History

Legend has it that Sir Francis Drake used this inland nook as a hideout while waiting for passing ships to plunder. While that’s a romantic notion, it’s not necessarily true. What we do know is that early maps of St. Thomas first referred to this region as “Great Northside Bay.” The area was re-named “Magens Bay,” after territorial governor Jacob Jorgenson Magens whose family owned this land over two hundred years ago. The property changed hands several times over the years and was eventually acquired by Wall Street financier Arthur S. Fairchild in the 20th century. In 1946, Fairchild donated fifty six acres of his private property, including the beach and surrounding grove and grassland, to the Municipalities of St. Thomas and St. John for use as a public park. The entire area was developed by the St. Thomas Park Authority, now the Magens Bay Authority, for public recreation in accordance with Fairchild’s wishes. He specifically stated his desire that Magens Bay should be “maintained as a public park (with its natural beauty preserved) for use by the people of the Virgin Islands in perpetuity without discrimination of any kind as to race, creed, color, or national origin.”