Old Richmond Prison

The Richmond prison was built in the year of 1834. The reason this prison was build was to lock up the most rebellious slaves that was on St.Croix when slavery was effect. Moses Gotlieb also known as Buddhoe, who help lead the 1848 emancipation was one of the prisoners at the Richmond prison. Queen Mary was also a  prisoner in this prison and she was the one who brought up and lead the 1878 fireburn. This building is full of history and alot of people doesn't know about it. When we visited the old prison,  it was covered in grass and had alot of insects. V. Celeste Fahie was our tour guide and she gave us a pencil, a piece of white printing paper, and something that looks like a concept map but she calls it a mind map. She gave us the paper to draw what we saw at the prison and the mind map to come up with ideas to transform this prison into something that would be beneficial to the people of the virgin islands. We came up with alot of cool ideas that will be effective when the time and money is right. We saw alot of writings on the walls about how the prisoners felt about being imprisoned and the words was not very nice. Our very own Mario Moorhead was held in the prison for one day in the 1970's but we still don't know when was the last time the prison was used.

Follow the Leader to the Plantation

With Ms. Fahie and Mr. Goldstein leading us on a journey to all the sugar cane plantations that were there. Our first discovery today was at the Cane Garden Plantation where Hovensa storage plant was clear at sight. There was maybe about 14 village houses that was used for the enslaved,  1 overseer house, 1 windmill, 1  hospital, and 1 ruin that looked like a animal powered mill. An overseer is like a guard or a soldier who's job is to watch over the enslaved or anyone working for the slave master. It was exciting to see some of the stuff still remain there.

Christiansvaern/Christiansted Fort

This fort was finish built in the year of 1749 by the enslaved people blood, sweat, and tears. It also took 11 long and hardworking years to be completed. The colors of the fort are yellow and green with black cannons. The fort is named after King Christian VI and his symbol still stand at the entrance of the fort. This fort is now under national park service and it's a visitor's center today.

Baobab

The baobab tree was a spirtual tree for the enslaved people. People usually call it the tree of life. The reason it's called the tree of life is because it stores the water in the trunk of the tree during rainy seasons & then produce this hairy like fruit when the area is dry. The picture below is the fruit that this spiritual tree produce.

Annatto

This is an annatto which is a fruit from the achiote tree. Indians would use the seed inside for war paint. It's now used for food coloring and lipstick. In the picture below with the lady is an example of how the paint would look on skin.

Our Day in Our Green Rain Forest

On a next adventurous day, we spent it in the rain forest at Fredericksted . We visited Butler bay where we saw the old sugar factory still standing but worn out. The sugar factory was really the center of attention at the time and in the area. We also drove down Creque Dam road also known as Creque road. We went to the sustainable farm. This farm is able to sell crops, feed over 20 campers, and feed 15+ other people. We also visited the Domino club which is one of tourist attractions on St. Croix. It is because of the non-alcoholic beer drinking pigs. It was very fascinating. Basically, our day was tiring but yet fun.

Beer Drinking Pig

Creque Dam

Old Sugar Factory at Butler Bay

Credit 3 photos above to Nisha Lazare 

Free Gut Area

Free Gut was an important area for all the enslaved people in both Christiansted and in Frederiksted. They lived in 30x30 homes for each family. When slavery was in effect, the enslaved mothers would make alot of children & live in a small home. The Danish people refuse to live near guts because of insects that would live in that area. The enslaved people would use the gut as an advantage. They use to fish, talk melee, and receive water. We were trying to get genip from the tree and we were successful. The blue house was Melvin Evans house and he was the first elected governor and last appointed governor of the Virgin Islands. Melvin Evans house was by the American Hill area. American Hill is an area in Christiansted near Free Gut, where you would find few enslaved people because the people who lived on that hill was wealthy and was from America.

Arthur Abel Complex

This was one of Peter von Scholten schools that was created on St.Croix. It's  named after Arthur Abel because he is one of the four generation of great masonry work and one of his ancestors built this building.  He was also Mr.Public Works & he maintained the building that still stands in Frederiksted today. This building was an old danish school and then converted into a military hospital. In the 19th century it was then transformed back in to a school in accordance to Peter von Scholten directive from King Frederick VI to provide universal, compulsory education. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo destroyed the building but then was restored in April of 2009.

Frederiksted Fort/Fort Frederik

This fort was completed in 1760. Its an excellent place to come and learn about the importance of St.Croix. The fort is in the colors of white and red with black cannons.  Above the numbers 1760, there is a symbol for King Fredrick V. The fort is a museum and art gallery and is open on weekdays and on Saturdays. It's free for  tourist and islanders to see. In the picture below, there is a model or structure of how the enslaved people would build the homes in Fredericksted after the the big fireburn.

Enslave People Dialect

These are some sayings that the enslaved people would use in the 1700's and 1800's. Down islanders would still use these sayings as insults, jokes, and sometimes warnings. These sayings were interesting and funny!