Saint Kitts Coast

Saint Kitts is a volcanic island in the northern Lesser Antilles, with a coast that became a foothold for English and French colonists in the 1620s. Kalinago people already lived there, and European expansion brought violence and dispossession. Rivalry between the colonial powers continued for generations. In 1690 the English placed guns on Brimstone Hill above the western coast; the position developed into a fortress during the following century.