Nevis / Special Interests / Historical Sites

A variety of interesting sites help to bring Nevis’s varied past to life, and most are related to the island’s prominence as a sugar trading power in the 17th and 18th Centuries when this industry was at its height and the island’s exports surpassed those of the colony of New York. How times have changed!

Charlestown - The capital of Nevis, Charlestown is a fairly quiet town with an antique core of pretty stone and wooden buildings, surrounded by more modern suburbs. Most of the traditional buildings are made of stone, but there are also some “skirt and shirt” buildings, with a stone base and a wooden upper storey. The old centre consists of two very pretty “squares” (actually triangles) with memorials and trees, off which lead just a few old streets in both directions parallel to the waterfront. The waterfront itself, from where the ferry to St Kitts leaves, has been modernised and now has a car park and main road. Outside this immediate area Charlestown is increasingly modern, but there are a number of attractive looking buildings and churches.

Alexander Hamilton House, Charlestown - A restored Creole house, this is the site of the first home of Alexander Hamilton, who appears on the US$10 bill. He was born on Nevis and travelled via the US (then the Danish) Virgin Islands to the English colonies in North America, where he was aide de camp to George Washington in the American War of Independence. As a lawyer he was instrumental in the preparation of the American constitution in the form it was adopted. He became the first Secretary to the US Treasury and founded the US Coastguard. His story is told in the building, which is home to the Museum of Nevis History.

Nevis Courthouse and Public Library, Memorial Square, Charlestown - An attractive stone colonial building with white wooden shutters, dating back to 1825, with a clock tower added in 1875. It was built by a ship builder and the interior of the upstairs library looks like the inside of an upturned ship. Open to the public from 8am to 4pm, Mon-Fri.

Bath Hotel, Charlestown - A once impressive building and visible as you leave Charlestown to the east, probably the first tourist hotel to be built in the Caribbean, in 1778. It was built because of its extremely potent mineral waters. The old Spring House is also rundown, but a recently constructed outdoor pool is regularly used by islanders.

Upper Round Road - Two centuries ago, when Nevis was planted up to its heights with sugar cane, there were three ”ring” roads around the island. The first ran basically around the coast. Much of it has been eroded with the shoreline, but parts of it are now the main road that links the airport, the beaches and Charlestown. Some of the “Middle Round Road” (south and east of Charlestown) has been developed and is used today. But there was also an “Upper Round Road” which linked the plantations higher up the mountainside. This was carved out of the hillside in the 1600s and was around nine miles long, running from Golden Rock Plantation above Charlestown and Pinney’s Beach, eventually descending to the coast near the airport. It fell into disuse and largely into disrepair, so that it is now mostly a humble track in the jungle, even lost completely in some places, but elsewhere the bridges and embankments are still visible in the overgrowth. Parts of it are used on hikes, for mountain biking and horse-riding. Some of the road has been improved by the Nevis Conservation and Historical Society. It is rocky in places, but it makes a good hike.

Cottle Church, Newcastle - Cottle Church is the shell of a stone church which was first built in 1824 by Methodist missionaries. The Methodists, revolutionaries of their time, felt that planters and slaves should be allowed to worship together on an equal basis (before that they had to worship in separate areas of the church). It is said to be the first such place in the British West Indies.

Contributors: Sara Macefield (foreword)