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Plan a Road Trip > Explore America > National Parks > Saint Croix Island International Historic Site |
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PO Box 177, c/o Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, ME 4609
Phone: 207-288-3338
Fax: 207-288-5507
Overview. In 1604, before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, French explorer Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts and 78 others, including famous explorer Samuel Champlain, tried to establish a permanent French settlement here. They began to build fortifications, service buildings, and dwellings, but they were not prepared for the harsh winter that lay ahead. The first snow fell in early October, and by December the Saint Croix River froze, effectively cutting them off from hunting and foraging opportunities on the mainland. The isolation was almost as debilitating as hunger and scurvy, which plagued most of the men.
Almost half of the group died, and the survivors moved north to Port Royal to settle in what is now the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Most of the buildings were transported from the island to the new settlement; the remaining structures burned.
French settlement of Canada continued, and Saint Croix Island saw intermittent human habitation since de Monts' men abandoned it. It served as neutral ground for meetings between the U.S. and Britain during the War of 1812, and a farm was also established here, but winters are bitter on Saint Croix, summers are rainy, and at high tide, only six and a half acres are above water. Eventually, the island was left to the elements. No infrastructure, plumbing, or electrical systems have been built. A lighthouse was erected here in 1856, but was destroyed by fire in 1976. Today the Coast Guard maintains a navigation beacon in its place.
What to see and do. The island is open only for daytime excursions and may be reached only via private boat; there is no ferry service available. It is a bird-watcher's paradise: several species of migratory birds, including warblers and cormorants, use the island as a rest stop in the spring and fall. No hunting or campfires are allowed. Saint Croix is best for communing with nature--a place to just "get away from it all" for a day.
Picnic facilities and a pit toilet are located on the mainland, but water is not available. An interpretive shelter, also on the mainland, consists of a plaque from 1904 commemorating the tricentennial of de Monts' discovery.
Nearby Port Royal National Historic Park in Nova Scotia features a reconstruction of the village de Monts and his men built there after Saint Croix Island was abandoned.
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