Virgin Islands churches, schools and estate plantations are among the eight historic sites receiving National Historic Landmark status from the federal government. Department of Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol announced the designations recently.
Director Sean Krigger of DPNR’s State Historic Preservation Offices credits local historians and members of the historic preservation board for completing the steps needed to win recognition from the National Park Service. As a result of their efforts, the Sprat Hall Historic District, LaGrange Historic District, Holy Cross Episcopal Church, and Kingshill Lutheran Church on St. Croix are newly declared national treasures; so are Evelyn E. Marcelli Elementary School and Sub Base Barracks No. 2 on St. Thomas.
Two St. John schools were also recognized by the park service: the East End Schoolhouse in Hansen Bay and the Benjamin Franklin School in Coral Bay (later renamed the Guy Benjamin School to honor his role in the school’s establishment and as its first superintendent).
“Over the years, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources State Historic Preservation Offices, we’ve conducted assessments. Most sites have been listed as historic sites locally,” Krigger said.
The director credited the work of historians George Tyson and William Chapman for helping the board complete the application process. “There were two sessions where the applications were presented by the state review board in late June or July,” the director said.
Sprat Hall district features a well-preserved 18th-century windmill; Sub Base Barracks No. 2 marks a time when the U.S. military had a presence on St. Thomas in the first half of the 20th Century; Holy Cross Episcopal Church was built in 1755 and is recognized for its architectural detail.
A windmill built in the 1760s can also be found at the Estate Grange Historic District in Frederiksted; the construction of Kingshill Lutheran Church near the end of Danish rule in the Virgin Islands was deemed significant by the St. Croix Landmark Society, and the contributions of educator Evelyn Marcelli are featured in a publication titled “Brief Historical Notes on Schools of the Virgin Islands.”
Park service approval notices began appearing in August, said DPNR Administrative Specialist Kim Blackett. Krigger also credited the efforts of the Coral Bay Community Council to win recognition for the two St. John schools.
National Historic Landmarks are “buildings, sites, districts, structures and objects” determined by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as adding historic or cultural significance to the story of America, according to language appearing on a park service website. The Sept. 17 announcement by Oriol fulfills the requirement of increasing public recognition of the designation.
Eventually, Krigger said, his agency will install commemorative signs at the buildings and sites honored in this way. The eight new national historic sites join Salt River Bay, Buck Island Reef, the town of Christainsted, and the Virgin Islands National Park — among others — as national treasures recognized in the territory.
