St John Timeline

100,000,000 B.C.	Rocky core of St. John first laid down on the ocean floor as a result of subterranean volcanic activity producing the same rocks found at Ram Head today.
15,000 B.C.	Glaciers lower the sea level more than 300 feet and St. John became connected to Puerto Rico and the rest of the northern Virgin Islands. What is now underwater ocean shelf, were grasslands, savannas and scrub forest.
5,000 B.C.	Melting of the glaciers results in the separation of the islands.
2,000 B.C.	People from the South American mainland begin a migration to the islands of the Lesser Antilles.
1,000 B.C.	First people arrive on St. John surviving mainly on resources provided by the sea. They establish a village at Salt Pond Bay, collect and prepare seafood at Lameshur, and make stone tools at Grootpan Bay.
500 B.C.	Second wave of immigrants proceed up the island chain arriving on St. John in the first century A.D. The original inhabitants are either killed or assimilated by the newcomers. These new arrivals are the ancestors of the Tainos, the culture that Columbus encountered when he arrived in the Americas.
65 A.D.	Amerindian Village established at Tutu on St. Thomas
180	Village established near what is now Rothchild Francis Square on main Street on St. Thomas
600	Villages established at Botany Bay, Magens Bay and Hull Bay, St. Thomas
1000	The Taino culture that originated in Hispaniola arrives on St. Thomas and St. John.
1000-1492	Tainos live peacefully on St. John, planting yucca, fishing, gathering wild fruit, fabricating ceramic pottery, tools and ceremonial objects. Having little need for great technological advances or to defend themselves from other human beings, their culture concentrates on religious and spiritual development. The Tainos apparently disappear from St. John sometime before 1492.
1493	Part of Columbus's fleet sails by St. John his second voyage. The island is reported to be uninhabited.
1593-1717	St. John is sparsely and intermittently inhabited by small groups of Native Americans fleeing persecution, pirates, fugitives of all sorts and colors, fishermen and woodcutters.
1595	Sir Francis Drake stops in St. Thomas to rest his troops before their unsuccessful raid on San Juan after which the famed privateer dies of dysentery.
1598	The Earl of Cumberland, stops in St. Thomas on his way to a successful raid on San Juan. He reports the Virgin Islands to be unpopulated at the time.
1665	King Frederik III of Denmark grants permission to a consortium led by Erik Nielsen Smit to settle St. Thomas
1666	First expedition sails to St. Thomas. The cast of characters included about 50 people of varying European nationalities. They are joined by Dutch refugees who had been living on Tortola, who had been driven out by British privateers. These early settlers began the construction of a fort on what is now called Bluebeard’s hill. The high mortality from disease, hunger and raids by buccaneers who stole a ship and much of their supplies, causes this first expedition to end in failure. Survivors sailed back to Denmark
1672	Danes settle St. Thomas. Construction of the Fort Christian (Christian’s Fort) begins along with other buildings, plantations and an east west road. The high mortality rate and unwillingness of Danes to settle St. Thomas leads Iverson to encourage settlement by inhabitants of neighboring islands most of whom were either Dutch or English
1673	Danish West India Company, which held the monopoly on the Danish slave trade, brings the first Africans to St. Thomas as enslaved workers.
1674	Governor Iverson acquires the enslaved worker, Simon Lamare. A talented mason, Lamare is offered a contract to act as “clerk of the works,” overseeing the construction of Fort Christian. In return Lamare is granted freedom after seven years service, beginning, right from the start of the colony, the establishment a of free black and mixed race component of St. Thomas society
1678	Soldiers at Fort Christian repel an attack by the French
1679 - 1686	St. Thomas, under the governorships of the brothers, Adolph and Nicolay Esmit, and Gabriel Milan ,has reputation of being a pirate haven
1680	St. Thomas Governor Iverson resigns and leaves St. Thomas. Fort built and plantations begun. Population 156 whites 175 blacks. 50 plantations and an east west road.Population: 156 whites, 175 blacks, 50 plantations producing cotton, sugar, tobacco, indigo and other tropical products
1683	Iverson reappointed as Governor, but is thrown overboard on the voyage from Copenhagen to St. Thomas by mutineers, who also shot the captain, decapitated seven of officers and marooned the remaining representatives of the Company.
1684	English thwart Danish attempts to settle St. John.
1685	Brandenburg Company granted a 30-tear lease on land located on the western end of St. Thomas Harbor, St. Thomas becomes a transshipment point for slaves brought from Africa
1690	Major earthquake and tsunami is recorded, possibly on the scale of the earthquake and tsunami of 1867
1697	First recorded major hurricane. Danish West India Company takes over slave trade from the Brandengburgers
1698	Amnesty declared for pirates with the exception of Captain Kidd
1699	Upon the arrival of Captain Kidd to St. Thomas, the Governor refused to give him protection and did not allowed Kidd to come ashore.
1713	Major hurricane recorded
1718	March 23, Erik Bredal, the Governor of St. Thomas, publishes his intent to settle St. John. The next day, March 24, Bredal accompanied by 20 planters, five soldiers and 16 enslaved Africans, sail from St. Thomas and land in Coral Bay. On March 25, Bredal takes formal possession of St. John in the name of the King of Denmark and the Danish West India Company. He raises the Danish Flag and begins construction of a fort. Plantation era begins on St. John. Using the labor of enslaved Africans, the forests are cleared, hillsides are terraced and land planted in sugar, cotton and other tropical products.
1726	Lutheran Pastor, Philip Adams Dietrich, performs the first Hurricane Intercessory Service in July and the first Hurricane Thanksgiving Service at the end of the hurricane season (July 25, Hurricane Supplication Day, and October 25, Hurricane Thanksgiving Day, are now official public holidays.
1728	Population: 123 whites, 677 blacks on 87 plantations.
1733	Population: 208 whites, 1,087 blacks on 109 plantations. St John is the victim of a severe drought, insect plague and devastating hurricane. September 5, merciless slave code imposed. November 23, Africans from the Akwamu Nation, who had been brought to St. John as slaves, revolt against the owners and managers of the St. John plantations. Capturing the fort in Coral Bay, the rebels proceed to take control of most of the island with the exception of Caneel Bay.
1734	After several unsuccessful attempts to quell rebellion, the Akwamus are finally defeated by specially-trained French troops sent from Martinique.
1738	Major hurricane recorded
1742	Major hurricane recorded
1739	Plantation system on St. John returns to the pre-rebellion levels, 208 whites, 1,414 blacks on 109 plantations.
1742	Major hurricane recorded
1755	King Frederick of Denmark buys all the land, slaves, estates, ships, factories and everything else that was owned by the Danish West India Company and brings company rule of St. John and the rest of the Danish West Indies to an end. He issues the Reglement of 1755 in which slave rights were mentioned for the first time. (The document is never published on St. John.)
1766	St. John and St. Thomas are declared free ports by the Danish Crown. Plans are made to begin the development of a town. The land is divided up into town lots but hoped-for development never materializes and St. John remains primarily rural until the recent growth of tourism.
1772	Major hurricane recorded
1773	Population: 2,330 slaves and 104 whites on 69 plantations, 42 of which are devoted to cotton.
1787	School ordinance issued by the Danish Government marks the first attempt to provide public education for both free and enslaved children in the Danish West Indies
1782	H.M.S. Santa Monica hits rock and is beached at Round Bay, East End.
1783	Moravians establish a mission at Emmaus.
1792	Danes pass law mandating the end the African slave trade in ten years.
1793	Major hurricane recorded
1800	St. Thomas blockaded by British naval vessels
1801	Three month British occupation.
1802	Law outlawing slave trade goes into effect in the Danish West Indies making Denmark the first European nation to abolish the slave trade. 123,000 slaves had already been brought to the D.W.I. from Africa. (Slave trade continues sporadically until the 1820s, when the law is more rigidly enforced.)
1804	Major fires sweep through Charlotte Amalie
1807-1815	British reoccupy St. John.
1819	Major hurricane recorded
1834	Emancipation of slaves in the British Virgin Islands offers St. John slaves an excellent escape opportunity to nearby Tortola.
1836	Major hurricane recorded
1839	Governor-General Peter von Sholten puts forth a proposal to provide free, compulsory education for children of enslaved workers in the colony. Classes are taught in English.
1840	Major escape to the British Virgin Islands by slaves from Leinster Bay and Annaberg is followed a few days later by slave escape from Adrian, Brown Bay and Hermitage.
1841 - 1850	The maritime industry and related business thrive on St. Thomas. Undersea cable is laid between Britain and St. Thomas, a coaling station and shipyard are established on the island.
1841	St. John population reaches its (pre-modern day) high point of 2,555. St. Thomas becomes a hub for the distribution of mail, money and passengers to and from other Caribbean islands.
1841	An agreement is reached between the Moravian Church and the Royal Council of St. Thomas and St. John to provide free compulsory education for all free-colored children. Classes are taught at both the Bethany and Emmaus missions.
1844	Construction of the Annaberg Country School .
1845	First Country School on St. John is completed at Beverhoutsberg
1846	Population: 2450, 1790 slaves, 660 free (including whites).
1847	Annaberg Country School completed, but left vacant due to lack of funds and opposition of the planter class.
1848	July 3, emancipation of slaves in the Danish West Indies. July 4, news reaches St. John. July 5, police placard posted in Cruz Bay prohibiting the "freed" from leaving the island. July 10, police placard posted in Cruz Bay compelling the freed to sign labor contracts with their former owners.
1849	Labor Act forces freed slaves to stay on plantations.
1850 - 1917	Economic decline due to competition from sugar beets and islands better suited to sugar cane production, labor problems and natural disasters
1852	Moravians open a school on the East End to service the growing population there
1853	Cholera epidemic kills 1,865 people Malaria kills 100
1854	Cholera epidemic kills 218.
1855	Population declines to 1,715.
1856	Classes begin to be taught at the Annaberg Country School. Two more cholera epidemics ravage population.
1859	Moravians stop baptizing children born out of wedlock.
1862	East End School constructed.
1865	St. Thomas Gas Company begins to provide illumination for streetlights stores and offices. Construction begins on Government House supervised by black Virgin Islander, John Wright. Construction completed in 1867
1866	Cholera epidemic kills 1,300
1867	Devastating hurricane followed by earthquake severely damages estates and crops, effectively ending the plantation system and discouraging U.S. plans to purchase the islands.
1868	205 Danish West Indian voters unanimously support a U.S. purchase of the islands. U.S. rejects purchase of St. Thomas and St. John from Denmark for $7.5 million.
1871	Major hurricane recorded
1878	Mary Thomas (Queen Mary) leads rebellion of disgruntled workers on St. Croix. Carolina Plantation in Coral Bay acquired by William Henry Marsh.
1879	Labor Act amended to allow contract negotiation. Bandstand erected at Emancipation Park
1880	Widow George rents rooms by the night at in her house at Newfound Bay. Population declines to 994.
1885	Royal Mail Steam Packet Company moves headquarters to Barbados
1898	Major hurricane recorded
1900	Population 925.
1902	Denmark rejects U. S. offer to buy St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix for $5 million.
1907	J.P. Jorgenson writes the Short Guide to St. Thomas and St. Jan, a travel guide written in English.
1914	West India Company Ltd introduces electric lighting.
1916	Major hurricane recorded
1917	March 31, official transfer of Danish West Indies to U.S. for $25,000,000. Virgin Islands are put in charge of U.S. Navy.
1918	Reef Bay factory closing ends sugar production.
1921	United States Virgin Island flag designed and approved by U.S. Navy brass is adopted.
1924	Major hurricane recorded
1927	Virgin Islanders granted American citizenship.
1928	On his solo flight from Paris to the United States aviator Charles Lindbergh landed on a field near what was then called Mosquito Bay. The bay was renamed was subsequently renamed Lindbergh Bay to commemorate the occasion. Major hurricane recorded
1929	Erva and Paul Boulon Sr. buy Trunk Bay and 100 additional acres of land for $2,500.
1930	Population of St. John is 756. First automobile arrives on St. John. St. Thomas Daily News founded. Navy rule ends. Average wage in Virgin Islands is 40 cents a day.
1931	First civilian governor, Dr. Paul M. Pearson.
1934	Eleanor Roosevelt wrote an article about her trip to St. Thomas and the Caribbean in “Women’s Home Companion.” Government run Bluebeards Castle Hotel opens.
1935	Edna St. Vincent Millay spends summer in St. Thomas in house at the top of the 99 Steps. The locally made mahogany “charge desk” at the Enid M. Baa Public Library on dedicated to the eminent poet.
1936	First Organic Act passed by U.S. Congress giving political power to the local Virgin Islands government. Danish West India Company opens Caneel Bay Resort.
1939	St. John mentioned by Harold Huber of National Park Service in N.P.S. report as possible park. The onset of World War II caused the plan to be shelved.
1946	Robert and Nancy Gibney come to St. John on Honeymoon.
1948	First jeep brought to the island on a sloop from St. Thomas.
1950	St. John population declines to 746. Robert and Nancy Gibney buy property at Hawksnest, now called Gibney Beach.
1953	Fourteen Jeeps registered on St. John; Island administrator proposes "limiting the number and size of vehicles on the island (annual report of the administrator 1953).
1954	Laurance Rockefeller begins acquiring land on St. John, including the Annaberg Estate and 2,000 acres of north shore land transfered by the heirs of Herman O. Creque. Revised Organic Act passed giving more power to the people and government Virgin Islands
1955	Only 56 acres out of 12,160 acres in cultivation on St. John; 85% second growth forest. Rockefeller addresses the Senate Subcommittee on Territories and Insular Affairs and testifies that St. John has "the most superb beaches and views" and is "the most beautiful island in the Caribbean."
1956	Virgin Islands National Park opens with 5,000-acre gift of Jackson Hole Preserve. Caneel Bay Plantation reopens. Twenty-four-hour electrical service inaugurated. Fifty-three Jeeps, 31 trucks, five station wagons (annual report of the administrator 1956).
1957	Gibneys sell a parcel of beachfront land to J. Robert Oppenheimer, "the Father of the Atomic Bomb."
1959	Virgin Islands National Park acquires Trunk Bay from the Boulon family.
1962	5,560 acres of submerged lands are transferred to the jurisdiction of the National Park. First commercial jet lands in St. Thomas (Pan Am). First seawater desalination plant.
1963	Sewage system eliminates use of “night soil tins” sewage disposal in which human waste was placed in pails, brought to the street and collected by trucks
1966	Pan Am begins direct flights to U.S. mainland.
1967	Antilles Airboats begin seaplane service with flights to St. John.
1969	Project Tektite in Great Lameshur Bay (Underwater Habitat).
1971	Melvin Evans first African-American Virgin Islander to be elected governor. Virgin Islands are the first U.S. state or territory to observe Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as a legal holiday.
1978	Mongoose Junction opens.
1989	Hurricane Hugo (September).
1990	Population of St. John 3,504.
1994	1,200,000 visitors to St. John National Park.
1995	Hurricane Marilyn (September) ten killed in Virgin Islands, $1.5 billion in damages. Seaplane service to St. John is discontinued due to damages sustained and subsequent announcement by the National Park Service saying they will no longer allow use of seaplane ramp.
1997	Dr. Donna Christian Green first woman to be elected Virgin Islands delegate to U.S. Congress.
1988	The Friends of Virgin Islands National Park incorporated
2000	Population of St. John 4,197. Cruz Bay 2,743, central district 746, Coral Bay 649, East End 59.
2003	St. John gets its own phonebook.
2004	Coral Bay School gets accredidation and celebrates its first graduating class.
2005	Enighed Pond ferry project completed. Coral Bay School opens new campus
2006	Enighed Pond ferry port up and running
2007	Trust For Public Land aquires majority interest in Estate Maho Bay, preventing the development of the land by private interests. The land is to be donated to the National Park,
2008	Most powerful earthquake in 20 years, October 11, measuring 6.1 on Richter Scale, no injuries, no significant damage reported
2009	Financial woes halt Sirenusa and Pond Bay Club construction projects. New supermarket, "St John Gourmet, opens"
2010	St. John trails and overlooks in excellent condition thanks to National Park Trail crews and the volunteer work of Jeff Chabot and company. Cruz Bay Roundabout completed.

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