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Frederlks Fort 
Fortberg Hill 
Coral Bay 
St. John 
Virgin Islands 
HABS No. VI-74 
MX 
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PHOTOGRAPHS 
WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA 
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Historic American Buildings Survey 
National Park Service 
Department of the interior 
Washington, D.C. 20240 
HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY ' 
FREDERIKS FORT HABS No. VI-74 
Location:       Fortberg Hill, Coral Bay, St. John, Virgin Island 
General Statement: 
Architectural character: Frederiks Fort is a ruin of a standard 
eighteenth century citadel. It is in an extremely poor condition and only 
the outer walls and the foundation of a structure in the center of the 
fort remain. There are traces of gundecks over the bastions, steps, and 
other building features. 
Description: 
Orientation: The entrance is from the southwest in one of the short 
curtains of the rectangular fort. The long walls of the rectangle are due 
northeast-southwest. 
Foundations & wall construction: The foundation and walls are rubble 
masonry with brick lining at the corners, door and window openings. All 
masonry was plastered originally and traces still remain on all walls. 
The walls are battered towards the exterior and vertical towards the 
interior of the fort. They rise from 6' to 81 above the existing level of 
the interior and from 14' to 22' from the irregular terrain of the 
exterior. 
Openings: 
Doorways and windows: As mentioned above, the sally port is in the south 
curtain. It is a slightly pointed arch, flanked by two windows or slits, 
now bricked in. Steps within the fort and outside the sally port make up 
the difference in the levels of the interior and the exterior. Arcaded 
window openings are located in the north end of both the east and west 
curtains. Centered i.n the north curtain is a large window opening 
30" by 51. No traces remain of the windows and the doors. 
Roof shape and covering: Traces remain of flat brick roofs supported on 
wood beams over the corner bastions and of a continuous walk along the top 
of the curtain walls connecting the bastions. The walks appear to have 
been constructed in wood. Both walks and the brick decks above the 
bastions were 2' to 3' lower than the top of the outer wall which served 
as breastwalls. 
Floor plan: The rooms within the bastions on the court level can be 
traced in outline only. Except for plaster fragments on the outer walls, 
no finishes remain. In the south and west bastion, there is evidence of 
subdivision into two and three cells respectively. 
A structure was built against the northeast curtain wall on the court 
side. Only sections of its foundations are above ground and its size and 
nature has not been determined. 
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Frederiks Fort 
HABS No. VI-74 
(Page 2) 
The structure in the center of the fort mentioned in the general statement 
was built on a masonry platform raised 4' above the present level of the 
court. The structure was rectangular and measured 18' x 30'. It was 
entered at the center of the short southwest side by a series of steps 
which still exist. It had rubble masonry walls 2' thick to the level of 
the window sills. From imprints in the masonry, it is apparent that above 
the window sills the walls were of a half timber construction. 
Stairways: In addition to the steps mentioned above in connection with 
the sally port and the structure in the center of the fort, there are 
remains of a staircase against the southeast curtain wall at its junction 
with the south bastion. The staircase connected the court level with the 
walk along the top of the curtain walls and the gundecks over the 
bastions. It is constructed in brick and supported on brick arches. A 
small enclosed vaulted cell is located under the top landing of the 
stai rcase. 
Floors: Except for fragments of brick pavements at the sally port, no 
evidence of former floor finishes have been found. 
There is no evidence of the doors, windows, trim, hardware or ceiling 
finishes of the rooms within the bastions or of the structures within the 
court. 
Site: The fort is located on the summit of a conical hill on a small 
peninsula between Coral Bay and Hurricane Hole in Coral Bay. Its position 
commands all of Coral Bay and the adjoining shoreline as well as the 
entrance to the bay. 
Foundations of an unidentified structure are situated 50 feet west of the 
fort and a supporting shore battery is located on a promontory facing the 
entrance to Coral Bay approximately 1,000* southeast of the fort. 
F. C. Gjessing 
November 1960