Fort Berg

The ruins of the Danish fort that served as the site of the opening scene of the 1733 slave revolt sit atop Fort Berg (Fort Hill), the sugarloaf that juts out between Coral Bay [1] and Hurricane Hole [2].

The fort was constructed in 1717, the same year Danish settlement of St. John [3] began in earnest. In 1760, four bastions and a gun deck were added to the fort. During the Napoleonic Wars the fort and adjacent battery were occupied by the British in 1801, and again from 1807 to 1815.

The ruins, and the hill on which they stand, are on private property and there is no public access. Once a year, around November 23, the date of the start of the 1733 rebellion, locals commemorate the slave revolt by hiking to the hilltop and holding a ceremony of remembrance. An announcement of this event is published in local newspapers.