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St. John USVI Places: Cruz Bay Battery
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 Cruz Bay Battery |
The Cruz Bay Battery now houses most of the government offices on St. John and is the only remaining government building on St. John that dates back to the Danish days. Additionally, many, but not all, of St. John's island administrators have lived here during their time in office.
The Battery’s old prison cells are now used for offices as well as for a small museum, which is open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday to Friday.
History
The Cruz Bay Battery is listed in the National Registry of Historic
Sites. It was originally constructed as a fort in the late
1700s and was then known as Fort Christian or Christianfort.
It was armed with cannons mounted on platforms designed to
fire either toward land or toward the sea.
The Battery was expanded by order of Governor Peter C. F. von
Scholten and officially opened on December 5, 1825 with the addition
of a courthouse and a dungeon, the purpose of which was to provide
more humane punishment for the slaves.
The new construction is attributed to James Wright a freedman
born on St. John, who also held the position of First Lieutenant
in the St. Thomas Fire Brigade.
