Emancipation Garden

Parks and historic sites St. Thomas Charlotte AmalieLast verified October 31, 2026

Around Charlotte Amalie

Sailboats anchored in Long Bay below the hillside homes of Charlotte Amalie — Long Bay, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Wooded Hassel Island across the turquoise water of St. Thomas Harbor, with a red boat at the waterfront below — St. Thomas Harbor, Charlotte Amalie

Pale yellow, red-roofed Legislature Building of the Virgin Islands on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront, seen across the harbor water — Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Emancipation Garden is a small, tree-lined square in downtown Charlotte Amalie, near the harbor, and one of the territorial parks of the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation (DSPR). It is named for July 3, 1848, when enslaved people in the Danish West Indies won their freedom. According to former Senator Myron Jackson, the square was a slave market in the 1600s and later the place where the Emancipation Proclamation was read. At its center stands Freedom, a bronze statue of a newly freed man blowing a conch shell, made by the Ghanaian sculptor Bright Bimpong in 1998; it moved to the center in 2021, when the bust of the Danish King Christian IX went to Fort Christian. The park also has a gazebo, a replica of the Liberty Bell and benches facing the harbor. It hosts Emancipation Day observances and the yearly Kallaloo Festival.

Services

Territorial park of the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation
Freedom statue, gazebo and replica Liberty Bell
Benches facing the harbor
Venue for Emancipation Day and community events

How we checked

Last verified on October 31, 2026. We checked it against the sources below.

Source: Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation, https://dspr.vi.gov/Parks.html (Emancipation Garden, Charlotte Amalie); St. Thomas Source, March 29, 2021, https://stthomassource.com/content/2021/03/29/danish-kingss-bust-removed-to-make-way-for-emancipation-history/ (bust of King Christian IX moved to Fort Christian; the square's history as a slave market in the 1600s and the site where the Emancipation Proclamation was read, as Myron Jackson said; the Conch Shell Blower statue by Bright Bimpong of Ghana, 1998; tree-lined square with benches and a harbor view); St. Thomas Source, July 4, 2022, https://stthomassource.com/content/2022/07/04/statue-rededication-helps-change-narrative-of-emancipation-day/ (statue renamed Freedom and moved to the heart of the garden); USVI Department of Tourism, https://www.visitusvi.com/experience/st-thomas-sightseeing-things-to-do/ (bronze figure of a newly freed man blowing a conch shell, replica Liberty Bell, gazebo); St. Thomas Source, July 2, 2025, https://stthomassource.com/content/2025/07/02/emancipation-day-event-calls-for-unity-reflection-and-cultural-liberation/ (Emancipation Day observance at the garden) and September 2, 2025, https://stthomassource.com/content/2025/09/02/the-third-annual-kallaloo-festival-will-be-back-at-the-emancipation-garden/ (annual Kallaloo Festival at the garden); all accessed 2026-10-31. Map point: GNIS feature 1993822, 'Emancipation Gardens Park' (Park), U.S. Geological Survey GNIS archive file VI_Features_20210825 (an archived 2021 file; the feature is not in the current GNIS file), https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/GeographicNames/Archive/MainDomestic/VI_Features_20210825.txt, accessed 2026-10-31.

USVI Realty does not rank, rate or endorse the places and services in this directory. Hours, fees and rules change, so check the official source before you go.