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Christiansted
Town
Town of Christiansted
The City of Christiansted looking east
Christiansted
Coordinates: 17°45′N 64°45′W / 17.75°N 64.75°W / 17.75; -64.75
Sovereign State	United States
Territory	Virgin Islands
Island	Saint Croix
Established	September 1, 1734
Population
• Total	1,866
ZIP code(s)	00820–00824

Christiansted is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States of America. The town is named after King Christian VI of Denmark.

History

The town was founded by Captain Frederik Moth after he was made governor of St. Croix in 1733. Departing from St. Thomas, Moth's party had cleared a space for Fort Christianswærn by 5 September. In a ceremony next to this fort on 8 January 1734, the French formally handed the island over to the Danes in the form of the Danish West India and Guinea Company. St. Croix was to be allotted 300 plantations, 215 for sugar and the rest for cotton. The plantations surveyed were 3,000 by 2,000 feet. In addition, the company established a sugar refinery and distillery. The fort was completed by 1740. The 1742 census listed 120 sugar plantations, 122 cotton plantations, 1,906 slaves, about 300 Englishmen, and 60 Danes. By 1743, St. Croix had a hospital. In 1745, the number of slaves had increased to 2,878. By 1754, the town included 83 "white inhabitants", "each of whom owned from a single slave to sixty-six of them", according to Westergaard. Slaves on the island numbered 7,566.

Christiansted is a former capital of the Danish West Indies and home to the Christiansted National Historic Site. It has preserved the 18th-century Danish-style solid stone buildings in pastel colors with bright red tile roofs line the cobblestone sidewalks, adding a touch of 18th-century European architectural style. Because the town was constructed by African slaves, there are also African influences in Christiansted's design, making it one of the world's few "African-Danish" towns. The town's symmetry, with streets running at right angles to the waterfront, makes it popular for walking tours. The commercial area centers on King and Company streets, adjacent to the Christiansted National Historic Site. The residential area, including portions that were originally settlements for free blacks, extends inland and uphill from the commercial area. The botanist Julius von Rohr started a botanic garden in the 18th century and produced a number of landscapes of the island.

Christiansted has small hotels and many restaurants. In 1947, The Buccaneer resort, to the northeast of town, was opened by the Armstrong family as an 11-room inn. Several scuba shops operate in town, as the wharf has easy access to diving attractions on the island's north side. A small point of interest is Protestant Cay, a cay near Christiansted.

Demographics

As of 2020, Christiansted had a population of 1,770, while the larger sub-district had a population of 1,866.

The population decreased by almost 30% between 2010 and 2020 due to the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Economy

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2015)

Seaborne Airlines was formerly headquartered in Christiansted.

Transportation

Christiansted is served by one commercial airport, Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, with flights on several airlines, including American and Delta. A ferry serving the hotel on the Cay resort runs between Christiansted and Protestant Cay.

Education

Public schools serving the community are operated by the St. Croix School District.

Climate

Christiansted has a tropical savanna climate (Koppen Aw/As).

Notable people

• Judah P. Benjamin, a Confederate politician and a seminal figure in the United States Civil War, was born in Christiansted while it was still a Danish colony.
• NBA player Tim Duncan (two-time MVP, five-time NBA champion) is a native.
• Alexander Hamilton was a resident in 1765 after leaving his birthplace of Charlestown, Nevis at age 11. Upon reaching 17 years old, he moved from the then-Danish Virgin Islands to New York City and never returned to the Caribbean.
• Victor Borge was a long-time resident of Christiansted
• Audre Lorde died in Christiansted on November 17, 1992, at the age of 58. She was a famous poet.
• Carolyn Carter, model and beauty queen
• Kenneth Gittens, politician and police officer
• Marise James, politician
• "Queen" Mary Thomas one of the leaders of the fireburn riots, was imprisoned here from 1887 to 1905.
• Casper Holstein, a mobster involved in the Harlem "numbers rackets", was born in Christiansted in 1876.

Gallery

• Government House in Christiansted
• Street in Christiansted
• View at National Historic Site
• Street in Christiansted
• Christiansted, looking north.
• Christiansted, looking westward.
• Protestant Cay
• Fort Christiansværn in the 1930s.
• An 1836 plan of Fort Christiansværn, a historic building in Christiansted.

Notes

1. "The Port of Christiansted". U.S. National Park Service.
2. Westergaard, Waldemar (1917). The Danish West Indies Under Company Rule (1671-1754). New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 209–217, 222–225, 235.
3. "Historic Hotels of America adds the Buccaneer on St. Croix". Travel Weekly. 8 November 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
4. "Slow Road to Recovery: U.S.V.I. Sees Signs of Resilience Amid Range of Difficulties". U.S.V.I.'s population fell by 18 percent between 2010 and 2020. Factors driving that decline include the closing of an oil refinery that had been the territory's largest private employer, destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, job losses in the tourism sector, a high cost of living, and a lack of educational opportunities.
5. "Population of the United States Virgin Islands: 2010 and 2020" (PDF).
6. "Census Bureau Releases Census 2000 Population Counts for the U.S. Virgin Islands".
7. "Contact Seaborne Airlines" (). Seaborne Airlines. February 7, 2006. Retrieved on April 18, 2015. "Postal Address: Seaborne Airlines Attn: Feedback 34 Strand Street Christiansted, VI 00820 "
8. "NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
9. "Station: Christiansted AP, VI VQ". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 17, 2021.

References

• Lonely Planet's Cities Book: A Journey Through the Best Cities in the World p. 159.

External links

• Christiansted National Historic Site (National Park Service)
• "Christiansted" . The American Cyclopædia. 1879.

Media related to Christiansted at Wikimedia Commons

• Populated places in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
• Towns in the United States Virgin Islands
• Sub-districts of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
• Populated places established in 1744
• Christian VI of Denmark