Photograph Collection: Way It Was

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  Title: Christ of the Carribean

  Date:

  Creator:

  Owner: NPS-HFC

  This statue was constructed in 1953, and was envisioned by its creator, Julius Wadsworth, as ‘Christ of the Caribbean blessing the Atlantic and contiguous lands and waters.’ (Originally, the figure had uplifted arms.) It stood in the shadow of the remains of the colonial-era windmill on Peace Hill, above Denis Bay until September 1995, when Hurricane Marilyn destroyed it. Julius Wadsworth, a retired Lt. Col., and his wife, Cleone, acquired this Denis Bay property in 1939. In the mid-1970s the Peace Hill portion of the property was given to the NPS, and much of the remainder of the property was sold to the NPS. A small section, including a house was retained, and then sold with a provision for life tenancy.
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  Title: The Customs House, a Cruz Bay Landmark

  Date: 1960

  Creator:

  Owner: VINP
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  Title: St. John’s Post Office until the Mid 1960s

  Date: 1956

  Creator:

  Owner: NPS-HFC

  This building today serves as the Administrator’s office at the Cruz Bay Battery… the small building on the North side of the point. A long time resident of St. John recalls, ‘…This was the Post Office of my childhood. The Post Mistress was Ubaldina (Baldy) Simmons, wife of George Simmons, our very long-term and loved Administrator. There were no PO boxes, you simply presented yourself and your mail was promptly produced. In those days, before telephones, let alone e-mail, the Post Office was hugely important on St. John.’
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  Title: Cruz Bay, 1956

  Date: 1955

  Creator:

  Owner: National Geographic
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  Title: Cruz Bay, 2006

  Date: 2006

  Creator: Bruce Schoonover

  Owner: Bruce Schoonover