| Christiansted National Historic Site | |
|---|---|
 Christiansted historic district with whiteDanish colonial style Lutheran church in the center | |
    | |
| Location | Christiansted,Virgin Islands,USA |
| Coordinates | 17°44′49″N64°42′8″W / 17.74694°N 64.70222°W /17.74694; -64.70222 |
| Area | 27.15 acres (10.99 ha) |
| Established | March 4, 1952 |
| Visitors | 106,015 (in 2005) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Christiansted National Historic Site |
Christiansted National Historic Site commemorates urban colonial development of theVirgin Islands. It features 18th- and 19th-century structures in the heart ofChristiansted, the capital of the formerDanish West Indies onSt. Croix Island.
The site consists of six historic structures: Fort Christiansværn (constructed from 1738 to 1749), theDanish West India and Guinea Company Warehouse (1749), the Church of Our Lord Sabaoth Steeple Building (1753), Customs House (built 1840–1842), the Scale House (1856), and Government House (1747). TheDanish West India and Guinea Company held slave auctions in its warehouse until 1803, when the slave trade was outlawed.
Beginning in May 1735, Christiansted was developed using a grid system. TheBuilding Code of 1747 dictated street widths,setbacks,zoning, and building material. Masonry structures were the norm by the 1760s, andneoclassical architecture characterized the colonial government buildings.[1]
The fort was constructed in 1738 on the remains of an earlier French fortification destroyed by a hurricane. The fort protected commerce from piracy andprivateers, and local citizens fromslave revolts. The first Danish governors were also housed there. The British occupied the colony from 1801 to 1803 and from 1807 to 1815. The fort housed the police headquarters, court offices, courthouse and archives starting in 1878. The soldiers were replaced by 60gendarmes in 1906 and remained until Transfer Day in 1917.
The fort also served as the colony jail. A notable inmate was the mother ofAlexander Hamilton, Rachel Faucette. She married her first husband,Johann Michael Lavien, in 1745, at age 16.[2] In 1750, she refused to live with Lavien any longer, an offense for which Lavien had her jailed under Danish law.[3] She spent several months in a 10 by 13 foot cell with one small window.[2] Soon after being released, she fled to theBritish West Indies, where she met Hamilton's father.[3]
The site was first established on March 4, 1952, as theVirgin Islands National Historic Site, through the initiative of concerned local citizens. Its purpose was to preserve the historic structures and grounds within its boundaries, and to interpret theDanisheconomy and way of life between 1733 and 1917, including colonial administration, military and naval establishment, international trade (includingslave trade), religious diversity, architecture, trades, and crime and punishment. The site was renamed on January 16, 1961. As with all historic areas administered by theNational Park Service, the historic site was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
As of 2016[update], the National Park Service planned to celebrate its centennial with an initiative to rehabilitate the main warehouse facility into a slave trade museum, and to restore the complex to its 1833 appearance.[4]
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