<Tr> <Th> Designated </Th> <Td> 1980 </Td> </Tr> <P> Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve is a unit of the National Park Service on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands . It preserves upland watersheds, mangrove forests, and estuarine and marine environments that support threatened and endangered species . It also contains the Columbus Landing Site, a National Historic Landmark that is the only known site where members of a Columbus expedition set foot on what is now United States territory . The site is marked by Fort Salé, a remaining earthworks fortification from the French period of occupation, about 1617 . The park also preserves prehistoric and colonial - era archeological sites including the only existing example of a ball court in the US Virgin Islands . </P> <P> Salt River Bay is located on the north side of the island of St. Croix, on its central coast . The bay is a large inlet with two major sections, the left fed by the Salt River . The park property encompasses substantially all of the land abutting the bay . This area's blend of sea and land holds some of the largest remaining mangrove forests in the Virgin Islands, as well as coral reefs and a submarine canyon . Salt River Bay's natural history, its vitally important ecosystem of mangroves, estuary, coral reefs, and submarine canyon, has witnessed thousands of years of human endeavor . Every major period of human habitation in the Virgin Islands is represented: several South American Indian cultures, the 1493 encounter with Columbus, Spanish extermination of the Caribs, attempts at colonization by a succession of European nations, and enslaved West Africans and their descendants . More than a dozen major archeological investigations since 1880, together with historical research, reveal a remarkable story . </P> <P> On February 24, 1992 Congress created the park, under cooperative management of the National Park Service and Government of the Virgin Islands of the United States . These agencies jointly manage this park . As an historic area of the National Park Service, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on the same day . The Columbus landing site had already been designated a National Historic Landmark on October 9, 1960 . The Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve will be honored with the 53rd quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters in 2020 . </P>

Salt river bay national historical park and ecological preserve