Gibney Beach is a magnificent stretch of white sandy shoreline. The beach has a fascinating history that is largely responsible for the unique characteristics of, and the unique characters found on, the beach today.

Until 1950, there was nothing really unusual about Gibney Beach, which was then known simply as Hawksnest Beach.

The Amerindian ancestors of the Taino were the first human beings to settle in this area of St. John establishing a village on what is now called Hawksnest Point, the headland between Hawksnest and Caneel Bays.

European settlers named the bay, Högsnest, after the hawksbill turtle, which used to nest on the beaches there. By the mid-eighteenth century, however, human activity became intense enough to convince the hawksbill turtle to nest somewhere else. This fact, however, did not result in a change of name for the bay, but when the language of St. John evolved into English, Högsnest was anglicized and became Hawksnest.

Well at Gibney Beach

Gibney Beach, or Högsnest, as it was known then, was also inhabited for a time by European colonists and African slaves. This is evidenced by the remains of old colonial- period structures, which can be found just inshore from the beach. There is also an old well from that period, which still functions. It is now used to provide irrigation for a modern-day provision ground, fruit orchard and plant nursery.

In 1946, Robert and Nancy Gibney came to St. John on their honeymoon. The Gibneys were an integral part of the "Beat Generation" the center of which was New York City's Columbia University. Among their crowd were the poet, Robert Lax, the painter, Ad Reinherdt, and the author, Thomas Merton.

Gibney Beach 1950s

"Much of the Beat Life style existed among a small group at Columbia University as early as 1939," Wilfred Sheed, The Beat Movement, Concluded; New York Times Book Review, February 13, 1972.

"That economy is of the essence of art was a tenet supported not only by Lax and Reinherdt, but by their close friend, painter, sculptor, prose writer and theorist, Robert Gibney," Susan Howe, The End of Art; Archives of American Art Journal, 1974.

The Gibneys rented a cottage in Cruz Bay and later leased the home of Julius and Cleome Wadsworth on Denis Bay. In 1949, they moved out to Henley Cay, where they lived in a small building, the remains of which can still be found on the island. (Their friends Lax and Reinherdt visited the Gibneys on Henley Cay and stayed for a summer.)
In 1950, the Gibneys bought a forty-acre parcel on Hawksnest Bay and constructed a house just inland from the center of the beach. They had three children.

The Gibney children followed in their parent's footsteps. Like their father and mother, they were well liked and accepted by the native population and would receive many local visitors. In addition, they attracted a good following of Continentals.

The beat generation evolved into the hippies and when the Gibney children were teenagers they had many friends among the flower children who would often congregate at Hawksnest. Today the tradition continues, and there is still is a definite tendency for Gibney Beach to draw an offbeat or "off the beaten track" assembly.

When Robert and Nancy Gibney died, the beach, and the property behind it, was left to their three children and the land was eventually divided amongst them. Today, the parcel adjoining the old Oppenheimer house, bordered by a white picket fence, is privately owned by Teri Gibney, wife of the late John Gibney, and her son, Tommy. The parcels of beachfront land belonging to the other two Gibneys have been sold to the National Park, with the proviso that one of the heirs has the lifetime right to live in the Gibney house, and the other retains the right to land access to his former section of beach.

The Gibney Family (A summary of Eleanor Gibney’s Presentation by Eleanor Gibney

Oppenheimer
In 1957 the Gibneys sold a small parcel of their land in Hawksnest to J. Robert Oppenheimer, "the father of the atomic bomb," and his wife, Kitty. The property was at the northeastern extreme of the Gibney's land, where the Oppenheimers built a vacation home on the beach.

Upon the death of J. Robert and later Kitty, Oppenheimer, their daughter Toni inherited the property. When Toni died the property was left to "the people of St. John for a public park and recreation area."

"The people of St. John" proved to be a nebulous entity and, as no provisions were made for the upkeep of the property, the house and land fell into disrepair. Graffiti covered the walls, and the house was vandalized.

Toni's dream was finally realized when the Virgin Islands Government took charge of the property and created a Community Center there. Today, for a nominal fee, the Center can be rented out for Community functions, such as Senior Citizen outings, Boy Scouts, local Reggae and Calypso bands, picnics, weddings, birthday parties etc.