Blackbeard's Castle

Last updated
Skytsborg
Blackbeard's Castle in Charlotte Amalie.jpg
USA Virgin Islands location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
Coordinates 18°20′37.83″N64°55′46.53″W / 18.3438417°N 64.9295917°W / 18.3438417; -64.9295917
Built1679
NRHP reference No. 91001844 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 20, 1991
Designated NHLOctober 12, 1994 [2]

Blackbeard's Castle is one of five National Historic Landmarks in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is located in the city of Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas. Erected in 1679 by the Danes as a watchtower to protect the harbor as well as Fort Christian, Blackbeard's Castle was originally called Skytsborg (meaning protection castle). It is located at the highest point of Government Hill. Skytsborg served as a very effective vantage point for Danish soldiers to spot enemy ships. Fort Christian is at sea level, thus making it ideal for thwarting attackers with cannon fire; however, the fort itself did not provide an ideal view of incoming ships entering the harbor.

Contents

It was the centerpiece of a private residence for many years, and was turned into a hotel, but is no longer open to the public.

Connection to Blackbeard

It is not known what year Skytsborg took on the name of Blackbeard's Castle, but the infamous Edward Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard, did sail the Caribbean waters in the early 18th century. It has become part of the lore of the island that he used the tower as a lookout for his own purposes of piracy.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands</span> Capital city of the United States Virgin Islands

Charlotte Amalie, located on St. Thomas, is the capital and the largest city of the United States Virgin Islands. It was founded in 1666 as Taphus. In 1691, the town was renamed to Charlotte Amalie after the Danish queen Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (1650–1714). It has a deep-water harbor that was once a haven for pirates and is now one of the busiest ports of call for cruise ships in the Caribbean, with about 1.5 million-plus cruise ship passengers landing there annually. Protected by Hassel Island, the harbor has docking and fueling facilities, machine shops, and shipyards and was a U.S. submarine base until 1966. The Town has been inhabited for centuries. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493, the area was inhabited by Caribs, Arawaks, Ciboney and Taíno native peoples. It is on the southern shore at the head of Saint Thomas Harbor. In 2010 the City had a population of 18,481, which makes it the largest city in the Virgin Islands Archipelago. Hundreds of ferries and yachts pass by the Town each week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands</span> One of the main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, one of the three largest of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of three county-equivalents in the USVI. Together with Saint John, it forms one of the districts of the USVI. The territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie is located on the island. As of the 2020 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 42,261, about 48.5% of the total population of the United States Virgin Islands. The island has a land area of 32 square miles (83 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Fortaleza</span> Official residence and office of the governor of Puerto Rico

La Fortaleza is the official residence of the governor of Puerto Rico. It was built between 1533 and 1540 to defend the harbor of San Juan. The structure is also known as Palacio de Santa Catalina. It is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the New World. It was listed by UNESCO in 1983 as part of the World Heritage Site "La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Totten (Queens)</span> Historic military installation in Queens, New York

Fort Totten is a former active United States Army installation in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the Willets Point peninsula on the north shore of Long Island. Fort Totten is at the head of Little Neck Bay, where the East River widens to become Long Island Sound. While the U.S. Army Reserve continues to maintain a presence at the fort, the property is now owned by the City of New York. The neighborhood has buses and served by MTA Regional Bus Operations Q13 and Q16 Buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Jay</span>

Fort Jay is a coastal bastion fort and the name of a former United States Army post on Governors Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. Fort Jay is the oldest existing defensive structure on the island, and was named for John Jay, a member of the Federalist Party, New York governor, Chief Justice of the United States, Secretary of State, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. It was built in 1794 to defend Upper New York Bay, but has served other purposes. From 1806 to 1904 it was named Fort Columbus, presumably for explorer Christopher Columbus. Today, the National Park Service administers Fort Jay and Castle Williams as the Governors Island National Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve</span> National Park Service unit in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve is a unit of the National Park Service on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It preserves upland watersheds, mangrove forests, and estuarine and marine environments that support threatened and endangered species. It also contains the Columbus Landing Site, a National Historic Landmark that is the only known site where members of a Columbus expedition set foot on what is now United States territory. The site is marked by Fort Salé, a remaining earthworks fortification from the French period of occupation, about 1617. The park also preserves prehistoric and colonial-era archeological sites including the only existing example of a ball court in the US Virgin Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Barrancas</span> United States historic place

Fort Barrancas (1839) or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas is a United States military fort and National Historic Landmark in the former Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically within Naval Air Station Pensacola, which was developed later around it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Keweenaw County, Michigan</span>

The following is a list of Registered Historic Places in Keweenaw County, Michigan.
     This National Park Service list is complete through NPS recent listings posted August 25, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan</span>

There are 577 properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in New York County, New York, which consists of Manhattan Island, the Marble Hill neighborhood on the mainland north of the Harlem River Ship Canal, and adjacent smaller islands around it. One listing, appears on more than one of the lists described below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse on Long Island, New York, US

Huntington Harbor Lighthouse, formerly known as Lloyd Harbor Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in Huntington Bay on Long Island, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Christian</span> United States historic place

Fort Christian is a Dano-Norwegian-built fort in Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Built 1672-1680, early in the first successful colonial establishment on the island, the fort served as a critical point of defense and government during the entire period of Dano-Norwegian, and later Danish, administration, which ended in 1917 with the sale of the islands to the United States. It currently holds the St. Thomas Museum, which holds artifacts and art of the Dano-Norwegian period. It was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Island (Tennessee)</span> Island in Tennessee, United States

Long Island, also known as Long Island of the Holston, is an island in the Holston River at Kingsport in East Tennessee. Important in regional history since pre-colonial times, the island is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Independence (Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

Fort Independence is a granite bastion fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts, located on Castle Island. Fort Independence is one of the oldest continuously fortified sites of English origin in the United States. The first primitive fortification was called "The Castle", placed on the site in 1634. It was rebuilt twice, then replaced around 1692 with a more substantial structure known as Castle William. It was abandoned by the British during the American Revolution, but the Americans renamed it Fort Adams and then Fort Independence. The existing granite fort was constructed between 1833 and 1851. Today it is preserved as a state park and fires occasional ceremonial salutes. Fort Independence was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Williams</span> Historic fort in New York City

Castle Williams is a circular fortification of red sandstone on the northwest point of Governors Island, part of a system of forts designed and constructed in the early 19th century to protect New York City from naval attack. It is a prominent landmark in New York Harbor. Together with Fort Jay, it is managed by the National Park Service as part of Governors Island National Monument.

<i>Roseway</i> 1925 schooner

Roseway is a wooden gaff-rigged schooner launched on 24 November 1925 in Essex, Massachusetts. She is currently operated by World Ocean School, a non-profit educational organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, and is normally operated out of Boston, Massachusetts and Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 as the only known surviving example of a fishing schooner built specifically with racing competition as an objective. In 1941, Roseway was purchased by the Boston Pilot's Association to serve as a pilot boat for Boston Harbor, as a replacement for the pilot-boat Northern Light, which was sold to the United States Army for war service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Frederik</span> United States historic place

Fort Frederik, also known as Frederiksfort, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark in Frederiksted, United States Virgin Islands. It was built between 1752 and 1760 by Denmark-Norway to defend the economic interests of the natural deep water port of Frederiksted and to ward off pirates. It has red and white painted walls, making it quite different then yellow and white of Fort Christiansværn on the other side of the island. It is located at the north end of Frederiksted, in St. Croix, south of the junction of Mahogany Road and VI 631. It should not be confused with Frederiks Fort, Fortberg Hill, on St. John, which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery Weed</span> United States historic place

Battery Weed is a four-tiered 19th century fortification guarding the Narrows, the main approach from the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. Located on the Staten Island waterfront on the west shore of the Narrows, directly across from Fort Hamilton and the now-destroyed Fort Lafayette in Brooklyn, the fort was intended to protect New York from attack by sea. When built, it was named Fort Richmond, as was a previous fort on the site.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "Skytsborg (Blackbeard's Castle)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2007-06-28.