Beginning in May 1735, Christiansted was developed using a grid system. The
Building Code of 1747 dictated street widths,
setbacks,
zoning, and building material. Masonry structures were the norm by the 1760s, and
neoclassical architecture characterized the colonial government buildings. The fort was constructed in 1738 on the remains of an earlier French fortification destroyed by a hurricane. The fort protected commerce from piracy and
privateers, and local citizens from
slave revolts. The first Danish governors were also housed there. The British occupied the colony from 1801 to 1803 and from 1807 to 1815. The fort housed the police headquarters, court offices, courthouse and archives starting in 1878. The soldiers were replaced by 60
gendarmes in 1906 and remained until Transfer Day in 1917. The fort also served as the colony jail. A notable inmate was the mother of
Alexander Hamilton, Rachel Faucette. She married her first husband,
Johann Michael Lavien, in 1745, at age 16. She spent several months in a 10 by 13 foot cell with one small window. Soon after being released, she fled to the
British West Indies, where she met Hamilton's father. ==Gallery==