St. Croix History

St. Croix is the only of the U.S. Virgin Islands to have a "rainforest".  Although technically not a rainforest it's rainforest enough for St. Croix, and that's what they call it. St. Croix is about three times the size of St. Thomas (four times the size of St. John) and is known for making rum and it's own special breed of St. Croix cattle, called the Senepol.

Some of the residents are the descendants of the former Scotch and Irish overseers and are known as the islands "Royal Families".

Many Puerto Rican's have come in and made St. Croix their home, they number close to one half of the population in St. Croix.

Because of the larger acreage, better water supply and fertile land, St. Croix was well inhabited much earlier than the other Virgin Islands. The Arawak Indians, the original residents, were driven out by the cannibalistic Carib Indians in the 14th century. Christopher Columbus discovered St. Croix and discovered these fierce cannibals inhabiting it.  The Spaniards were said to be shocked at the fierceness and cruelty of the Carib Indians. The clash between the Spaniards and the Caribs is cited as the first recorded armed conflict between Europeans and natives of the New World.

In 1696 King Louis XIV ordered the 800 St. Croix residents to move to Haiti, and the island was deserted for 37 years, until it was purchased by Denmark. St. Croix enjoyed an era of fabulous prosperity by producing a large amount of sugar from sugar cane and in 1796 over half the island was covered with sugar cane.

The great estates were models of elegance and ease.  The island life was lavish, it was known as the ‘garden of the Caribbean'. Raised in St. Croix was David Hamilton Jackson, a brilliant young boy who took over the entire management of his employers affairs. David Hamilton Jackson was later responsible for petitioning the Danes to sell the Virgin Islands to the USA and for starting the first independent Virgin Islands Newspaper.

St. Croix slaves in 1848 had an uprising burning their way across cane fields and demanding their freedom.  The Governor Peter von Scholten immediately freed all slaves in the Virgin Islands.  He made his announcement from the turrets of the ancient red fort in the heart of Frederiksted. Some say Peter von Scholten knew of the impending uprising and used this to his advantage to quickly free the slaves, which was what he wanted to do but was unable to earlier.  And to the favor of all involved, the St. Croix uprising did not result in anyone being seriously harmed.  General Buddhoe, a St. Croix African worker of La Grange was commended for his influence in keeping the revolt from exploding into a massacre.

St. Croix flew under seven different flags before being sold to the United States. And is today known for having a superior dive spot called "the wall". It starts out at 300 ft and then plunges down thousands of feet.  It has been also rated one of the best dive spots in the Caribbean for new divers.*

St. Croix Photographer Carol Lee || Lodging