Peter Island History

History floats through the Virgin Islands like an old ship, anchoring long enough at Peter Island to unload a rich heritage of pirates, plantations, and a private island hideaway.

Christopher Columbus discovered the Virgins on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. As he sailed through Sir Francis Drake Channel, Columbus named the enchanting and untouched chain of islands after St. Ursula's 11,000 followers, who chose death in fourth-century Cologne rather than submit to the marauding Huns.

Once Spain claimed the region, outlaw privateers routinely attacked her ships, homeward bound with riches from the New World. The hilly Virgin Islands, with countless nooks and bays, proved ideal hiding grounds for buccaneers like Henry Morgan, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Francis Drake, whose name claims the channel between Peter Island and Tortola.