Page 877 - Visitor Guides

Old Sugar Mill

History

Christopher Columbus first spotted St. Kitts in 1493, when it was populated with native tribes, but the Europeans didn’t colonize
our island until the British arrived in 1623. For centuries after that St. Kitts occupied a critical position in the European struggle

for the islands of the West Indies, which were rich with sugar plantations and were considered the gateway to the Caribbean.
As a result, the struggles and conflicts in and around St. Kitts shaped much of the history of the entire Caribbean.