USVI Historic Buildings Archive

The Emmaus Moravian Church and Manse are located in the town of Coral Bay, on the island of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. They both are historical and significant examples of the Moravian Architectural style. The Moravians were the first Protestants to send missionaries to the West Indies. They were in the Danish Islands as early as 1732. They were also the only church allowed to minister to the slaves, and were instrumental in establishing Dutch Creole as the language spoken between planters and the enslaved Africans. The Manse is the older of the two buildings, as it was constructed in 1750. The one - story church, originally built in 1782, holds a belfry attached to the west end, in the form of two tiers of square blocks, capped by a pyramidal roof. Both tiers have open arches on the exposed sides and the bell is contained in the upper tier. The masonry foundation is constructed of rubble, ballast brick and native brain coral set in a lime mortar and stuccoed. A cemetery dating to the 18th century is associated with the church and is located 200 feet to the east of it.