Lithograph print of the Cruz Bay Battery by Fritz Melbye, circa 1850

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Explore the history and cultural heritage of the island of St. John in the U. S. Virgin Islands.

Lithograph print of the Cruz Bay Battery by Fritz Melbye, circa 1850.

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  • Events

    Image of Picnicking on the beach at East End, circa 1909

    Please join us at these upcoming events:

    • Meeting: March 10, 2009 19:00-Bethany Church Hall. “African Roots Project” by George Tyson.
    • Activity: March 14, 2009 9:00-Bordeaux Mountain Road. “Exploring Exploring Bordeaux Estates: Misgunst” with David Knight.
    • Meeting: April 14, 2009 19:00-Bethany Moravian Church. “Pre-Danish Settlement on St John” by David Knight.
    • Activity: April 18, 2009 9:00-Bordeaux Mountain Road. Exploring Bordeaux Estates: Paquerau led by David Knight.

    Please join us March 10th at 7 PM at the Bethany Moravian Church Hall for our monthly meeting at which time the nominating committee will announce its proposed slate of officers and directors for the upcoming year. Following our short business meeting we will once again welcome back our good friend, lifetime member and supporter of the St. John Historic Society, historian George F. Tyson. He is a professional historian who has written widely on Virgin Islands and West Indian history. He has also served as Executive Director of the St. Croix Landmarks Society and President of the St. Thomas Historical Trust. George will provide us with a brief update on the current status of the St. Croix African Roots Project (SCARP); but mainly his talk will focus on information in the Project’s “St. Croix Population Database” pertaining to St. Johnians and St. Johnian families (particularly the Finch family), living on St. Croix from 1734-1917.

    Members may recall that the African Roots Project is designed to reconstruct and study, in great detail, the lives and family histories of over 100,000 enslaved and free individuals living on St. Croix throughout the period of Danish rule. A major outcome of the project will be a digitized, searchable, database, consisting of approximately 2 million entries, compiled from historical records archived in Denmark, the U.S. and the Virgin Islands. Information in the database will enable many families to confidently trace their ancestors back to African homelands. This is sure to be an interesting and informative evening you won’t want to miss.

    On March 14th, we will set out to explore one of the remote estates on Bordeaux Mountain. This time David Knight will guide us through the Misgunst Estate and will provide us with the details of its unique history.

    So, what’s in a name? When it comes to plantation names during the Danish colonial period, some are straight forward and easily translated: “Enighed”, Danish for Unity; “Annaberg” means Anna's mountain, named for a beloved wife and mother; “Windberg”, simply a breezy hilltop; or “Hope”, one of the virtues. But some names seem to defy interpretation. Are they riddles, inside jokes, or simply whimsy? Come join historian David Knight on an exploration of one of St. John's most enigmatically named estates, “Misgunst”—and come prepared to defend your own theory of just how such a beautiful location got such an awful name.

    We will meet and park at the intersection of Centerline and Bordeaux Mountain Rd. at 9 AM and will be bused to the trailhead. This is considered a moderately strenuous hike. Bring water, bug spray, something to eat and be prepared for some unbelievably beautiful historic sights.

  • Articles

    US acquisition of Virgin Islands, 1917

    Read selections from archived SJHS Newsletter articles and supplemental articles about the history and culture of St. John. Recent additions include:

    • A Family Album by Anna Nose and summarized by Robin Swank
    • Fever by Eleanor Gibney
    • A Week on St. John (Notes from Denmark’s most beautiful island) by Olaf Linck

  • Photo Collections

    Photo of Christ of the Carribean, Peace Hillf

    Explore our growing collection of photographs. Recent additions include:

    Historic Buildings (LOC-HABS/HAER)

    An extensive series of photographs and architectural drawings of historic buildings on St John. These works were drawn from the Libary of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

    Family Album of Anna Dohm Nose

    It was front page news on December 21, 1937, the local Daily News in fact, when Peter and Elsa Dohm and family arrived in their 10 meter yawl, Restmore, after a five year voyage. When the voyage began, Anna was four months old. Thus begins a family album covering the activities of this adventurous and entrepreneurial family. Luckily for us, this family believed in cameras and keepsakes, for Anna’s family album chronicles, with a small hiatus for the war years, the development of Cruz Bay and Red Hook from the 1930’s to the 1970’s.

    St Thomas Scenes

    This collection includes old photographs of St Thomas.

  • Maps

    Image of Oxholm 1800 map

    Step back in time and explore our map of historical sites on St. Jan, Danish West Indies in the year 1800, or view current topological and satellite maps of St. John, US Virgin Islands.

  • Connections

    View of American Hill Estate from Maho Bay

    History is all about connections! Explore the connections between our images, documents, articles, and map-locations through the keyword index.

  • Presentations

    Cruz Bay Battery from a sketch by Fritz Melbye, Circa 1850

    View our slide-show presentation, "Enduring Eloquence", a brief background of historical images of St. John, by former SJHS President David Knight.

  • Documents

    1722 list of first plantation owners on St. John

    View copies of primary documents relating to the rich historical legacy of St. John. Selected documents include a list of early settlers dating to 1722, plans for the Cruz Bay Battery drawn in 1780, a census for Lovango Cay from 1846, and many more...