Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Scale House
HISTORICAL BUILDING
(King St)
The Scale House, with its two-story, yellow-masonry construction and hipped
roof, dates from 1856. This is the site where the Danish weighed hogsheads of sugar for ex-
port; imports were also weighed here, to levy duty. You can see the scales as you enter the
building. The 2nd floor was the weighmaster's office, while the rear of the building once
garrisoned Danish soldiers. Now, this building is an information center for the National
Park Service, where you can pick up brochures describing the national park buildings and
historic Christiansted. The center also sells a good selection of local books.
Customs House
HISTORICAL BUILDING
(KingSt)
This yellow-brick and masonry building with its sweeping 16-step entrance stair-
way stands between the fort and the Scale House at Kings Wharf. The building served as
the Danes' customs house for more than a century. Begun in 1750, the building evolved
over decades; the 2nd floor was added around 1830. While it has functioned in recent years
as a post office, library and exhibition space, the interior is not currently open to the public.
Danish West India & Guinea Company Warehouse
HISTORICAL BUILDING
(ChurchSt)
Just across the intersection of Hospital and King Sts stands a three-story neo-
classical building with dormers set into the steep, hipped roof and a courtyard surrounded
by a wall. Today, this building functions as a park administration building, but it began life
in 1749 as the headquarters and warehouse for the Danish West India & Guinea Company.
The courtyard here was the site of one of the West Indies' most active slave markets
until the abolition of the slave trade in the early 19th century. The building has also served
as military quarters and as the office for the Panama Telegraph Company early in the 20th
century.
Steeple Building
MUSEUM
(Church St; admission $3, free with fort ticket)
The white building with the Georgian
steeple, across Company St from the Danish West India & Guinea Company Warehouse,
was St Croix's first house of worship, the Church of Lord God of the Sabaoth. Lutherans
erected this edifice between 1750 and 1753, adding the steeple four decades later. In 1831
the government converted the building into a military bakery. It has been modified several
times since then and put to use as a hospital and school.
