of Jno. Lightbourn’s CHRISTIANFORT, together with his “Explanatory Notes” to his son, Alberic, is prepared by the Bureau of Libraries and Museums to recount the history of the Fort and the early Danish settlement on St. Thomas. No changes have been made in the text; marginalia in Lightbourn’s hand are as they appear in the copy owned by the St. Thomas Public Library. Additional copies of this pamphlet and other publications of the Virgin Islands Museums are available. For information, write to; The Bureau of Libraries & Museums P.O. Box 390 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00801 EXPLANATORY NOTES ON FORT CHRISTIAN Letter by Jno. Lightbourn to Alberic, his son (Probably written about 1928) I ought to tell you how this history of “Christiansfort” came to be written. When I was manager of Walloe’s printing office; I got up an Almanac (1) and a plan of mine was to try and furnish,a bit of history of the place or things in the place each year. The old fort, being the most conspicuous, naturally attracted my attention, but I could not discover any means of getting its proper or authentic history. Knox (2) in his history of the island did not give enough. One day I got talking to the Rev. Lose (3), the Lutheran minister with whom I was well acquainted, and somehow or other we got talking about the fort, and probably I mentioned my desire to get its authentic history, when to my great surprise and delight he told me he had it in manuscript form. He had been searching after the history of his church and the history of the church and that of the fort was so bound up together that it formed almost one. He had got it from the Archives in Copenhagen (4), the privilege of examining which he got from the Royal Government in Copenhagen. He had two foolscap size volumes of matter I suppose about 300 to 400 pages each. There was naturally a great deal more than church and fort history, but he made me promise him that I would not make use of anything else but that of church or fort. I kept my promise to him as I have striven to do to all men and you can see that I have not given much, if any thing, of the political or domestic conditions of things of those days. They were bad enough, but Westergaard (5) was not under the same restraint and has been free to tell more. Now I could not read Danish and these two volumes were naturally writ­ ten in Danish; but Walloe, for whom I was working and who was the proprietor of the office, could and I had him to read to me, while I with pencil and paper in hand took note of such items as would interest me and at the end then had him to translate for me. Then I edited the whole item and that is the way that little bit of history of the most important building on the island of St. Thomas, which I so much love, came to see the light. It is now out of print, but I do not think should be totally lost as I believe it is the only accurate information extant. The Rev. Lose thought that I had done it well and always spoke nicely to me about it afterward. I had wanted to use other articles about the island which I could have got from his (6) book but he would not consent. Now you have the story of “Christiansfort”. Return me the book as I may reprint it. Sometime after I had a line engraving of the fort made which I repeatedly use on the cover of my Annual (7). You will see a draft of an illustrative page which I had intended to be the first page with about one-third matter of any article which 1 printed about the islands. (8) Of course, the pictures are not pictures at all of St. Thomas, but I put them together that way just to show the idea. I don’t know whether you like the idea. If you were to use it, it would be a splendid idea to get the picture of Gov. Oliver (9) as the first governor of the islands. The piece about the Comet (10) I got from a very old Moravian Magazine years ago. These are all little bits of genuine history which will be lost to the island bye and bye, if you don’t save them, and an Annual (11) can save them much better than a newspaper. I don’t know whether you think as I do in these matters. Of course, were to use “Christiansfort”, it would need some revising and you could see how it agrees with Westergaard’s dates - save one (12). The Danes themselves say that 1 am correct in 1616! as they at home always teach that year. Of course, you would not perhaps be using the plates (13) so no re­ ference would be made to them in the text. Now understand. Berry (14), I am not advising the use of the article to please me. I merely sent it to you to read and I have given you the history of it. The Pirate Island of St. Barth’s” (15) you can keep. I think you sent me that. 1 have some other articles (16) somewhere but can’t lay hands on them just now. I am sorry I had no time to go over the old newspapers of the island. It had been my intention to have done so had I ever been able to have taken a short holiday in the coimtry, but that is out of the question now. CHI\lSTIANSFOI^ ^MONG the Various topics treated of by writers on the ^ Island of St. Thomas, we find but very scant allusion made to its Fort, and in the absence of any knowledge regarding its history, the popular belief was readily created that the Fort, as well as the two towers to tiie North and East of the town, were erected by bucaneer hands and served as strongholds for pirates. But Christiansfort, the stnlcture which now claims our attention, has a history, a brief sketch of which we venture to submit to the readers of The St. Thomas Almanack and Commercial Advertiser for 1881, tinsting it will be acceptable. We would here observe that the items which we give in connection with the Fort, as well as tlie occasional allusion to other topics of by-gone days, hitherto unpublished, have been gathered from the most reliable authority and kindly placed at our disposal. In the Year of Grace 1666 Erik Smidt was Governor of St^ Thomas, he having taken possession of the island in belialf of the Danish Crown on the 30th day of March of that year, on which day, it must be presumed, the expedition, which started from Co­ penhagen for the purpose of trading in the West Indies, had land­ ed here, as on that day the Royal Commission was read. It would be amiss to understand that the Government at Copen­ hagen had sent out the expeditiou for trading ; this was done by a Company established at Copenhagen, the first expedition of which was sent out nnder Erik Smidt, who, on arrival at St. Thomas, assumed the Governorship of tlie island. But nowhere in that year do we find that any attempt had been made to erect foitifications of any kind —we only read of the intention of Gov­ ernor Smidt to build a fort on the site now known as “ Lncchetti''s Hill,” but this intention, owing to his demise, was never carried out, and it i^only in the first year of tlie administration of his sncceSMrr, Governor Iversen, who arrived at St. Thomas On the 23rd of May 1672, that we meet the first allusion made to tlie Fort, of which we are now treatiner, in one of the fourteen orders issued by the Governor, and agreed upon by all the inhabitants of the island, to the effect that ‘‘all should assemble to service on Snndays in the Fort by beat of dririn,” the penalty for non-attend­ ance being fixed at 25 lbs. of tobacco. By this we conclude that a Fort was under construction at this period, and this conclusion is > • A <r ■ A/- ' f ^ V i f . a .f A. ■'*1^ /yr f A.iV\i^ a.. A.♦ i. f I ■ „.. ■{.*. island in the IlAvmand,” but coast, tlio cre,w m'ltinied, shot seven ov eight passengeis and ihr boatd, setting asljore at Flores, A arics and the transpoited prisoi^ Dutchmen, were bent upon pirati ship was off the English dhptaiii, decapitated some e*’ G«)voruor Iversen alive ovei- \^^res, t^ie Company’s function- miw's. •I'he crew, comoosed of ati%^ jicr ^ - ---------------- , "rhe crew, composed expeditions, but none of uuicnmen, weic ucuu ui.wu , them having a knowledge of uavigation, they were, no doubt, somewhat surprised, after a little buffetting. to find themselves, instead of in Spanish waters, ashore at Marstrand, Sweden. The ill-fated crew were handed over to the proper authorities, condemned, and finally succumbed to the law outside the eastern ^ In the^ meantime unexpected changes took place in the Gov­ ernment of St. Thomas, as it is recorded that Nic. Esiint s brother, Adolf, deposed his brother (the Governor), assuming, on his own responsibility, the command of the island, and through false repre­ sentations made by him at Copenhagen he was confirmed in his surreptitious command on the 7tb of July, 1633. The new' Governor, Adolf Esmit, describes the improvements he had made, stating that he “ had built four good rooms and an office against the Western Curtain of the fortification ; each of tlie rooms having fw'-o doors and a lock and was floored with Dutch fire bricks. The large room was tapestried with gilt leather, the ceiling painted red and the beams white, while the second room was hung with leather, on which were painted bib o-historical pictures, the ceiling being painted yellow and the bedims reef. “ Over the office” he had ” built a Cavalier, on which two cannon could be placed.” Besides this he had “ erected a larp room, ^0 feet broad by 22 feet long and roofed with tiles,’ and bad * fixed a lantern for ligliting up the fort as well as the harbour. Against the Northern Curtaiu” he had “ constructed a corps de garde, and adioiuing this a fine .large room.” “ A perfect passage was made from the North West to the North East Bastions, so tliat there was a walk algng the entire fort inside the wall.” The fort, at this time, possessed 50 guns ; the Western Curtain had been raised from four to five feet higher and a water battery was built on the beach, outside the fort, between the South West and the Soutli East Bastions. . . r Governor A. Esmit remained bat a short time in office, tor owing to repeated complaints against him. and for other reasons, the Corapanv petitioned in March 1684 for a Royal appointmenc for Gabriel Milan as Governor, and the petition was granted ou the 26tb of the following month. The Company seem to have bad some fear of trouble on Milan’s arrival, for in his instructions he is charged to ‘‘ proceed carefully on his arrival at St. Thomas and iu the event of A. Esmit raisiugfany difficulty, or refusing to give over the f<>D, lie is to take over the commaad of the island by foice. He is further to guard against Esmit’s cunning and be polite to him, but as soon as he lias secured tlie power Esmit aiul taiuily muse bo contiued and sent home by tlie first opportunity.” Dtiiing the last year of Esmit’s administration one or two incidents occurred which, as historical facts, are worth recording. Esmit, we find iu a letter to the Company, complains that rendered quite certain bj^l 1(J74. to Carl Bagsjert. to CTie on •nother spot on bis estate' the Governor had “ obs|rve ' fort was commenced that it ^ might at some time or oth vemor’s order ot January 6th, ctthat he should ‘<<|haild his house , (the present Government Hill), as leveral times since the building of this t advantageous to the fort, but prejudicial that Baggert builds his house so much higher than the fort, insomuch that every one who comes to him cau completely overlook the fort.” Another fact wliich goes to prove that the fort was under ‘ fair way’ in the year 1674 is that on the 3rd of August of that year “ Governor Iversen bought a slave to serve the Company for seven years ns master niasuu and that he had for the most part worked at the No further mention is made of the existence of the fortifica­ tion until 1677, and then only in connection with the following curious incident: Ou the 20th of October that year court was held for the purpose of judging one Ole Smed, who, two nights previously, had crept up, throngh the beams supporting an outwork, into the fort. According to the law Smed should have suffered capital punishment, but through the leniency of the Gov­ ernor, who was Immediately called to the spot, he was compelled to creep out again in the same manner as he fiad entered ; the court, however, sentenced him for this offence to pay a flue of 200 lbs. of sugar. We find it recorded that during the building of the fort Gov­ ernor Iversen asked for “ a vote of confidence from all the planters.” which was given him, it being signed by 32 ; and among other mat­ ters it was assorted in the vote that the Governor had not bur- thened the planters with the work of building the fort without re­ muneration. The cost of the building at this stage had amounted to 42,000 lbs. of sugar, and we find the Governor asking the Com­ pany for 1000 lbs. of sheet lead in order to cover the houses in the fort as well as the touch holes of the cannon.” The little colony seems to have grown Iteadily in numbers, far w3-find it(^iioted that in 1680 there were some fifty estates on the island and a population of 331 souls, 156 of which were whites and 175 slaves, the protection of whom was, no doubt, in those palmy days of bucaneering, a great care to a judicious Governor. Governor Iversen having repeatedly asked for his discharge he was replaced by oneNic. Esmit, whoassumed theGovernraenteu the 4th of July 1680, and this Governor receives iusti notions from the Company in September of the same year nat to cairy out the ex- Governor’s plan of strengthening the fort with three counterforts like the one which had beeu built at the South East Bastion.” The Company seemed to have disapproved ot the manner in which the work had been accomplished under Iversen, for iu a letter to Nic. Esmit, dated April 30th, 1681, mention is made of the fact that in all of the West India islands the inhabitauts were obliged to assist in building fortificatious, but this had nut been the ease iu St. Thomas. Governor Iversen, it may not be amiss to state, en passant, was re-appointed to the Governorship of St. Thomas in 1^3. but was doomed-to meet a tragic fate. He left Copenhagen for this “ Goveruol-Stapleton, of Sfevis, »ddriven the Danes from St. Joliu, taken away all the cattle ffom Buck Island and Wa^er Island and declared British rights to St. Thomas.” Further, that an English brigantine had plundered the West end of the island and taken otf 60 slaves.” This behhviouj of Governor Stapleton is in singular contrast with instructionsjjKued by the British Government; for on July 4th a request w'as made to him (Governor Stapleton) by the Company, in conformity with the Royal British order of June 2nd, to “assist Governor Milan to obtain the command of the island, it such assistance should be necessary.” Governor Milan seems also to have had cause of complaint against the English, as in July 1685he writes to the Company that the English had attempt- j ed to cut lignum vit® at St. John and to occupy Crab Island, but that 1 he “ would meet force bj-^ force” and intended “ trying to put in repair a frigate which had been seized, and therewith effect re­ prisals against the Spaniards who had lauded at St. Thomas and taken oft' 54 slaves.” TIius the bad example of kidnapping slaves, set by the English, was successfully followed up by the Spaniards, and the rule of the new Governor seems to have been not quite ‘a bed of roses.’ But nothing further is gleaned of the frigate or the reprisals, if any were attempted, against the English or the Spaniards. The situation of the fort, however, does not appear to have quite satisfied Governor Milan ; for in the letter above alluded to he complains of its being unhealthily located, and, moreover, “is a bad fortification, for every one who moves in it can be shot down from the hills, round about;” he admits that “ the fort it­ self is composed of strong wall,” but that “it is built disorderly and irregularly, the loop holes for the cannon and muskets being arranged only for firing straight out of,’' and that “ the Curtains, not being supplied with breastworks, are very narrow and conse­ quently dangerous to walk on in the wind at night;’’ the enclo­ sure, lie finds “ very scant and containing rather small accommo­ dation.” The walls of the fort must indeed .have been nar row when they could render an evening’s promenade dangerous. The Governor, seems to have effected the necessary repairs and to have been fairly satisfied with the condition of the fort afterwards, as we find no other mention by him of desired improvements. The gar rison, at this period, it ntay be well to state, consist­ ed of 1 lieutenant, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, 9 privates and I Dutch constable. Governor Milan’s rule was not of a longer duration than bis predecessor’s, for he was, on very serious charges, deposed bv Royal Order of 29th September 1G85, and mmnrkttble etmugh, notwithstanding the many char-ges apinst him. Governor A. Esmit was reinstated as Governor of the island, tor the second time, on the 13th September 1687, and on the transfer of the fort to him he gives the first complete description of it that is to be found, and which we here reproduce in moat of its details: “ The S. W. point or Bastion. The Southeru Curtain.—Here are : One room, called the fiatboiise, which has 9 windows, of which 7 with iron mils. Under this is a cellar with a door and a small hole in the wall with iron rails. Ou the westeru side is a dungeon. ib ]}y tlie small ristprn is a small anartmeut with door and win­ dow. Cite partition being of boards. Tlio small cistern TLe S. E. point, or Bastion—to which there is a railing door with hinges and holts ; on the top^ this is a small room. A new house stands in the centre OT the enclosure, it is floored with Dutch fire-bricks, roofed with red tiles and has 8 windows with shutters and 3 doors. The Eastern Curtain.—A cotton gin house, without door, roofed with shingles. The provision house with wood roof and 2 windows. A large I gate, called Laudgate, with a double door, completely iron bound. A Half Moon (properly termed Demilune) outside the large gate, with a wood roof. * The large cistern. The N. E. point or Bastion, The Northern Cnrtain.—Against this there is a wood house, and close thereto an open corps de garde. The tower. TheN. W. point, or Bastion—on the top of which there is a solid sentry box. In the Bastion there is an oven. The Western Curtain.-Adjoining this is the physician’s room, with 1 window with iron .ails. Next to this a-kitchen, roofed with red tiles. Near the kitchen a small tobacco store room, and next thereto is the small gate, called Watergate, iron bound. Four small apartments. In the largest there are a large win­ dow and 3 doors, the one of which is cut through horizontally half way np. This large room is tapestried with gilt leather which commences to wear out. The second room has 2 half doors with hooks and has besides an entire door with a hook, this opens into the next small room which is hung with old gilt leather. Next to this there is a small room with 2 half doors with locks and a small window and a whole door, with holt, leading, to the last room which has 2 half doors with lock and 2 windows, of wliich the one is iron railed and the other supplied with wooden shutter with bolt. The 4 rooms are floored with Dutch fire-bricks. A small office, with lock and a small window In this office there are 3 small air holes covered with lead Under the office there is a small cellar, of same size as the office ; it has a whole door with lock and a bar across it. To the South of the Fort there is a wall of mason work. A water battery is erected at the water’s edge. The large Laudgate has I and the small Watergate 2 failing doors. All the Prickly Pe.tr aronnd the Fort is overgrowu l»y weeds, audits mnsilydied out.” In tracing tlie, fortifications tliat werp l>ni!t for the protection of the island, we (ind that in JG83 batteries were built on the S. E. point of the. Ii.tiboiir and at Frederiksliavn (now known as tlie Gregory), but it was only on the 5i li of July lt}89 tJiat the Gov- * Durins file process of flcmolltion of sonio parts of tbe fort for the rebuilding, in 1874-7.'), this DeiiiihiiH, was discovered : it stood in the angle of two walls from tha S. K. and N. K. liaslioiis, and on its nppeiiraiir.o it created qaite a sensation as its existence was unknown to the public in general. einmeut decided to build the tower at Smith’s Hill, and which WHS called Frederiksburg, but so’ou after receivedjJ;he name of Fiederiksfort. It is amusing to read that this fort was to he occupied iu time of war by 1 officer and 18 privates with 10 slaves to woik the cannou, whereas in time of j»eace it should bo occupied by 1 Ensign, with 6 privates. The tower continued in use as a fortification up to 1735 and was finally sold in J8I8, together with the surrounding land, to a piivate pt.rty. To-day, tlie tower is known as Lucchetti’s Castle,” but is more frequently called “Hlue Beard’s Castle,” the former name being given to it after its late owner and the Litter no doubt from a life size statue of an Italian bandit which was placed immediately iu front of it, as an or­ nament, by Mr. M. Lucchetti. ^ Turning agjiin to the Governors of the island we observe an­ other change which was bnmght about by Governor A. Esniit petitioning for his conge and his receiving Royal discharge ou the 25th January 16DU. Whilst noting the events of 1690 it may not be out of place to mention that a severe earthquake took place on Sunday the 6th April this year at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. It is the only re­ corded earthquake experienced in this island thatcould in any way be compared to the meracrable one of the 18th November 1867. asit it sjtoken of as a “ terrific earthquake, lasting a long time and crack­ ing the wall of the Company’s storehouse; the sea receding a while after so that fish could be picked up fiom the bottom of the sea 9 to 10 fathoms out.” In the same year, too, the danger of an attack iAon the colony was apprehended, and ou the 10th *f August, a breastwork of thick Gri-Gri planks was built ou the top of Fi ederiksfort for pr o­ tection to the sentry j rvhile later-, in October, further pr ecautions were adopted in the closing of the landgate of the fort and the placing of a sentry on each of the four Bastions. The English were the parties against whom these precautionary measures were taken ; but it never appears that the little colony was overtaken by the threatened danger though the fear was great and of prolotiged duratron. for in the following year Flaghill was used as a station for signalling any suspicious approach to the island: these signals being made by means of-sraoke or a flag.—the latter means, it must be presumed, w-as more frequently adopted since the Iiill received the name of Flaghill ; we now know it by the name of Maroon Hill; (and we may hero say that it is the one situated to the South of Estate Raphun) In spite of the su|>posed proximity of danger, an examinalion at night showed, accoirling to the records, that the guard of the fort consisted of but 2 privates, and they were asleep. j In 1694 the Company threw up Iheircnntract with Thormohlen,! who had ruled the island since the 9th of May 1691 and who had i appointed de la Vigne as his Governor. The Companv then I sent out their own Govetuo.i-, Lorentz, to replace Thoi lu'nhien’s i Governor, de la Vigne. (Correction of Knox’s enoneous statement ou this matter-.) We here give Governor Loieiilz’s own statement of his assumption, which is as follows: — •< - J »>-r 4i “We anchored in the harbour at 2 o’clock in the niRlit of the 22nd November 1694. We were hailed from the foil with instructions for the Captain to come on shore. I therefore weut with the Captain and three others aud made myself known to the Corporal, who then opened the small Watergate for us and we went in. De la Vigne descended iu morning gowu from his residence in the tower. We entered the audience loorr of the fort, when, after a little conversation, I told liim the cause of my arrival was the taking over of the Island. i)e la Vigne pro­ posed to me to take a walk down in the town until daylight so that he could then fire a salute, but I demanded that an alarm should be fired, which was also done, and I thereupon went down in the town and conversed with the people. At break of day I returned to the fort. The planters were assembled under the seaside-grape trees standing under the fortwalls.” On the 14th December the Governor inspected the fortifica­ tions and not finding them to his satisfaction, recommended se­ veral alterations. To show how our forefathers were, in the time of which w’e are writing, subject to the fear of being at any time attacked by any of the neighbouring colonists or pirates, we may only mention a circumstance which we find noted, and which caused the greatest alarm to the inhabitants. It seems that from some cause, curiosity or otherwise, some Frenchmen visited the Eastern point of the harbour and inspected the four cauuon which were placed there by Governor de la Vigne. This battery was never expected to be worth much in case the town had to be de­ fended from attack, yet, the curioilsity, as it only appears to have been, of these Frenchmen, w^ suificient to create an uneasy feel­ ing iu the community where it was supposed that the inspection w'as made for the purpose of embracing the first opportunity to carry off the cannon-; a guard of four inhabitants was therefore placed at the point for the purpose of controlling the ecxtnM»e« of all vessels from a^iuto the harbour. Nor dues it appear that it was solely from the English and French quarters that trouble was expected, since on the 4th of April a council of ivar was held in consequence of an expected Spanish attack, and on this account the fortifications were.to-be repaired, the inhabi­ tants supplying slaves for this purpose. The water battery was to have trenches on both sides and to be supplied with gabions. From the fort and Water battery trials were made on the 2nd May in order to test how far the harbour could be Coveted by shots from 4 fee 18 pounders,- qnd on the 22nd May measures were adopted to sup­ ply the tower to the North of the fort with W'ater. At this time internal troubles were also feared ; for many planters had from time to time moved to Charlotte Amalia (the eastern part of the town) and built dwelling houses there in order to be iu the vici ­ nity of the fort. These internal troubles were looked for from the slaves in the New Quarter (neighbourhood of Estate Tutu) as there were no white managers, On the 3rd of June lists were prepared for the defensive force in such a manner that each of the four bastions of the fort was to have an officer with 20 men ; Prederiksfort was to have 25 men and the northern tower 9 men. But whether these, precautions were taken against a probable i V, at. til is period of tlie colony’s history the population must have been one, seeing that there were in 1705 only 09 houses in the town. Now we find the Government again complaining to the Company that the thick walls of the tower in the fort ad­ mitted moistine, t hus iujaiing the powder, and recommendiag that the tower be cased with boaids, as tliere was no place for building a powder magazine in tlie fort, excepting under the Church, where “ tiineand opportunity permitting, it is to be built.” Divine service was then performed in tlie South West Bastion of the foit, but the Governmentconsideredit “ desirablethatsuch sacred services need not be done in sucli a place, but that the affairs of the Company would allow, at a future tinie, of the establishment of a proper Church, which would not be used, during the intervals between the prescribed holy services, for worldly, and, at times, impious acts, such as soldiers are inclined to.” The Government further solicits the apnointment of another chamber to Governor Hansen, as the one occupied by him in the fort was unhealthy. xiic history of the fort seems to be nearly allied to that of the Lutheran Church in this island, for from the earliest period of the building of the fort we find mention of the Church being kept within its walls—sometimes quarters were set apart especially fur the service of the Church, at other times we read of rlivtne services being held in the armory or other convenient rooms. That this state of affairs was not What was desired, we conclude from the fact that in 1700 a wooden church was erected against the Eastern Curtains of the fort. This building, according to measurement made in 1724, was 49 feet in length by 25 in width, land seems to have satisfied the wants of the population for some time. Returning, however, to the fort, we find that in the same year that witnessed the building of the little Church there was a depu­ tation, consisting of three representatives (de Windt, Caistens and Magens) from the people sent on to Copenhagen, and amongst otiier matters the condition of the fort was a subject ■of complaint, as they declared tliat the fort was kept in bad repair and that there was a very small supply of ammunition, while ! there were only fifteen or sixteen men to. handle 36 cannon. In i view of this charge the Company, on the 24th December 1716, 'issued orders for the necessary repairs to be effected. Meanwhile, owing to the general unhealthiness of the fort, the Governor had j taken up his residence in the village ; this he was able to do as ■ he was the Chief, while the subordinates were obliged to reside in the fort and take the ccusequences. Tlie best room iu the fort had beeu courteously given in 1717 t<» the Clergyman for his resi­ dence, but the first Clergyman (Riise) who inhabited it died within 47 days after his induction, and his successor (Brandt) declared his inability to reside in it. In spite of the approbation of the proposal to arrange suitable’ apartnients for the Governor in the Bastions of the fort, he (the Governor) purchased a dwelling for Rdlr. 3000, which was used as the first Govern merit House, and in or­ der to show bow small were the pretensions of those days we rising of the slaves or agaiust an espectod Spanish attack is not | clearly stated ; perhaps it was from both, as thelle is a state-; ment made from w'hich we glean the fact that the planters liadi during April “sent their wives and children to Cnra^Sio, fearing! a Spanish attack.” There was, however, an enemy agaiust the ap­ pearance of which no steps were taken, and which was, altogether little expected, but which arrived at the island on the201h of July and was not long in setting at nought the many precantions which had been made against other unwelcome visitors. We al­ lude to a severe hurricane that occurred on the 20th of July, by which all the works of reconstruction were destroyed and the healthiness of the place so impaired that the garrison, by February 1697, was reduced to 1 lieutenant, 1 ensign, 1 drum­ mer and 5 privates, while a month later, of all the oflBeials, the bookkeeper was tlie only one left alive. With this reduced force it became incumbent upon the inhabitants to do service for the protection of the place ; this step was rendered all the more ne­ cessary on account of the attitude assumed by the. large number of maroon slaves gathered in the Western part of the island. Substitutes were!in those days as well known as in these, but there appears to have been almost a monopoly granted for tin's duty, as we see the death recorded, on the 12th January 1700, of “ a consumptive Frencllmau who occasionally did service in the fort for the Burghers.” R. P. Labat, in the edition of 1742, of his Nouveau voyage aux lies de I’Amerique, while treating on bis visit to St. Thomas in 1701, says that on the 18th April “ a la pointe dn jour nous appergumes la caravelle de St. Thomas............................................. ” “ II y a un espfece de Fort presque an milieu du fond du port, qni n’est qu’un petit qnarre, avec de ties petits Bastions sans fosse ni ouvrages exterieurs................................................................................. o! As the fort is so weak, he says, a large batterj’ had been bnilt “ sur le bord de la mer an has du Fort” where lie thinks he has seen 20 cannons, bat this battery is perfectly open in the rear, so that' the one who built it had thrown away money................................ He also states that “ Les Batimens qui sont dans le Fort sont adosses centre le mar, pour laisser une cour quanee an milien.” The unhealthiness of the fort is farther complained of in 1702 by the then Governor Clans Hansen, as in his l.etter of the 1st December to the Company he states that since be'had moved into the fort he had never been well. At this time complaints were made of repeated attacks of pirates and privateers who had taken off slaves. The state in which the good folks of those days sometimes existed mav easily be comprehended when we mention the one fact that “on the 25th February 1703 no divine service was held owing xo the pass- ing of a canoe at the East end of the island having been reported the alarm fired in consequence and the Commandant informed of the case; shortly after, however, all anxietv was removed on its becoming known that the canoe was one which belonged to the Island and which had gone out with two whites and one slave to fetch liraestom; for one of the residents.” That such a deep con­ cern prevailed cannot be wondered at when it is known that .r- * # funy stnte tliat tliia Iiouae, (tlio puicliase of wliicli tli« Com- p iny complained of), contained only a liall, ‘>no i-ooin, a i kitclieii, a pantry, 3 dormer rooms and a gallery, with 2 out-; rooms. On the arrival of the new Governor 'J’hambsen, he; was instructed to immediately commence (he repairs to the fort,; arranging dwellings for the Governor, the Bookkeeper and other civil, military and ecclessiastical fnnctionaiies, hot should there not be sufficient room to provide these dwellings, then other rooms were to be built, or a Lutheran Church was to be erected in the village to replace the one in the fort which took up the space required for the necessary apartments, the more so as it was supposed that the church in the fort lia^ already' been used on week-days, contrary to theorder of things, tor worldly purposes, among others for keeping court in. On the transfer of the Governorship in 1724 it was still; apparent that the fort was in a very bad condition, as the! greater part of the walls overbung, and, doubtless, its condition,! otherwise, rendered it again a subject for the atteution of the! Company. Up to this year there were no entrances to tbej North and South of the structure, as there are now, but at the Eastern and Western sides, as the following description willshew:; About the centre of the Eastern side there is a gate with steps: of mason-work leading to a half moon which stands before thej gate ; the covering of the nioou is perfectly dilapidated. The: height of the walls of the fort is about 22 feet. Between the Bas­ tions to the corners touching the square of the fort, the length of wall on the South between Company’s Bastion (S. E.) and King’s Ba‘8-! tion (S. W,) is about 6.5 feet; on tl'.e West between King’s Bas-i tion (S, W.) and Queen’s Bastion (N. W.) 94 feet; on the I North between Queen’s Bastion (N. W.) and Prince’s Bastion: (N. E.) 76 feet and finally to the East between Prince’s Bastion | (N, E.) and Company’s Bastion (S. E.) 84 feet.” The gnus werei not placed, as they were later, on the flat mason roofs of the Bas-' tions, neither were tire Bastions, as afterwards, completely cover-' ed so that the Cnrtain.s and Bastions were under one fl.it roof of' unifonn height, but the Bustious were covered with a root of bricks on beams of only 7 feet widrb and these were to serve mainly as coverings for the guns placed beneath and as shelter for the sol­ diers, thus mostly resembling the Northern Bastions in the form they yet maintain, without any idea of yardroom such ns is! found now in them. No mention whatever b^ing made anywhere of barracks or sleeping room for the soldiers they must have had their quarters in the Bastions under the covering provided for the cannon. The only regular Curtain was the Western, which stretch-1 ed its entire length at unifonn height (17 feet broad, with outside i walls of 22 feet height) and was completely covered with bricks on planks. On this side was the entrance to the foOr, as well as the office of the town court, doctor’s room, armory and secretary’s office, while on the Noi thein side of the gate stood the room of tlie gate keeper and the drummer, the kitchen and the canleen. The first-mentioned four rooms occupied a space of the leugth of 52 feet, the last three only of 41 feet. “Tlie Northern Curtain had, nearest to Queen’s Bastion, au arch 41 feet long .and 11 feet broad, which was used aa a corps da tjnrde, aiid from this a /r 2e ^ ^ 7^ \r Taken fron The St. Thomas Almanack and Commercial Advertiser for 1881. St. Thomas, August Walloe, 1881. Facihg page 76-1724. % 7(]> passage, IVi feet and 5 feet wide, witli flat brick roof, I led to Priiioo’s BaRtion. Going from tlio North the first ■ building near the Eastern Curtain wliich was fonnd was the Cistern, which was feet lung, 8 feet broad and 10 feet deep, ■ and was covered witli bricks. Next to the cistern, against the I same Curtain, was a building above the gate. On the West­ ern side of the gate was the North side of the Church, a good stone wall 4l> feet long; on the Eastern end are two provision lockers, tlie uppermost one of which was 41 feet deep and 7 feet broad ; next to these two lockers was another of the same depth, but Id feet broad. The Church is 25 feet broad and its three sides are of wood, it is roofed with red tiles, has an arched ceiling of wood, and 20 glass windows, each of? panes height by 4 in width j the floor being <»f brick. At the Eastern end on the South side of the Chureh stands a house, 18 feet wide, 23 feet long, of framed wood work with shingled roof and a wooden gallery ; under this gallery there is an arched dungeon, 12 feet long and 8 feet broad. From the Lieutenant’s quarters and Westward* towards King’s Bastion runs a passage, 23 feet long and 7 feet broad, on which is built an 8 feet square hut, used as a prison, with platform roof. In a line from Company’s Bastion, Westward, there is a cistern, 8 feet brt)ad, 12 to 14 feet long and 8 feet deep ; next to this there is a building running westward towards King’s Bastion, it is 314 feet long and 14 feet broad, outside measuieraont, contains two apart­ ments for tlie Goveinnient Clerks, and is platform roofed ; in the Eastern end there is a dungeon, 12 feet square. In the North side of'the fort, close up to the arched corps de garde, stands a round shaped tower; half way up this tower there is a door through I which a passage is obtained upwards to the middle apartment by means of a ladder ; in the middle apartment are two trap doors the one for desecuding into the lower room, the other for ascend- |iug into the upper room ; on the top of the tower there are four loop hole.s, tw'o bells, as well as a flagstaff. The door in the mid­ dle of the tower is gained, from the yard, first by a ladder of the I heiglit of the fort, thereafter by some stone steps and finally by a wooden staircase of 15 steps. Below the fort stands a half roofed negro house, 127 feet long and 14 feet broad. The water battery is 5 to G feet high and, with all its angles, measures 306 feet in length.” [In order that onr readers may more easily understand this rather detailed description of the fort, we give herewith a plan of it as it was in 1724, and refer, further, to the table of explanations.] On the transfer, in 1727, of the Government, from Motli to Ilenricli Sulim, the principal reconstruction of the foit was being effected, but the S. W. Bastion alone was finished and the West­ ern Curtaiiriunly half finished; the work must, liowever, liave beer, very slow, for, in 1730 the Company repeatedly urged “that the work of repaiiing the fort he hurried on with, as it had been in hand already several years.” The Company was “desirous that • Tlio word " Westward,” as taken from the original (locnraente, is probably In­ correctly rendered here, and sboiild bo substitutud by ” lia-stwiird,” according to wbich llic pluii of ihc fort must be coiisidotx-d. the Governor, the offices and officials could be moved into the fort, in order that the Government House in town might be dis­ posed of.” Coming on to 1733, the fort is thus described: “The South West, or King’s Bastion, has an arch, under which there is a provision room. The North West, or Queen’s Bastion, which is covered with bricks on beams, is a lodging place tor 10 men and in this Bastion are found the kitchen and oven. The North East, or Prince’s Bastion, which is covered the same as the North West Bastion, is a lodging place for 12 men and con­ tains a dungeon. The Sooth East, or Company’s Bastion, wliicli is covered as the former ones, contains the four rooms of the Gov­ ernor. Outside, towards the yard, there is a wall with two arch­ ed gateways, representing a gallery; it is roofed 4ind is in connec­ tion with "the roof of the rooms; under this there are two dun­ geons. Under the Governor’s rooms are a small cistern, the Gov­ ernor’s cellar. Provision cellars with entrance from under the church, and the Powder Magazine with walls of 5 to 6 feet thick­ ness, having the entrance behind the foundation of the church and a wall built outside, of which wall further mention is made later. Neither the Governor’s rooms nor the cellars abovemen- tioned were yet finished. The Southern Curtain contains the Governor’s pantry, to the side of which sufficient space has been tsiken out of the breadth of the Cnttain for a mason work stair­ case leading down to the small cistern, to the two dungeons under the gallery, and to the Governor’s private cellar. At this point another step leads down to a small hole under the pantry, but was intended to lead to the opening into the projected breastwork on the South side of the fort; this opening was not quite broken through the wall yet, neither had any further work been done to the breastwork besides the foundation.” (On further examination it is clear that the breastwork was never completed). “ Between the first mentioned step and the pantry, towards King’s (S. W.) Bastion, there is a space or room, 26 feet by 20 feet, which is nei­ ther roofed nor supplied with doors nor windows; it has, however, towards the sea, two oval lioles 2 feet high and 3 feet broad. The Western Curtain has six chambers for the lieutenants, the non­ commissioned officers, the doctor and the clerks; it is rooted with planks and rocks, but leaks already. The-Northern Curtain is the corps degarde with its arch, at the back of which, in the yard, stands the old tower. In the centre of the length of this Curtain is found the entrance into the fort, and outside of this there is a breast­ work, which is enclosed by walls supplied with musket holes; these walls run from both Bastions and form a triangle, their point of junction holding the gate, to which a mason work step leads from outsida . The gate is built in such a mapner as to al­ low a space in which the sentry can take refuge in rainy weather. The Eastern Curtain contains, towards the North, a lodging house for some of the clerks, and next to this there is an open space iu which the water is drawn op from the arched cistern below the house and the space; this cistern is called the large cistern. Next to the cistern is the descent to the gate, which is well sup­ plied with means for closing out towards the Eastern breastwork 78 wliero (,ho liniie is piepavod for the iHiildiug of the f«)rl ; of this hreastwoik o«[v ihe foundatiou oij the soiUli side is boilt. The descent nllinied to leads likewise to the cellars under the church and to file Cantijie, and, fnitlier on to the passage which goes round tlie foundation of tlie chinch, of which previous mention was made, in to tlie powder luagiucine. Over the descent on the eastern side of the eastend of the chnich and over the gate pre­ viously mentioned, a room is arranged for the secretary’s oflice ; it has a door to tlie yard next to the. space in which water is drawn, .and another door to the passage which runs behind the church oeer the passage to the Governor’s rooms, but neither door, windows nor doors are yet dnished. From this Curtain, or rather, from the jiassage already described, the Church stretches its entire length into the yard; the oluueli was built of wood in 170G, but afterwards the Northern side was built of thick wall, while on the Sonthern side as far as tlie Governor’s rooms go, the defective wood work had been taken out and replaced by a wall. The wood work of the Church, whicli is still left, is nearly rotten and is to be replaced shortly by wall work; the roof, ac­ cording to the custom of the filace, is of planks and shingles. 'I'lie hospital and oven are outside the Sontli West Ibistion and the open space on the Western side towards the liaibonr where the lime, kiln is.” (In connection with this desniiption niention is made of caniinn at Fasqnereaax point and on a small hill at the Gregory*.) At the rehnilding of the fort, the Demilune became the point of the Eastern ravelin (see plan) and thus became invisi­ ble from outside, while, on tbe inside of the walls being filled up, in order to obtain a level, the greater part of the Demilune was bu- vicd by the filling, so that in 1874 the oldest inhabitant even could not have kfown ot its existence. The repairs to the fort were finally completed on the 3Qth April 17.T’); but this completion did not insure against tur- ther work, as, soon after, in 173(», it was found necessary that tbe I first six looms built of mason work in tiie foit (against the West- ein Cuitaiu) should be rebuilt, audit] the meantime the occu­ pants, the clerks and the doctor, liad to move into the rooms ; arranged for the Govcjnor, as they were vacant inconsequence 'of the Governor continujug fo reside in a private house ot his own ill the town, owing to the accoiuiuodatjou in the fort being in- leiided only fora bachelor, In view of these matters the Government asked for orders to <-r.-cc a comfonahle wooden building in the fort ' for the Governor or Vice-governoi in the event of the Company insisting that one of them should reside there, in which case the looms already in the fort could be used as ofiices for tlie Secre­ tary and the Court, ! We pass ii,iw to tlio year 17.j2, up to which titpe notbing worthy of note here js to be found. In tlijs year the Chnrcli in the fort was (lemolished as it was ready t«) fajl to pieces, and iHervjce was hpid in one of (he four rooiqs formetly intended for the Geveiiior ; the (ifiier three were used for tlie ai niory, eai'|ien- ter’s shop and treasury, Iq this year qlso the Governor con­ firmed the demand lor repairs to the fort, and, as great changes Taken from The St. Thomas Almanack and Commercial Advertiser for 1881. St. Thomas, August Walloe, 1881. Facing page 78-1874. \T«ic considered necess.ary, a wooden model of tlie fort was Bent Ion to Copenlias^en, according to which the Easter^i tavelin was hot ananged for cannon and for but few innskets, and had only been used as a Btoreyard, garden and stable for Iiorses and I cattle. Several other alterations were recommended and Bub-i jntitted to etcperts at Copenhagen and were approved cjf, and on! the 19tli April 1753 the Governnient promised that the repairs to the fort should be made according to the orders of the Company, but remarked that it would take a couple of years to complete the work, as the requisite quantity of limo was not to be had easily. Owing, however, to the transfer of the island by the Com­ pany to the Crown, the changes to the fort were not made as ex- teu.sively as was Intended. The Chnrch in the fort having been demolished, tire corner I stone of a new Lutheran Church was laid on the 1st February i 1753 on the present Lot No. 41 & 42 Norregade, the buildingj of which was pruceeded with very slowly, and shortly after its- completion its roof was blown off during an nunsually severe' linrricaiie on the night of the 31st August—1st September, 1772,' thus rendering the building unfit for use and necessitating divine service being again held in a room in the fort, uutil the 14th July 1793, when the Lutheran Church, on its presentsitc, w’as consecrat- j ed. [We may ask how many of dnr readers aie there who will! not be surprised to know that the stately old mahogany je'alousie doors, once in use by the Church, are the same now at the entrances of the Police Master’s private office in the Police Station ? And eii passant say tliat the firing of watch gnus daily from the fort at .5 o’clock a. m. and 8 o’clock p. m. dates from the year 1785. Nor would we omit mentioning liere that the former two-srory Barracks, of brick and wood, 200 feet by 48 feet,’ which was com­ pletely destroyed by the hurricane of 29th October 1867, (and substituted in 1874, by the present magnificent building) was built behind the fort iu 1829,] The fort, qn-tlie ,whnly, -has remained np' to errr dajt, in about the same state in which it was reburlt in 1727-35 bafr-iw 1874-75 it was again re-modelled, and in order to convey a clear idea of it before its last change, we give herewith a plair as it was in 1874, with table of explanations. We abstain from giving the long list of the nnmeronsalteratious made in it iu 1874-75, simitly point­ ing out what is most str iking as to its exterior changes. Oovoinor: Iversen’s weather beaten tower, which had defied the hurTicanes! and earthquakes of more than two centuries, was blasted on the! 19th June 1874 atfij o’clock p.m. All the works between the two Northern Bastions were razed, and iu theirstead a new buildingof an entirely different appear ance was erected with a chi:k tower over the entrance. To the East and West of the fort new yards were arranged by the erection of walls between the Bastioirs. None of i the changes, however, produced rrrore sensation than wascreated on | the demolition of the Easteim ravelin. As gradually the filling upi was carted away, there appeared to vise out of the* ground some' mysterious, old, thick walls, the existence of which no one had suspected and which caused the wildest conjectures. It was, iu 80 I all its reality, the venerable Demilnne rising once more previous to its final goiog <lown. It caused demi*lunatic speculations regarding the turning up of old treasure vaults filled with Caribbean or buccaneer’s gold, old towers with secret subterrane­ an prisons and racks, perhaps even human skeletons and so on. However the walls were duly photographed and then nncere- monioi^ly done away with^ A\^ith these changes Christiansfort ceased to be a fortifica­ tion and is October 1875 it was converted into our present Police Station. C3-OT7-ISH.3NrOH.l_ . Tlie Danish West India Uoveiiwrs, before IjA ST. THOJVX^S. jrs, before u^reinoval of the seat oJLOovemrnent frqm^ St. IhomgjM St. Croix. M Jorgen Iversen....................................................................................1672—16^ Nic. ,..............................................................................1680—168;} Jorgen Iversen....................... .................................................1683, see page 67 Adolf Esm it..........................................................................................168:3-1684 Gabriel Milan................................................................................ .. 1684—1685 Christopher Heins (acting).............................................................. 1685—1687 Adolf Esiuit................................................................... .......................1 )87—16' 8 Christopher Heins..............................................................................1688—1680 Johan Lorentr. (acting) .............................................................1689—1692 Frants de la Vlgue........................ 1692—1694 Johan Lorentz......................................................................................1694—1702 Clans Hansen........................................................................................1702—1706 Joachim von Hoi ten......................................................................1706—1709 Michel Krone....................................................... 1709—1716 Erik Hredal........................................................... 1716—1723 Otto Jacob Tbambsen...................................... 1723—1724 Frederich Moth {ad interim).......................................................... 1724—1T27 HenrichSuhm......................................................................................1727—1732 Philip Gardelin........................................... 1732—17:36 Frederich Moth....................................................................................1736—1743 Christian Schweder............................................................................ 1743—1746 Christian Snhm....................................................................................1746—1758 (In 1I4B the seat of Government was removed to St. Crolx.)i (The Govemors-General residing at St. Croix are hero omitted.! Harrier Felchenhauer........................................... 1758—1761 Johan George von John.....................................................1761—1764 Peter dC Gunthelberg....................................................................1764—1766 Ulrich Wilhelm RoepstorfF.............................. ...................... 1766—1767 Jens Kragh..........................................................-.............................. 1767—1773 Georg Host.......................................................................................1773 Thomas de Malleville............................................. 1773—1796 C. F. von MUhleufels.................................. 1796—1800 Casimir Wilhelm von Scholten....................... .............................. 1800—1807 English Occnpatfon..............1807-^1815 Christian Frederik von Holten.......................................................1815—1818 Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten......................... ........... ...^...1819—1823 Carl Wilhelm Jessen..........................................................1823-+. Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten..................... ......... ............ ..-.1823 Johannes Sobotker, ad interim................. ..1823—1824 Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten................................ 1824—1825 Johannes Sobotker, ad interim ............................. .........................1826—1828 Frederik Ludvig Christian Pentz von Rosendrn...................... .1829—1830 Jorgen Levin.Rohde, ad interim.....................................................1830—1836 Johannes Sobotker.......................... ...... ..........................................1836—1842 Jorgen Levin Rhode, ad interim................................................... ..1842—1843 Johanned Sobotker___.'...................................................... 1843—1846 Frederik von Oxholm.......................................................................... 1846—1848 Hans Hendrik Berg, ad interim.......................... .......1848—1849 Frederik von Oxholm................................................ ...1849—1850 Hans Hendrik Berg................................................................ ^. 1850—1862 Louis Rothe...................................................................... 1862—1870 Johan August Stakemann.................................................................1870—1871 The seat of Government Was temporarily transferred W St. Thomas in Janrtary Isil. Vilhelm Ludvig Birch (Guveruor General).................................If^l-p Johan August Stakemann, ad interim.......................................... 1871 Franz Ernst Bille................................................................ 1871—1872 The seat of Government was definitively transferred to St. Thomas in Jnlv isiZ Johan August Stiikeiiiiinn, ad interim............................................1872 Janus August Guide (Governor General)..................................1872 REFERENCES 1. Walloe’s The St. Thomas Almanack and Commercial Advertiser. 2. Knox, John P. A historical account of St. Thomas, D.W.I., 1852. 3. Lose, Emil Valdemar. Folkekirken paa St. Thomas... Copenhagen, 1878. The Lutheran Church in the West Indies... 1897. Kort Udsigt over den danske Lutherske Mission, 1890. 4. Royal Archives, Copenhagen, Denmark. 5. Westergaard, Valdermar. The Danish West Indies under company rule, 1671 - 1917. New York, Macmillan, 1917. 6. Lose’s MSS. - Kort Udsigt over den danske Lutherske Missions. Historie paa St. Croix, St. Thomas og St. John, 1890. 7. Lightbomrn’s West India Annual and Commercial Directory. 1897 - 1923. (continued Walloe’s St. Thomas Almanack...) 8. Other historical pubhcations contemplated by Mr. Lightbourn. 9. Governor James Oliver, Rear Admiral, USN - 1st Naval Governor of the V.I. 1917. 10. Halley’s Comet, Dec. 25, 1758. 11. Jno.’s advice to his son in matters of printing & island history. 12. Possibly he is referring to the 1671 date given by Westergaard for the island colonization, instead of emphasizing March 1671 when Erik Nielsen Smidt landed on St. Thomas and planted the Danish flag on Smidtsberg. 13. His reference to steel line engraving plates used in illustrating the Annual. 14. “Berry” is the short for Alberic, his son who continued the printing estab­ lishment. 15. The Pirate Island of St. Barth’s - possibly a contemplated publication. 16. Son Alberic Lightbourn is a resident of Fajardo, P.R. and is aware of the re­ print of his father’s historical account of Fort Christian. "■ .' '■''•.■v-v’':'r;w-iTV-t:-,!;'' ' ■' ' v;,vf ^.; \; : ' ' v' ; . r:'< {'•'.■ j'. r ■ V PRINTED BY BUREAU OF LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS PHOTODUPLICATING LABORATORY