For 100 years, the National Park Service has preserved America’s special places “for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” Celebrate its second century with the Find Your Park GeoTour that launched in April 2016 and explore these geocaches placed for you by National Park Service Rangers and their partners.
geocaching.com/play/geotours/findyourpark
This is a traditional cache hidden on the grounds of Fort Christiansvaern. It contains a log book, 2 Postcards of Christiansted, Lapel Pins of the Steeple Building & Fort Christiansvaern, a Fort Christiansvaern magnet, a cannon, a deck of Virgin Islands playing cards, and reference brochures of Christiansted National Historic Site (CHRI), Salt River Bay National Historical Park & Ecological Preserve (SARI) and Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS).
Christiansted National Historic Site is open all year except Thanksgiving and December 25th. On weekdays it opens from 8 AM to 5 PM. It opens from 9 AM to 4:30 PM on the weekends and Federal Holidays. There is a minimal fee of $10.00 (three-day pass) to enter Fort Christiansvaern for ages 16 and up. Children 15 and under are free. Please do not let this fee hinder such a rich, educational and adventurous experience.
A Brief History of Fort Christiansvaern
Fort Christiansvaern, the oldest and one of seven historic buildings that make up the Christiansted National Park in Christiansted, St. Croix, was built on a former French fortification. It was completed in 1749 and renovated and enlarged from 1835-41. Of the seven buildings that make up the park, only five are owned and administered by the National Park Service: The Scale House, Customs House, The Danish West India and Guinea Company Warehouse, and The Steeple Building.
Fort Christiansvaern was part of a triangular system of harbor defense. To raid Christiansted’s Harbor, pirates and privateers would have faced a number of obstacles: the long narrow coral reef, two outlying cannon batteries, and Fort Christiansvaern defenses. The two outlying batteries were Fort Louise Augusta, which was located on the eastern headland of what is currently known as Batteriet Louise Augusta Estate, and Fort Sophia Frederika, located at the north end tip of Protestant Cay.
Although such masterful precautions were put in place, the Fort never fired a single shot to defend itself. Rather, as history shows, Fort Christiansvaern was built to protect shipping in the harbor from privateers instead of repelling foreign invaders. The main purpose for such a grand fortification was to ensure the collection of customs duties for the Danish Crown’s Danish West India and Guinea Company during the era when “Sugar was King,” and Christiansted was the Capital of the Danish West Indies (1755 – 1871).
Within these walls are many stories waiting to be discovered. One story is that of Alexander Hamilton’s mother, Rachel Lavien, who was imprisoned by her husband in 1750 for adultery. This was his way of trying to “teach her a lesson”! Some lesson! Another great story is that of Moses Gottlieb, “General Buddhoe,” leader of the successful 1848 slave uprising that brought about the Emancipation of Slavery in the Danish West Indies being imprisoned in the Dungeon before being sent aboard the Ornen – the ship that took him into exile. Some of the leaders of the 1878 Labor Riot (Fireburn) are said to have been imprisoned here until their execution by firing squad in the stable yard.
Wow! Just imagine the many untold mysteries the Fort holds in its walls!