Vintage St. John Library/School Edition
Donate Vintage St. John to a School or Library
Love, loss, family, and sweeping historical change come together in Vintage St. John: A Family Memoir in the US Virgin Islands.
- Featuring more than 200 rare photographs, this richly illustrated memoir offers students, educators, researchers, and history lovers an intimate look at a way of life that has all but disappeared.
- It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking—a vivid portrait of St. John during a transformative period under the Danish and United States flags.
- When you purchase this special edition, a copy will be donated in your name to a local school or library, helping preserve and share the history of St. John with future generations.
About the Book
When prominent St. Thomas merchant Herman O. Creque acquires 2,500 acres on St. John to raise cattle and cultivate bay leaves, he has no idea that his generation will be the last to farm the land.
From the 1920s through the 1950s, Herman’s hard work brings prosperity to his estates at Annaberg, Mary’s Point, and Lamesure. At the height of their success, however, he dies—leaving the properties to his wife, Emily.
Summer at Francis Bay
Francis Bay becomes a beloved retreat for their children, filled with nearly thirty years of summer memories: fishing, hunting, crabbing, and gathering together at the family cottage. They believe the beach and cottage will one day belong to them—or so they think.
Laurance Rockefeller and Frank Stick
In 1952, two conservationists from the United States visit St. John and are captivated by the unspoiled beauty of Emily’s lands. They wish to preserve them “for the enjoyment of the nation.”
Emily’s children have no idea that life as they know it is about to change forever—or that the unthinkable will tear their family apart.
The Virgin Islands National Park
Woven together from personal interviews and heartfelt family memories, Vintage St. John paints a vivid picture of island life before the establishment of the Virgin Islands National Park—and during the dramatic years that followed.