The National Park Service maintains the Visitors Center in Cruz
Bay. It is staffed by Park Rangers who provide a wealth of information
about St. John and the Virgin Islands National Park.
Schedules and descriptions of Park activities, such as the guided
Reef Bay Hike, snorkeling trips and children’s programs
are available. Reservations can be made at the desk.
Books, topographical maps, trails guides and nautical charts
are offered for sale. History buffs can buy an inexpensive copy
of the Oxholm Map of St. John drawn in 1800, showing the roads,
plantations and estates of that era. Many brochures and pamphlets
can be obtained free of charge.
The Visitors Center also features several interesting displays
including a large relief map in the center of the room. This
map is a miniature St. John, complete with mountains, valleys,
guts, salt ponds, lowlands, bays, headlands, roads and trails.
Hikers will love this exhibition!
An entertaining and informative video about St. John can be seen
upon request. This is a good way to spend time downtown while
waiting for the ferry or as an alternative to shopping. It is
a five-minute walk from the Visitors Center to the ferry dock
and a one minute walk to Mongoose Junction.
The Creation of the Virgin Islands National
Park on St. John
The United States of America purchased the Danish West Indies
from Denmark in 1917. Right from the beginning of American ownership
of the islands, there was talk in official circles of creating
a National Park in the area.
In 1936, the National Park Service, recognizing St. John’s
immense beauty, historical significance and potential for recreational
development, conducted an official appraisal of the island. In
spite of these factors, the conclusion was that St. John did
not qualify for Park status. The reasons for the decision were
that the island was no longer in its natural state after so many
years of intense sugar cane cultivation, and that St. John was
not in need of National Park protection as there was no pressure
towards commercial development at that time.
In 1939, the National Park Service made a second assessment
of St. John. This time the conclusion was to make the entire
island a National Park. However, with United States attention
focused on the coming Second World War, the St. John National
Park proposal faded into obscurity.
In the early 1950’s, St. John experienced a spurt in tourism
and related commercial development and the National Park Service
renewed their interest in establishing a Park on St. John.
Also in the early 1950s, Laurance Rockefeller, along with the
Rockefeller family and associates founded the Jackson Hole Preserve
Corporation, a non profit conservation and educational organization.
He acquired more than 5,000 acres of land on St. John which were
eventually donated to the Federal government.
On August 2, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public
Law 925 establishing the Virgin Islands National Park in “a
portion of the Virgin Islands of the United States containing
outstanding scenic and other features of national significance”.
On December 1, 1956, the Virgin Islands National Park was dedicated
and became the twenty-ninth National Park in the United States
as “a sanctuary wherein natural beauty, wildlife, and historic
objects will be conserved unimpaired for the enjoyment of the
people and generations yet unborn.”
