18A East Street The House That Freedom Built 3D model

This is one of two houses on this property. It is in an area of Christiansted called Free Gut. Free Gut was an area in Christiansted and Frederiksted where Free Colored Persons lived. Prior to 1848 Free Colored Persons were not permitted to build houses in the town center, but were restricted to a free-black neighborhood communities in the hills of Christiansted and Frederiksted. The area is still known as Free Gut. ------ La Vaughn Belle is an artist on St. Croix. She has taken on an interesting film project that will tell the story of Free Gut. This house, she refers to it as “The House the Freedom Built", will be the subject of the story. The story follows the artist along her journey in restoring the building, researching its previous owners and learning about the larger, very special community to which they belonged. ------ Hopefully, I will be able to update this model and share the progress of her creative endeavor and more of the story.