St. John Beach Guide

Excerpted from St. John Off The Beach Guide © 2006 Gerald Singer

Denis Bay is now part of the Virgin Islands National Park, but the structures and some of the land behind the beach have been leased to private interests. Please confine your visit to the area between the sea and the line of first vegetation.

History
Denis Bay was once a part of the Susanaberg Plantation, which was taken up by the Runnels family in the early eighteenth century.

Sugar works and settlements were established on both the upper (Susanaberg) and lower (Denis Bay) portions of the estate, which were connected by a road that descended the steep hillside by means of numerous switchbacks. This road still exists today, with some sections experiencing improvements, while other sections have been neglected to the point where the road is barely passable.

Until the decline of the sugar industry in the latter part of the nineteenth century, Denis Bay existed as a prosperous plantation and a good portion of the lower valley was either planted in sugarcane or devoted to pasture. A horse mill, and later a windmill, was constructed on top of Peace Hill. A long conduit brought the cane juice down to a boiling room near the beach where there was also an estate house, a warehouse, a rum distillery, and a slave village. These buildings have been partially restored and lie just behind the beach.

By 1880, sugarcane was no longer grown at Denis Bay, and the property was used for provision farming and the grazing of sheep and cattle.

In 1877, Denis Bay was split off from Susanaberg and in 1905 it was sold to J.E. Lindqvist, who began the operation of a small boarding house, known as Lindqvist's Place. At the time there was only one other such establishment in St. John, which was owned by Miss Myrah Keating and located in Cruz Bay.

Lindqvist also established a moderate-sized garden at Denis Bay. Agricultural records for that period show that 2000 pineapples, 1000 banana plants and 500 coconut palms as well as some cotton and cocoa were cultivated on the Denis Bay Estate.

In the 1920s, Denis bay was acquired by a group of St. Thomas businessmen who operated a club called the Deep Sea Fishing Club, where it was said that "were drinking was much more prevalent than fishing." The club was available to the general public with hotel service and conveniences for $22.00 per week with all meals included.

In 1939, Julius and Cleome Wadsworth purchased Denis Bay. Julius was a Foreign Service officer. Cleome was a professional fabric designer and worked in China and in Singapore, where she met Julius. They were married in 1932 and lived in Danszig, Prussia where Julius was serving as Consul. They came to St. John just before the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

The Wadsworths used Denis Bay as a vacation getaway. Their primary home since 1944 had been in Washington DC. Some illustrious St. Johnians have lived at Denis Bay either as renters or caretakers. St. Johnian, Thomas Thomas, served as one of the first caretakers and Robert and Nancy Gibney were among the first renters having leased the property in 1947. The late Carl Frank, the founder of Holiday Homes was also a caretaker. He passed on the enviable job to Peter Griffith and family. One of the Griffith's daughters, Melanie Griffith, who became a famous actress, spent much of her childhood at Denis Bay.

Through a complicated series of real estate transactions, the Denis Bay Estate is now the property of the Virgin Islands National Park. Certain "remainder interests", which are the right to use a 1.1 acre parcel, containing the estate house, the warehouse and the old slave quarters will remain in private hands until 2035.

In the 1990s, these "remainder interests" were sold to Ed Fine, son of the "Three Stooges" actor, Larry Fine. These rights have since been resold.

Cleome Wadsworth died on December 28, 1998 at the age of 102. Julius Wadsworth died in April of 1999. He was 96.

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