Saint Croix

Christiansted: Old Danish Customs House

Saint Croix, largest island of the U.S. Virgin Islands, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It lies some 65 miles (105 km) southeast of Puerto Rico and 40 miles (65 km) south of St. Thomas. In the west some hills run parallel to the coast, culminating in Mount Eagle (1,088 feet [332 metres]) and Blue Mountain (1,096 feet [334 metres]). It is the only island of the group with an extensive plain, most of which is cultivated. A meagre growth of secondary scrub has replaced former seasonal forests, which were sacrificed for sugarcane plantations. The town of Christiansted, on the northern coast, is the capital, but Frederiksted, on the western coast, is commercially more significant.

Visited by Christopher Columbus, who named it Santa Cruz, St. Croix (both names mean Holy Cross) was colonized by both the English and the Dutch in 1643, though the latter were driven out after quarrels. As sugar production became more profitable, St. Croix increased in attraction, and in 1650 the English themselves were expelled by the Spanish, who in turn succumbed to French conquest. In 1651 the Knights of Malta acquired St. Croix but resold it to the French West India Company in 1665. It became a French colony in 1674 but during 1696–1733 was uninhabited. In 1733 the king of Denmark bought it; subsequently it shared the general history of the Virgin Islands.

On September 17–18, 1989, St. Croix was devastated by a hurricane that destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the island’s buildings and left about 22,000 people homeless. The island recovered with the help of copious aid from the U.S. government.

Tourism is the keystone of the economy. The island’s supply of potable water from wells is supplemented by distilled seawater. The surrounding marine waters are beginning to be exploited for game and commercial fishing and as a resource for oceanographic laboratory studies. Rum—all that remains of a once-extensive sugar industry—is distilled and exported along with other foodstuffs. Area 84 square miles (218 square km). Pop. (2000) 53,254; (2010) 50,601.