New Herrnhut Moravian Church
New Herrnhut Moravian Church is located in the U.S. Virgin Islands
New Herrnhut Moravian Church
Nearest cityCharlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands
Coordinates18°20′01″N 64°54′05″W / 18.33350°N 64.90142°W / 18.33350; -64.90142
Area4 acres (1.6 ha)
Built1737
NRHP reference No.76001866[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 8, 1976

New Herrnhut Moravian Church is a historic Moravian church in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The Moravians, a Protestant religious group based in the town of Herrnhut in Saxony, began missionary work in 1732 in St. Thomas and were the first Protestants to begin missionary work among slaves and free Blacks in the Danish West Indies. Missionary work on St. Thomas was initially opposed by planters who didn't want slaves to receive education or religious instruction.[2]

The Moravians purchased the New Herrnhut site (then Bazuinenberg or (in German:) Posaunenberg) in 1738 and established it as the Brethren's Plantation or the 's Heeren Tutu, until renaming it New Herrnhut in 1753. The hurricane of 1867 destroyed much of the then-working plantation, but the church and bell tower survived.[3]

The church, which is still in use, is a one-story building made of plaster and rubble, with a hipped roof and semi-elliptical arched windows and doors.[3]

This church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ Samuel N. Stokes, Russel Wright, Annie Hillary, and Margaret Proskauer (May 22, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: New Herrnhut Moravian Church". National Park Service. Retrieved April 20, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) With photo from 1976.
  3. 1 2 deJongh Woods, Edith (1992). The Royal Three Quarters of the Town of Charlotte Amalie. MAPes MONDe Editore. p. 142. ISBN 0-926330-02-0.


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