The USVI
Columbus discovered the U.S.
Virgin Islands on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. Over the
course of time, the islands were ruled successively by the English,
Dutch, French, Spanish, Knights of Malta, and the Danes.
There were no permanent settlements on St. John until about 1720. Seeking to grow sugar cane for the lucrative rum trade, several European countries laid claim to St. John. Great Britain and Denmark sparred back and forth for control over the tiny island for centuries. The British had claimed St. John when Denmark landed and took physical possession in 1684.
In the beginning, Danish investors operated sugar cane plantations with immigrant Danish convicts, but this soon proved unprofitable as the prisoners would collapse under the unaccustomed tropical heat and often die. Soon, Denmark began importing slaves from Africa to operate its plantations, as did other colonial rulers all over the Americas.
In 1733, slaves on St. John staged a rebellion against slavery and their owners. They were encouraged by the arrival of a group of proud African tribal rulers who preferred death to a life in slavery.
In 1825,
responding to reports of increasing miscarriages of justice at the hands
of the various plantation owners, the Danish government built a new
courthouse and prison in Cruz Bay. (Photo at left, click on
any image on this page to enlarge it.) The
structure was intended to improve the treatment of slaves on St. John by
moving the administration of justice out of the hands of the individual
planters and into the hands of government. The former prison is nowadays
known as The Battery and is the only government building from the
Danish Colonial period still standing.
Slavery ended in all the Danish West Indies in 1848 when Governor General Peter von Scholten abolished it. With the end of slavery came the decline of plantations on St. John and a dramatic drop in population. Between 1850 and 1870 St. John lost about half its population, and by 1913, the population of St. John had dwindled to about 930 persons, all eking out a hard living through fishing and subsistence farming.
With their former importance a distant memory, the U.S. government seized the opportunity to purchase the sleepy islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John from the Denmark during World War I the bargain-basement price of $25,000,000 in gold bullion.
By the 1930s, word of the islands' beauty had reached the U.S. mainland and tourism began.
Further good fortune struck in 1956 when Laurence Rockefeller donated 5000 acres of land to the Federal Government. That acreage today makes up most of what is better known as the Virgin Islands National Park, the nation's twenty-ninth. Through further donations and purchases, the National Park Service today protects some 7200 acres of land and 5600 acres of underwater lands on and around St. John. More than 20 hiking trails cross through the park a stone's throw from Horizons Cottage and Captain's Cabin.
The unique culture, history and style of the USVI is a result of its West African, Danish, Spanish, Irish, Polish, and German heritage. With the many new settlers and slaves brought to the islands since the late 1400s came the rhythms and lyrics of the calypso, cariso, soca, reggae, and steel pan melodies that can be heard throughout the USVI. Virgin Islanders are also very artistic in other media - painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography.
Camille Pissarro,
the famous Impressionist painter, made the USVI his lifelong home. Local
culture expresses itself in numerous festivals around the islands and
also in its unique cuisine, which has its origins in Africa, Puerto
Rico, other West Indian islands, and Europe. Many island recipes
originate from times when imports were scarce, but today's typical
island fare includes locally grown and raised spices, tropical fruits,
root vegetables, and meats.
One favorite local beverage is maubi
(you'll also see it also spelled mauby or maubey), a fermented drink
made of ginger root, yeast, herbs, and the bark of the maubi tree, which
is brewed both in home stills and by some local companies. Other
non-alcoholic specialties include ginger beer, bush tea, soursop juice,
and the creamy sea-moss cooler.
Restaurants in the islands feature international cuisine such as French, Japanese, Italian, and Chinese, but also many island specialties such as conch fritters, cactus soup, docouna, goat water, fried plantains, sweet potato pudding, curried chicken, roasted fig salad, or tortie, a turtle stew with black beans and banana. Lobster, wahoo, grouper, mahi-mahi, tuna, and other daily catches are staple menu items, too. One local specialty dating back to slavery is fungi, most kindly described as a stiff cornmeal mush with okra.
Desserts never
fail to please, either - try a coconut or guava tart, the local
specialty soursop ice cream, made from
the juice of the soursop, (photo at left) a member of the custard apple family which has white fruit
pulp and an astringent, refreshing taste. Other local specialties for
those with a sugar bent include rum cake, bread pudding, stewed
gooseberries on a stick, tie-tie sugar cake, dundersloe, or jawbone.
