St. John, Then and NowI have attached a few photos of St. John from years ago. These just give a hint at how beautiful a place it was 50 years ago. It is still a beautiful place but as you look around, you can see how much has been lost. Coral Bay Cruz Bay and much of the island outside the National Park has been over run by houses. The silt that runs down from all those building sites and dirt roads has contributed to the killing off of most of the coral reefs. The photos of the old buildings are from a collection that is available at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/placeV.html View the Virgin Islands, St. John photos. I have copied a few here.
I also found an early photo on the NPS web site showing the Reef Bay Great House when the Park Service actually used to take care of things.
There are more NPS photos at: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/prvi/pr33.htm You can see what some of the historic structures on St. John looked like when the National Park Service took over the preservation of these sites. As you hike around St. John, compare what is left today with what they started with. Of particular interest to me has been watching the Reef Bay Great House decay over the years. As with many of the old structures in Virgin Islands National Park, allowing vegetation to grow on the mortar that holds the stones together has destroyed the integrity of the walls. If the buildings had been sprayed with herbicide every year, this would not have happened. Sadly, it is too late now. The Lameshur Great House has been converted into a residence and is off limits to the public.
If you go to Caneel Bay Plantation you will see historic ruins that have been protected by people that cared. The National Parks Conservation Association has given Virgin Islands National Park a fairly poor report card too. I agree with most of what they have to say but blaming the decay on lack of funding is just wrong. For more information, you can read their report at: Download - Center for State of the Parks 1st Report and Download - Center for State of the Parks 2nd Report and At least, the National Park has prevented the island from being totally developed. To get a better idea of what has happened on St. John over the years, you can view and zoom in on the 1947 and 2007 aerial photos under the Maps tab or download high resolution copies in the Store section. These color photos are some that I took on my trips to St. John. I should have taken many more.
The St. John Historical Society also has quite a few old photos on their web site. |
