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Excerpted from St. John Off The Beaten
Track ©
2006 Gerald Singer
Fort Frederiksvaern is located at Fortsberg, a peninsula that
juts out into Coral Bay separating Coral Harbor from Hurricane
Hole. It is on private property owned by the Samuels family.
Ask Fred or Faye Samuels at Fred's Bar and Restaurant in Cruz
Bay for permission to visit the fort - it shouldn’t be
a problem.
Take Centerline Road east about a half mile past the Moravian
Church in Coral Bay. Turn right on the dirt road near the
Flamingo Club. The road passes the Carolina Corral and follows
the coast of Coral Harbor before ascending a steep hill and
coming to a fork. The left fork leads up to the fort and
the right fork runs down to the water battery. There are
magnificent views along both of these roads.
You can drive
to the end of the improved portion of either road, after
which it would be best to walk the remaining distance.
Frederiksvaern, constructed at the top of the 400-foot high
Fortsberg Hill, was first completed in the early 1720s. In
1780, the fort was intentionally destroyed.
A round stone wall
surrounded by an outer circle of pinguin were the first lines
of defense.
outer defense wall
Within the outer wall is a secondary wall behind which
the commandant's headquarters, a powder magazine, housing for
five soldiers, four gun emplacements, a cookhouse and a mess
hall were located.
Three eight-pound cannons covered the approach
from the land, and a sixteen-pound cannon faced the sea. Six
more cannons were located at the water battery below the fortification.
The cannons at the water battery still exist.
On November 23, 1733, a group of slaves
carrying concealed cane knives killed six of the seven soldiers
stationed at the fort and fired a cannon to announce the beginning
of the historic St. John Slave
Rebellion.
“A number of Negroes from the warlike Amina nation took
control of the fort while fulfilling their accustomed job of
supplying the place with firewood. They struck down the small
contingent of soldiers there with knives, which they had hidden
in their bundles of firewood. After they gave their fellow
conspirators the agreed-upon signal for the uprising - several
cannon shots - the rebellion spread to all the parts of the
island...”
C.G.A. Oldendorp, History of the Evangelical Brethren on the
Caribbean Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.
Fort Frederiksvaern is listed in the National Registry of
Historic Sites.
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