View of Charlestown, Nevis from the pier
The small five by seven mile island of Nevis is located in the leeward portion of the Caribbean's Lesser Antilles. The island is essentially a single dormant volcanic cone rising to an elevation of 3,596 feet above sea level. Columbus spotted the island on his second voyage in 1498. The British acquired the island from the Spanish, who had never colonized it, and in 1628 the first British colonists arrived from neighboring St. Kitts. The attraction of Nevis for the British was the availability of land upon which to grow plantation cash crops, particularly sugar cane. The apron of gentle lower slopes surrounding the peak provided land ideal for cultivation. The predominant soil type upon these lower plains was a mature shoal formed from the weathered mineral-rich volcanic material. These soils, in combination with a moderate tropical climate, an average annual temperature of 79 F, and an average annual rainfall of 50 inches on the lowlands, attracted planters who quickly discovered the value of sugar. The Nevis countryside was divided into plantations by the 1680s, and the sugar trade predominated until the late 18th-century, when various economic and social pressures resulted in the decline of sugar as a viable trade item.
During the period - from the mid-17th through late 18th centuries - Nevis was a bustling center of economic activity in the Lesser Antilles. Charlestown, the island's main port on the sheltered leeward side of the island, contained rows of warehouses filled with raw materials to be shipped overseas in exchange for material goods from Europe and slaves from Africa. The years between the establishment of sugar plantations on the island of Nevis and the decline of its prosperity in the mid 18th century marked the height of British interest in the colony, and it is within this context that a vibrant Jewish community clustered in Charlestown existed on the island.
The Jewish Community of Nevis Archaeology Project | The Nevis Synagogue Archaeology Project
Nevis History | The Nevis Jewish Cemetery | The Cemetery Resistivity Survey