Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
St. Thomas

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
St. Thomas Location in the U.S. Virgin Islands
St. Thomas Location in the U.S. Virgin Islands Show map of the U.S. Virgin Islands St. Thomas Location in Lesser Antilles Show map of Lesser Antilles St. Thomas Location in Caribbean Show map of Caribbean
Geography
Location	Caribbean Sea
Coordinates	18°20′N 64°55′W / 18.333°N 64.917°W / 18.333; -64.917
Archipelago	Virgin Islands, Leeward Islands
Area	32 sq mi (83 km2)
Highest elevation	1,555 ft (474 m)
Highest point	Crown Mountain
Administration
United States Virgin Islands
Insular area	Virgin Islands
Largest settlement	Charlotte Amalie (pop. 18,481)
Demographics
Demonym	Saint Thomian
Population	51,634 (2010)
Pop. density	638.17 /km2 (1,652.85 /sq mi)

Map of U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas (Danish: Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and, together with Saint John, and Saint Croix, form a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. As of the 2010 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 51,634, about 48.5% of the US Virgin Islands total. The district has a land area of 32 square miles (83 km²).

History

Pre-colonial history

The island was originally settled around 1500 BC by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World.

Danish and German colonial period

The Dutch West India Company established a post on Saint Thomas in 1657. The first congregation was the St. Thomas Reformed Church, which was established in 1660 and was associated with the Dutch Reformed Church.

Denmark-Norway's first attempt to settle the island in 1665 failed. However, the Danes did resettle St. Thomas in 1671, under the sponsorship of the Glueckstadt Co., later the Danish West India Company. The first slave ships arrived in 1673, and St. Thomas became a slave market. The island became a Danish crown colony in 1754, and was granted free port status in 1764.

The land was divided into plantations and sugarcane production became the primary economic activity. As a result, the economies of Saint Thomas and the neighboring islands of Saint John and Saint Croix became highly dependent on slave labor and the slave trade. In 1685, the Brandenburgisch-Africanische Compagnie took control of the slave trade on Saint Thomas, and for some time the largest slave auctions in the world were held there.

Danish West Indies, Saint Thomas, 1 dollar (1889)

Saint Thomas's fine natural harbor became known as "Taphus" for the drinking establishments located nearby. ("Tap Hus" translates as "rum shop" or "tap house" referring to the drinking establishments.) In 1691, the primary settlement there was renamed Charlotte Amalie in honor of the wife of Denmark's King Christian V. It was later declared a free port by Frederick V. In December 1732, the first two of many Moravian Brethren missionaries came from Herrnhut Saxony in present-day Germany to minister to them. Distrusted at first by the white masters, they lived among the slaves and soon won their confidence.

From 1796 a small Jewish community developed in Charlotte Amalie. It established a historic synagogue, Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasidim, the oldest synagogue in continuous use anywhere in the United States or its external territories.

The first British invasion and occupation of the island occurred in 1801. The islands were returned to Denmark in 1802, under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens. Fire destroyed hundreds of homes in Charlotte Amalie in 1804. The second British occupation of the island occurred from 1807-1815, after the Invasion of the Danish West Indies (1807), during which they built Fort Cowell on Hassel Island.

While the sugar trade had brought prosperity to the island's free citizens, by the early 19th century Saint Thomas was in decline. The continued export of sugar was threatened by hurricanes, drought, and American competition. Following the Danish Revolution of 1848, slavery was abolished and the resulting rise in labor costs further weakened the position of Saint Thomas's sugar producers.

Given its harbors and fortifications, Saint Thomas still retained a strategic importance, and thus, in the 1860s, during the American Civil War and its aftermath, the United States government considered buying the island and its neighbors from Denmark for $7.5 million. However, the proponents of the purchase failed to gain legislative support for the bid.

Freedom of the press

As the islands were poorly managed by the Danes, a local islander, David Hamilton Jackson, was instrumental in persuading the Danish to allow the US to purchase the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix. In 1915, he traveled to Denmark and convinced the King of Denmark to allow freedom of the press in the islands. He began the first newspaper in the islands, known as The Herald. After this, he organized labor unions among the islanders for better working conditions. The islands now have an annual celebration in November to honor the legacy of David Hamilton Jackson.

United States acquisition

Districts and subdistricts of the US Virgin Islands

In 1917, Saint Thomas was purchased (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) by the United States for $25 million in gold ($571 million today), as part of a defensive strategy to maintain control over the Caribbean and the Panama Canal during the First World War. The transfer occurred on March 31, 1917, behind Fort Christian before the barracks that now house the Legislature of the U.S Virgin Islands. The baccalaureate service for the transfer was held at the St. Thomas Reformed Church as it was identified as the American church in the Danish West Indies.

The United States granted citizenship to the residents in 1927. The U.S. Department of the Interior took over administrative duties in 1931. American forces were based on the island during the Second World War. In 1954, passage of the U.S. Virgin Islands Organic Act officially granted territorial status to the three islands, and allowed for the formation of a local senate with politics dominated by the American Republican and Democratic parties. Full home rule was achieved in 1970.

The post-war era also saw the rise of tourism on the island. With relatively cheap air travel and the American embargo on Cuba, the numbers of visitors greatly increased. Despite natural disasters such as Hurricane Hugo (1989) and Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn (1995), the island's infrastructure continues to improve as the flow of visitors continues. Hotels have been built from the West End to the East End.

Geography

The island has a number of natural bays and harbors including Magens Bay, Great Bay, Jersey Bay, Long Bay, Fortuna Bay, and Hendrik Bay. Passenger ships dock and anchor in Long Bay, near Charlotte Amalie. Ships dock at Havensight Pier. Red Hook is an unofficial "town" located on the East End subdistrict.

Climate

Demographics

Saint Thomas is divided into the following subdistricts (with population as per the 2010 U.S. Census):

1. Charlotte Amalie (pop. 18,481) Charlotte Amalie town (pop. 10,354)
2. East End (pop. 8,403)
3. Northside (pop. 10,049)
4. Southside (pop. 5,411)
5. Tutu (pop. 6,867)
6. Water Island (pop. 182)
7. West End (pop. 2,241)

Transportation

Cab at Red Hook

The island is serviced by the Cyril E. King International Airport.

Passenger and limited car-ferry services to neighboring islands such as Water Island, Saint John, Saint Croix, and the British Virgin Islands run regularly out of the Red Hook Terminal, Charlotte Amalie, and Crown Bay Marina.

The United States Virgin Islands is the only place under United States jurisdiction where the rule of the road is to drive on the left. This was inherited from what was the then-current Danish practice at the time of the American acquisition in 1917. However, because Saint Thomas is a U.S. territory, most cars are imported from the mainland United States and therefore the steering column is located on the left side of the vehicle.

The island has many regular taxis from compact size to large vans, as well as open-air, covered trucks called "safaris" with bench seats. The latter usually operate only between high-traffic points, e.g., cruise-ship terminals at Havensight and Crown Bay and downtown Charlotte Amalie.

Images for kids

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  Camille Pissarro, A Creek in St. Thomas (Virgin Islands), 1856, National Gallery of Art. Pissarro was born on St. Thomas.

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  US Virgin Islands, Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1666. The present structure was completed in 1793.

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  Blackbeard's Castle in Charlotte Amalie

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  Magens Bay as seen from Drake's Seat, St. Thomas

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  View from Bluebeard's Castle, St. Thomas

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  Magens Bay

See also

In Spanish: Santo Tomás (Islas Vírgenes) para niños