St. Croix Information

Surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea and covered with bright red, pink, magenta and orange tropical flowers, and miles of windswept pristine beaches, St. Croix is a paradise island. Mongooses, iguanas and goats scamper around sweeping hillsides dotted with blue, pink and yellow homes. St. Croix is uniquely pristine, historic, agricultural and uncrowded. 

St. Croix is the largest of the three islands that comprise the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is 28 miles long and 7 miles wide covering 82 square miles. It lies 40 miles south of her sister islands of St. Thomas and St. John and 1100 miles southeast of Miami.  Known for its friendly, low-key locals, St. Croix exudes small-town charm, despite being the Territory's most populous island with over 50,000 residents. The island offers a diverse topography with flatlands on the southern coast, 1165 ft. mountain peaks and rainforests in the northwest, and a virtual desert to the east sporting grassland spotted with cacti. Since it is located in the passageways of the easterly cooling trade winds, St. Croix boasts the most perfect climate of the United States. Average temperatures range from 77 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter to 82 degrees in the summer. The average rainfall is 40 inches per year, with moderate 70-80 percent humidity year-round.

When Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean island of St. Croix in 1493, it was inhabited by the Arawak and more fierce Carib Indians. Columbus claimed the island for Spain, calling it Santa Cruz or “Holy Cross.” The Spanish and the natives were immediately at war, which continued for about 100 years. Sometime in the early 1600's, the Dutch and the English settled the island almost simultaneously, each country set up camp on opposite sides of the island. Predictably battles ensued. During the next 88 years, the island was usurped, purchased, or abandoned by the Spanish, the Dutch, the French, and the Knights of Malta - a religious group also known as the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

In 1665, while owned by the French West Indian Company, the island gave birth to some 90 plantations turning out crops of tobacco, cotton, sugar cane, and indigo. In 1733, the French Government sold St. Croix to the Danish West India & Guinea Co. for approximately $150,000. By 1800, St. Croix claimed 200 sugar plantations and 26,500 enslaved African workers. An Emancipation Proclamation was declared on July 3, 1848.

The United States purchased the Islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John from Denmark in 1917 for $25 million. In total, seven flags have flown over the island of St. Croix, with the most recent being Denmark and the United States.  


Nicknamed the "Twin City," St. Croix consists of two major towns, Frederiksted and Christiansted both of which are a treat for pedestrians and lovers of distinctive, gracious architecture. The Danish adapted the 18th Century European-style architecture to the tropical environment and, wisely, due to the danger of fire in the somewhat arid, windswept Caribbean, a strict building code was established. They built well with imported yellow, brown and terracotta bricks (used by the returning ships as ballast) or coral blocks cut from the sea. The results were stately mortar and brick colonnades over covered walkways, still standing today, that create a unique, enduring atmosphere, while offering a distinctive mix of the Victorian and the Danish styles.
A charming little Caribbean harbor, Christiansted is the largest town on St. Croix. The picturesque wharf area is so well preserved that it has been designated a National Historic Site and is supervised by the U.S. Park Service. It is located on the north shore about mid-island and known for its duty-free shopping, art galleries, fine restaurants and charming island bars.  Here you can find fabulous examples of Danish architecture in the town’s many buildings (dating back to the 1700s) and restored Fort Christianvaern protecting Christiansted harbor. St. Croix has the most complete restorations (government and plantation houses) of the 18th- and 19th- Century architectural style of any Caribbean island. Historically, Christiansted is where most of the commercial and governmental activity has historically been concentrated