St.+Thomas

**"St. Thomas is one of the Caribbean's top vacation destinations and Charlotte Amalie is a favorite port of call." ** **__Population & Size__**  **"Rock City" is the second largest out of the four Virgin Islands.** **St. Thomas is a mountainous island that is 32 square miles and has a** **population of about 51,000 people. The highest point on the island of St. Thomas is Crown Mountain which is 1,556 feet above sea level.** **__Places__** **St. Thomas is home to the capitol of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie. In Charlotte Amalie there are historic buildings and sites that give you a visual of St. Thomas' history. **
 * St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. ** **"Rock City" **

**One of St. Thomas' greatest attractions is Magen's Bay, located on the North coast of the island. Magen's Bay beautiful natural feature like soft white sand, warm calming waters, and a stunning view of St. Thomas' mountains. This is why Magen's Bay has been repeatedly voted as one of the Top Ten Most Beautiful Beaches in the World. Scenes from the movie "Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1" has been filmed at Magen's Bay. **

**Another great place to go when and if you visit St. Thomas is Drake's Seat. Drakes Seat is a lookout on one of St. Thomas' many hills. Drake's seat was named after Sir Francis Drake, a British privateer, who used this spot to spy on enemy ships of the Spanish Fleet. ****At Drake's Seat you will have an amazing view of St. Thomas' hill, the British Virgin Islands, and the cays like Thatch Cay, Lovango Cay, and Hans Lollik. ** **__History__**  **In 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered St. Thomas on his second voyage to the New World. ** **In 1671, the Danish West India Company received its charter from King Christian V to take possession of St. Thomas. They also did this so that the land might be suitable for plantations. While sailing to St. Thomas with a ship load of settlers and slaves some people passed away. This meant that the Danish settlement in St. Thomas grew slowly from their slow start on a colony. While this was happening, the Dutch were sneaking into St. Thomas from nearby islands. This made Dutch the dominant language on St. Thomas. ** **Between 1673 and 1678 one hundred forty slaves were brought to St. Thomas. Near islands were used as pastures to hold the goats and sheep that would eventually be food for the settlers on St. Thomas. **  **Between 1678 and 1680, Taphus, St. Thomas' first settlement was founded by ****Denmark. ****<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">As time progressed the island became known as pirates den under the power ****<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">of the Esmit brothers, the second and third governors of St. Thomas. Because of this stories began to develop about two pirates named Bluebeard and Blackb ****<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">eard. ** **<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">In the year of 1685, the Danish West India Company signed a treaty with Brandenburger so that they could have the authorization to establish a slave trading business. ** **<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">In 1691, Taphus was renamed Charlotte Amalie after King Christian V's wife. Between the years 1691 and 1715 St. Thomas' sugar was popular and slave trade went up. The population increased from 389 whites and 555 blacks to 547 whites and 3,042 blacks. **


 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">About three years later in 1717, slaves, soldiers, and planters were sent from St. Thomas to claim St. John. **


 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">On the day of June 3, 1733 the Danish West India Company bought St. Croix, which was growing rapidly in population, from France. **


 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">By 1815, St. Thomas was made a free shipping port. Importing houses that belonged to many different countries were growing on the coast of St. Thomas. **


 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">During the 1840's St. Thomas also became a coaling station for ships that were traveling between North and South America. Because of this Charlotte Amalie also became the headquarters for the coaling station. In 1848, slavery was put to an end in the U.S. Virgin Islands. **

**<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Between 1865 and 1917, the United States and Denmark began to negotiate. Finally, the U.S. bought the Danish West Indies for $25 million dollars and on March 31, 1917 U.S. flags were hoisted onto flag poles on the three different Virgin Islands. **
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">In the late 1800's and the beginning of the 1900's several tsunamis, hurricanes, and fires came upon Charlotte Amalie, which resulted in destruction of the warehouses. Years passed before the warehouses, where trade was stored, could be rebuilt. During this time, St. Croix and its plantation also suffered. There were also low market prices on sugar. Because St. Thomas and St. Croix struggled to get back on their feet, they became really dependent on Denmark for support. **

**<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">The islands were under the U.S. Navy from 1917- 1931. T ****<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">he islanders weren't granted their U.S. citizenship until 1927. Governors were appointed from 1931 until 1969. In 1970, Melvin Evans became the first elected governor to take office. ** **<span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">As time went on tourism began to flourish. Immigrants from surrounding islands came in hope of finding work in the tourism industry and the population increased. ** <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 20px;">__**Facts**__ __<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">**Pictures** __ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">**Havensight Cruise Ship Terminal- http://virgin-islands-hotels.com/category/navigation/cruise-usvi/st-thomas-havensight-crown-bay/** <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">** Magen's Bay- http://www.destination360.com/caribbean/usvi/magens-bay **  <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">** Drake's Seat- http://havefunwithus.net/drake_seat.html **  <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">** Blackbeard- http://www.mrnussbaum.com/pirates/blackbeard.htm ** <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">  <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">** Melvin Evans- http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/evans-melvin-herbert-1917-1984 ** <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**St. Thomas has been a shopping place of interest sine the 1600s**
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**St. Thomas is the U.S. Caribbean's major cruise port and is the king of all duty-free shopping destinations**