Do you remember Harrigan Court? Now it is only an empty field as one enters the great town of Frederiksted. When it first opened in 1960, it was a beautiful housing complex that was the envy of many. It had manicured lawns, beautiful flowers and trees, playgrounds for children, a basketball court and benches in various areas where we could sit and talk. For the first time in my life, I did not have to go to a local faucet to fill buckets with water to cook, shower, etc. Latrines were a thing of the past! There were eight buildings but they were numbered one to nine. If I remember correctly, buildings seven and eight were joined as one building but considered two.
There were many families I knew but many were unknown to me. The names of the families I can recall were: Edwards, Flynn, Rivera, Garcia, Seales, Thomas, Monell, Ortiz, Roberts, Santos, Charles, Crawford, Henderson, Peterson, etc. Various nicknames for families and each other were ever present. Names like La Colora, Los Ratones, Pinky, Mongo, Fa, Mongoose, Guin, Midget, Big Wheel, etc.
Harrigan, as we called it, was an incredible community. We looked out for each other, helped each other, and helped take care of the grounds. It was one big family.
Some weekends traveling church groups came into the complex to have service, invite interested parties to join their ranks. We listened from a distance. We were Catholics who were not interested in leaving our church. There were neighbors who were Anglicans (Episcopal), Moravians and Lutherans, etc. There was also a Baptist church close to Harrigan. Most children attended St. Patrick or Claude O. Markoe School. Due to the ever-growing population, St. Joseph and Central High were eventually opened to house grades 9 to 12.
After school and/or on weekends, we played games like Jacks, Lotto/Bingo, Three Holes (marbles), Cack (with the seed from a locust fruit), softball or basketball. We also had competitions to see who could fly the highest on a swing. Usually Friday and/or Saturday night, the boys got together and played various games. Some girls joined us. We played Hide-and-Go-Seek (HGS), and Touch the Post (similar to HGS but in order to score we had to touch a light post before being found or tagged by one of the members of the opposing team). There was also a repulsive game, Policeman, that didn’t last.
When mangoes were in season, a group of Puerto Rican guys would walk to Annaly. These trips to Annaly were fun. Lots of talking, singing, joking and teasing took place. We also picked mamey fruit, if available. Other fruits we picked when in season were Mesple (sapodilla) in the Clarke pasture, genip in various areas, hog plum by the St. Pat’s gut, etc. At other times, we went torching (kerosene in a bottle with a lit rag to startle the crabs at night but not needed during the day).
Other weekends we went fishing on the dock (old and new) and/or visiting the Navy ships that came regularly to the island. We also had picnics on one of the many beautiful beaches on the island, including Dorsche, First Target Wall, Cramer Park, Sandy Point, etc. The coco plums at Sandy Point were delicious. We were told not to eat many to avoid being constipated. We also searched for turtle eggs. The eggs were delicious boiled. Now Sandy Point is off limits during turtle laying egg season.
My favorite weekend activity was visiting relatives because we’d get to meet the rest of the family. We visited our grandparents in Estate Whim or our aunt in Estate Coble (where I was born). Most of the times, we walked to Whim. The big celebrations took place when family from off-island visited.
On Strand Street we hung out in Jacaranda and the Hobby Shop. The stores on King and Queen Street were busy all week but much more so on weekends. I never got to see a movie in the Gardine Theater but did visit Alexander’s Theater in Christiansted a few times.
Then there were the walking trips to Hams Bluff on San Juan Day. Miss Maria Monell, a neighbor, who enjoyed celebrating the day, had to put up with a bunch of wild, screaming kids. How did she do it? We swam, we fished, and we collected whelks (wilks). What we caught became lunch.
I miss Harrigan. It was an exciting place. It wasn’t total luxury but it was better than what we had. I miss the families. I miss the many friends. I lived in Harrigan, Apartment 29 of Building 3, from 1960 to 1969. The good old days!!
It is sad to know what Harrigan became before it was demolished. There will never be another community like Harrigan.
— Jorge Rodríguez graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School in 1969 after which he attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn from 1969–73 where he received a BA degree. During his college years, he worked as a tutor at the Dr. White Community Center on Gold Street in Brooklyn through Catholic Charities. He worked for the Social Security Administration in Queens, New York for many years from where he retired. He volunteered for many years as an interpreter in Elmhurst Hospital in order to help Spanish speaking patients who spoke no or little English. From 1998 to 2013, he worked in various positions at the Dennelisse Corporation in Manhattan (now in the Bronx). Are you interested in photographs he has taken over the years of St. Croix, etc.? You can visit https://www.torrens-nieves.com/USVirginIslands.html for the original website or https://carmennieves-torrens.com/usvi-st-croix.html for the current website.
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