USVI-On-Line

I have been wondering why Caneel is named that? In both Swedish and Danish the word caneel (it's spelled kanel but pronounced about the same) means cinnamon. And just a bit from Caneel is Cinnamon beach situated. Is that just a coincidence or does the name Caneel have anything to do with STJ being Danish in the past?

From <a href="http://stjohnbeachguide.com/Caneel%20Ba ... ><b>Gerald Singer</b></a>, St. John author -

"A Dutchman from the island of Statia, Peter Durloe was one of these original planters. His first claim was what is now called Cinnamon Bay, which he named for the many cinnamon trees, (bay rum) found there. Of course, being Dutch he used the Dutch word for "cinnamon" which is "caneel." Thus, the first Caneel Bay was actually Cinnamon Bay.

What we now call Caneel Bay also had a magnificent stand of bay rum trees for which that bay was similarly named. To distinguish this Caneel Bay from the original Caneel Bay, the former was called Klein Caneel or Little Caneel, and Cinnamon Bay was called Store Caneel or Big Caneel."

We sell his books "<a href="http://www.caribmart.com/stjohoffbeat.html"><b>St. John Off The Beaten Track</b></a>" and "<a href="http://www.caribmart.com/stjohbeacgui.html"><b>St. John Beach Guide</b></a>" on our store at <a href="http://www.caribmart.com/usbritviris.ht ... com</b></a>

Thanks Anthony!

What a wealth of information you provide! There is ALWAYS something new to learn from the forum!

Thank you Anthony for your very informative answer.

I wasn't way out of base, even if it was Dutch. Dutch is not that similar to the Scandinavian language, but I do know that we have some words that are alike. And obviously caneel was one of them.

That explains the Caneel logo! I always thought it was a petroglyph, but after reading this thread, I think it's supposed to be a cinnamon stick! If you look at the end of a cinnamon stick, it is rolled and looks just like the Caneel logo! Wow, You really do learn something new every day, especially on this forum!