Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, located on an island in the Saint Croix River between Canada and the United States, is one of the lesser-known National Park Service units. The park commemorates the earliest attempt at French colonization of North America.
According to the park’s mission statement:
The National Park Service preserves Saint Croix Island IHS as a monument to the beginning of the United States and Canada. It was here that Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons with his company of 78 men established a French settlement in 1604-05. In cooperation with Parks Canada, the National Park Service educates the public about that heroic effort, its context, and its consequences.
This attempt to colonize the territory the French called l'Acadie, was an ill-fated one. The men spent the winter iced in and cut off from fresh water and game, and 35 settlers died. After the return of their ships from France, Dugua moved the colony, founding the settlement of Port Royal, in today's Nova Scotia.
There is no public access to Saint Croix Island, but the mainland offers a short interpretive trail with bronze statues and a model that tell the story of the 1604 settlement, with a view of the island at the end of the walk.
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| Bronze Statues Help to Tell the Story |
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| Along the Interpretive Trail |
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| Imagining the Settlement |
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| A View of Saint Croix Island |
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