The
Johnny Horn Trail connects the Leinster
Bay Trail at the eastern end of the beach at Waterlemon Bay
with the historic Emmaus Moravian Church in Coral Bay. The trail
is 1.8 miles long and follows the mountain ridge through a dry
upland forest environment. There are some steep hills reaching
an approximate elevation of 400 feet. Some sections of the trail,
especially on the Coral Bay side, run through private property
and inholdings.
There are five spur trails off the main trail. The first (starting
from Waterlemon Bay) provides access to the best place to cross
the channel if you would like to snorkel around Waterlemon Cay.
The second spur leads to the remains of an old Danish guardhouse.
The third trail takes you to the ruins at Windy Hill, the fourth
is the Brown Bay Trail to Brown Bay and East End and the fifth
is the Base Hill Spur.
The Name
The Johnny Horn Trail was named after Johan Horn who was second
in command to Governor Gardelin in St. Thomas and Commandant
of St. John around the time of the slave rebellion in 1733.
He was the Chief Bookkeeper and Chief Merchant of the Danish
West India and Guinea Company on St. Thomas. According to John
Anderson in his historical novel, Night of the Silent Drums,
Englishman John Charles, a former actor who became a small
planter on St. John, said the following of Horn:
He had a grimace for a face, lies for eyes, noes for a nose,
arse cheeks for face cheeks, fears for ears, whips for lips,
dung for a tongue, and to all who knew him it seems strange that
he has but one horn for a name.
Waterlemon Cay
Snorkeling
Access Spur Trail
Right near the beginning of the Johnny Horn Trail, there is a
short spur trail that follows the shoreline of Waterlemon Bay.
By walking along this trail, you can get to a point on the shore
that is half the distance to Waterlemon Cay than it would be
starting from the beach. This way you can save your energy for
the really good snorkeling around the cay.
Genips
There is a genip tree about fifty yards up the trail, just before
the turn off to the guardhouse. Some of these trees produce sweeter
fruit than others. This is a good one! Keep an eye out for ripe
genips in the summer.
Aloe
A patch of aloe can be found a little further up the trail between
a big rock and the remains of the old Guardhouse. It is common
to find aloes planted close to homes and public buildings. The
pulp from the leaves is used for the treatment of sunburn, burns
and other ailments.
Guardhouse on Johnny Horn Trail
The
Guardhouse
The spur trail on the left, just beyond the aloe, takes you to
the ruins of a Danish guardhouse. This small fortification was
built on this strategic location, called Leinster Point, because
it overlooked two critical passages, the Fungi Passage, between
Whistling Cay and Mary Point, and the Narrows, which separate
Great Thatch and St. John. The guardhouse was equipped with cannons
and manned
by 16 soldiers.
Sir Francis Drake Channel
Tortola lies on the other
side of the channel
The
Trail Continues
Continuing up the trail, you will be treated to excellent vies
of Leinster Bay, the Narrows and the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
From here you can see how the proximity of Tortola encouraged
many St. John slaves to attempt an escape
to freedom that the island of Tortola offered them from the
years 1834, when slavery was outlawed on the British islands
to 1848 when slavery was abolished in the Danish west Indies.
View of Leinster Bay
As you proceed up the hill, you will come to several areas that
provide excellent views of Leinster Bay and the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
Spur Trail to Murphy House
Near the top of the hill, the trail
forks. The trail to the left is a spur that leads to the ruins
of the James Murphy Estate house, which lie about 200 yards from
the fork, The trail to the right is the continuation of the main
Johnny Horn Trail.
Murphy House
At the end of the 18th century, the Annaberg Plantation as well as five other contiguous estates came under the control of James Murphy, a wealthy St. Thomas merchant, ship owner and slave trader. The consolidated lands were called Annaberg, which became the largest and most successful plantation on St. John. From the estate house which he had built at the top of what is sometimes known as Windy Hill, Mr. Murphy could view the entirety of his vast holdings.
In 1843, the Annaberg plantation as well as the estate house became the property of Judge H. Berg, the vice-governor
of the Danish West Indies. Berg lived on St. Thomas, but when
he visited St. John, he would reside at Windy Hill. Otherwise,
the house was occupied and managed by a Mr. and Mrs. Wallace.
Preserved letters from early travelers to St. John make reference
to the presence of an extensive library at Windy Hill.
Murphy House
Before selling the remainder of his estates on St. John, Judge
Berg bequeathed small plots of land east of the estate house
to some of his employees. These employees and their descendants
established the village of Johnny Horn. Remains of the old houses
can be seen in several places just off the Johnny Horn Trail.
Luther K. Zabriskie, in his book, The United States Virgin Islands,
gives this description of Windy Hill when it was a boarding house:
Leinster Bay, was where an excellent boarding house, for use
by occasional visitors, was once kept. The storm of 1916 blew
this house down. The wonderful old mahogany furniture that was
the envy of all who came to stay here, was scattered in all directions.
Windy Hill may also have been used as a Masonic Lodge. De Booy
and Faris in, Our New Possessions, wrote:
Near by are the remains of a building occupied by the only Masonic
Lodge on St. John. One can almost picture the banquets held by
the Masons when they assembled here in the olden days, when feasts
were of the first importance in the life of the West Indian planter.
From The Langford Mail:
Windy Hill was the private boardhouse of a Mrs. Clin (commonly
spelled “Clen”). It was owned by lawyer Jorgenson
and entirely destroyed in hurricane of 1916.
In 1917, when the United States bought the Virgin Islands, a
reform school was established here. Mrs. Clen was in charge of
the facility. Most of what you see now is from that period.
Brown Bay Trail Intersection
Following the relatively flat ridge, you will find scenic overlooks
with views of Jost Van Dyke, West End, Tortola, and the Sir
Francis Drake Channel. About a half mile from the Windy Hill
spur, you will come to another trail intersection.
The Johnny Horn Trail continues straight ahead and the Brown
Bay Trail is on the left. It is identified by a National Park
information sign. The Brown Bay Trail is 1.6 miles long. It is
0.8 mile to the beach at Brown Bay and another 0.8 mile to the
East End Road at the other end of the trail.
Brown Bay Spur to Base Hill
Continuing straight along the Johnny Horn Trail, the path descends
gradually and crosses a gut. After crossing the gut, the trail
ascends steeply before reaching a more improved section of dirt
road near the top of Base Hill (pronounced Boss Hill). At this
point, you will have reached an altitude of 400 feet above sea
level, from which there are superb views down into Coral Harbor
and Coral Bay.
View from Base Hill
Base
Hill Spur
A dirt road just south of the ridge heading east, leads to the
summit of Base Hill ("pronounced Boss Hill") where you can enjoy
panoramic views extending from Jost Van Dyke on the north to
Coral Harbor on the south, including spectacular vistas of the
islands of the Sir Francis Drake Channel all the way to Virgin
Gorda and of the mangrove lined bays within Hurricane Hole on
St. John. The road narrows into a footpath and loops back down
to meet another dirt road, which if taken to the right, leads
back to the main Johnny Horn Trail.
Moravian Church
Base
Hill to the Coral Bay Moravian Church
From the hilltop, the main Johnny Horn Trail descends rapidly
and leads to the Moravian Church in Coral Bay near the intersection
of Centerline Road and Salt Pond Road (Route 107).
The Moravians came to St. John in 1741. They established the
mission at Emmaus (Coral Bay) in 1782. They are the oldest of
the Protestant religions and were the first to minister to blacks.
This is the fourth Moravian church to be built on this site.
The Moravian Church, constructed in 1919, is listed in the National
Registry of Historic Sites.
