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Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
which, together with Saint John, Water Island,
Hassel Island Hassel Island (also sometimes Hassell Island) is a small island of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a United States territory located in the Caribbean Sea. Hassel Island lies in the Charlotte Amalie harbor just south of Saint Thomas and east of Water ...
, and Saint Croix, form a
county-equivalent In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term " county" is used in 48 states, ...
and constituent
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an
unincorporated territory Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
of the United States. The territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie is located on the island. As of the 2020 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 42,261, about 48.5% of the total population of the United States Virgin Islands. The island has a land area of .


History


Pre-colonial history

The island was originally settled around 1500 BC by the
Ciboney The Ciboney, or Siboney, were a Taíno people of western Cuba, Jamaica, and the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti. A Western Taíno group living in central Cuba during the 15th and 16th centuries, they had a dialect and culture distinct from the Classi ...
people. Ciboney sites have been uncovered in Krum Bay. The island was later inhabited by the
Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greate ...
s and then the
Caribs “Carib” may refer to: People and languages *Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of South America **Carib language, also known as Kalina, the language of the South American Caribs *Kalinago people, or Island Caribs, an indigenous pe ...
. Arawak sites have been uncovered in Magen's Bay and Botany Bay, and Carib sites have been uncovered in Magen's Bay and Salt River. 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 The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...
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 ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
s arrived in 1673, and St. Thomas became a
slave market A slave market is a place where slaves are bought and sold. These markets became a key phenomenon in the history of slavery. Slave markets in the Ottoman Empire In the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century, slaves were traded in special ...
. In 1685, the Danish leased part of the island to the Brandenburger Company, which was resold to the Danish in 1754, and was granted free port status in 1764. The land was divided into plantations and
sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks ...
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 The Brandenburger Gold Coast, later Prussian Gold Coast, was a part of the Gold Coast. The Brandenburg colony existed from 1682 to 1721, when King Frederick William I of Prussia sold it for 7200 ducats to the Dutch Republic. Brandenburger Go ...
'' took control of the slave trade on Saint Thomas, and for some time the largest slave auctions in the world were held there. 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 Christian V (15 April 1646 25 August 1699) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the decree ...
. It was later declared a free port by
Frederick V Frederick V or Friedrich V may refer to: *Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164–1170) * Frederick V, Count of Zollern (d.1289) *Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg (c. 1333–1398), German noble * Frederick V of Austria (1415–1493), or Frederick II ...
. In December 1732, the first two of many Moravian Brethren missionaries came from
Herrnhut Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722. Geography It i ...
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. 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 to 1815, after the
Invasion of the Danish West Indies (1807) The second British Invasion of the Danish West Indies took place in December 1807 when a British fleet captured the Danish islands of St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December. The Danes did not resist and the invasion was bloodless ...
, during which they built Fort Cowell on
Hassel Island Hassel Island (also sometimes Hassell Island) is a small island of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a United States territory located in the Caribbean Sea. Hassel Island lies in the Charlotte Amalie harbor just south of Saint Thomas and east of Water ...
. While the
sugar trade Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or doubl ...
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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
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

In 1915, David Hamilton Jackson traveled to Denmark and convinced the King of Denmark to allow freedom of the press in Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix. He began the first newspaper in the islands, known as ''The Herald''. Jackson was the editor of ''The Herald'', which had its office at 1B Kongens Gade in
Christiansted Christiansted is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States of America. The town is named after King Christian VI of Denmark. History The town was founded ...
. The newspaper's focus was civic and labor rights for local workers, and it published criticisms of the labor situation in the islands. After beginning ''The Herald,'' Jackson organized labor unions among the islanders for better working conditions. He was also instrumental in persuading the Danish to allow the US to purchase the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix. The islands now have an annual celebration in November to honor the legacy of David Hamilton Jackson.


United States acquisition

In 1917, Saint Thomas was purchased (along with Saint Croix and Saint John) by the United States for $25 million in gold ($ 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. At the time of the US purchase in 1917, the colony did not include Water Island, which had been sold by Denmark to the
East Asiatic Company The EAC Invest A/S, formerly known as the Santa Fe Group and East Asiatic Company ( da, italic=yes, Det Østasiatiske Kompagni or ''ØK'') is a multinational holding and investment company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. History The East Asiat ...
, a private shipping company, in 1905. The company eventually sold the island to the United States in 1944, during the
German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 Decemb ...
. The federal government then used the island for military purposes until 1950, before finally transferring it to the territorial government in 1996. The United States granted citizenship to the residents in 1927. The
U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
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 Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peopl ...
(1989), Hurricanes
Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
and Marilyn (1995), and Hurricanes Irma and
Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...
(2017) 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, and in recent years, Saint Thomas has become a busy cruise ship port and vacation venue.


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

Saint Thomas has a tropical savanna climate (''Aw'' according to the Köppen climate classification) with a drier season and a wetter season. The temperature is warm year-round, with January and February, the coolest months, having average highs of and average lows of . August has the highest average high of , with July, August and September all having the highest average low at . The highest temperature ever recorded was on August 4, 1994 and June 23, 1996, which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in the United States Virgin Islands. The lowest recorded temperature was in November. Saint Thomas receives of precipitation annually over 163.6 precipitation days. Autumn is the wettest time of year because of tropical cyclones. November is the wettest month, receiving of rain on average over 17.8 precipitation days, the most of any month. March is the driest month, receiving of rainfall over 8.1 precipitation days, the least of any month.


Demographics

Saint Thomas is divided into the following
subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...
s (with population as per the
2020 U.S. Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...
): # Charlotte Amalie (pop. 14,477) Charlotte Amalie town (pop. 8,194) # East End (pop. 7,502) # Northside (pop. 8,889) #
Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of New ...
(pop. 4,112) # Tutu (pop. 5,129) # Water Island (pop. 164) # West End (pop. 1,988)


Historical ethnic communities

From 1796 a small Jewish community developed in Charlotte Amalie. It established the Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasadim, the second oldest synagogue in the United States. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a group of French Catholic immigrants known as the came to St. Thomas from the St. Barthélemy islands to the east, forming one community of fishermen and one of farmers.


Transportation

The island is serviced by the
Cyril E. King International Airport Cyril E. King Airport is a public airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. It is currently the busiest airport in the Un ...
. 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 Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...
. This was inherited from what was the then-current Danish practice at the time of the American acquisition in 1917. However, because the islands are 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.


Education

St. Thomas-St. John School District St. Thomas-St. John School District is one of two school districts in the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States.Home
"
operates public schools on Saint Thomas. Private schools: * Antilles School * Virgin Islands Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy Parochial schools: * All Saints Cathedral School * Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School * Calvary Christian Academy * Church of God Academy * Memorial Moravian School * Seventh Day Adventist School * Weslyan Academy Bible School Colleges and universities: *
University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially becam ...


Notable people

* Alton Augustus Adams − first African-American band master for the United States Navy * Pamela Balash-Webber (1953–2020), diving instructor *
Jabari Blash Jabari Jerell Blash (born July 4, 1989) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2016 with the San Diego Padres. He also played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels and for the Tohoku ...
− baseball player, outfielder for the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shoppin ...
*
Edward Wilmot Blyden Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician who was primarily active in West Africa. Born in the Danish West Indies, he joined the waves of black immigrants from the ...
− ambassador, an Igbo in Diaspora; credited in some history books as having laid the foundation of West African nationalism and Pan-Africanism *
Callix Crabbe Callix Sadeaq Crabbe (born February 14, 1983) is a Virgin Islands American former professional baseball second baseman and current coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. ...
Major League Baseball player * Midre Cummings − Major League Baseball player *
Vanessa Daou Vanessa Daou (born October 4, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, visual artist and dancer. Most notably a musician, her work is known among nu jazz, trip hop and electronic music circles for her trademark spoken word and aspirated sin ...
− singer-songwriter, dancer, writer, poet *
Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville (26 February 1814 – 10 October 1876) was a geologist and meteorologist. Born in St. Thomas, he was the brother of chemist Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville. Having attended at the École des Mines ...
− French
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alth ...
* Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville − French chemist * Jeff FaulknerNational Football League player * Kelsey Grammer − actor, director, and producer born in Saint Thomas *
Emile Griffith Emile Alphonse Griffith (February 3, 1938 – July 23, 2013) was a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight t ...
− former boxer who won world championships in both the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions *
Jean Hamlin Jean Hamlin (alternatively spelled Jean Hamlyn, fl. 1682–1684) was a French pirate active in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa. He was often associated with St. Thomas's pirate-friendly Governor Adolph Esmit. History Hamlin began his ...
− 17th-century French buccaneer *
Elrod Hendricks Elrod Jerome "Ellie" Hendricks (December 22, 1940 – December 21, 2005) was a U.S. Virgin Islander professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from through , most notably as a member of the Baltimore ...
− Major League Baseball player *
Abdul Hodge Abdul Raheeda Hodge The Third Jr. (born September 9, 1983) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the tight ends coach at Iowa, where he played as a 3-time all Big-Ten linebacker. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers i ...
− National Football League player * Daryl Homer − Olympic fencer *
Roy Innis Roy Emile Alfredo Innis (June 6, 1934 – January 8, 2017) was an American activist and politician. He was National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1968 until his death. One of his sons, Niger Roy Innis, serves as Nationa ...
− civil rights leader * Julian Jackson
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe eel ...
born in Saint Thomas * Hannah Jeter − ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit cover model and wife of Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees *
J. Raymond Jones John Raymond Jones (November 19, 1899 – June 9, 1991) was the last Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall, a New York City Councilman for Harlem, a district leader, ran the Carver Democratic Club, and was Adam Clayton Powell's campaign manager in 1958, ...
− political activist * Christine Jowers − choreographer, producer, and dance critic *
Al McBean Alvin O'Neal McBean (born May 15, 1938) is a former professional baseball player from the United States Virgin Islands. He played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher, most notably for the Pittsburgh Pirates with whom he played the majority of hi ...
− Major League Baseball player *
Gabriel Milan Gabriel Milan ( – 26 March 1689) was a German-born colonial administrator and planter who served as governor of the Danish West Indies from 7 May 1684 to 27 February 1686. Though he mainly went by the name of 'Gabriel Milan', he identified h ...
− Governor, 1684−1686 * Akeel Morris (born 1992) − baseball player in the San Francisco Giants organization *
Ralph Moses Paiewonsky Ralph Moses Paiewonsky (November 9, 1907 in Saint Thomas, Danish West Indies – November 9, 1991, in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands) was a businessman and politician who served as the ninth civilian governor of the United States Virgin Island ...
− governor * John Patrick − screenwriter and Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright * Barbara A. Petersen − administrator for Saint Thomas and Water Island *
Calvin Pickering Calvin Elroy Pickering (born September 29, 1976) is a former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball between 1998 and 2005 for the Baltimore Orioles (1998–1999), Cincinnati Reds (2001), Boston Red Sox (2001), and ...
− Major League Baseball player *
Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). Hi ...
− key member of the French Impressionist group of painters *
Rashawn Ross Rashawn Ross (born January 16, 1979) is an American trumpeter and arranger from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. His contributions in the Dave Matthews Band as a touring member have gained him visibility. Ross is an accomplished session musician. R ...
− trumpeter who tours with
Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and back ...
*
Roy Lester Schneider Roy Lester Schneider (May 13, 1939 - December 18, 2022) was an American politician and physician who served as the fifth elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from January 5, 1995 to January 4, 1999. Biography Schneider was born ...
− governor and physician *
Morris Simmonds Morris Simmonds (14 January 1855, St. Thomas – 4 September 1925, Hamburg) was a German physician and pathologist. He was born in St. Thomas, then part of the Danish West Indies (now the United States Virgin Islands). In 1861 he emigrated wi ...
− German physician, pathologist, described a syndrome of pituitary failure with emaciation (Simmonds syndrome) *
Karrine Steffans Karrine Steffans (born August 24, 1978) is an American author, most notably of the ''Vixen'' series of books. She has worked as an actress and as a video vixen, having appeared in more than 20 music videos. In 2007 and 2008, Steffans visited a ...
− former hip-hop music video performer, actress, author of ''Confessions of A Video Vixen'' *
Edward Teach Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about ...
− pirate and privateer; may have been given a letter of marque from St. Thomas after being pardoned for pirating *
Terence Todman Terence Alphonso Todman (March 13, 1926 – August 13, 2014) was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Chad, Guinea, Costa Rica, Spain, Denmark, and Argentina. In 1990, he was awarded the rank of Career Ambassador. Life Todma ...
− ambassador *
Jean Toussaint Jean Toussaint (born July 27, 1960) is an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. Life and career Toussaint was born in Aruba, Dutch Antilles, and was raised in Saint Thomas and New York City. He learned to play calypso as a child and att ...
− jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist *
Denmark Vesey Denmark Vesey (also Telemaque) ( July 2, 1822) was an early 19th century free Black and community leader in Charleston, South Carolina, who was accused and convicted of planning a major slave revolt in 1822. Although the alleged plot was dis ...
− leader of planned slave uprising in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint ...
*
Peter von Scholten Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten (17 May 1784 – 26 January 1854) was Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1827 to 1848. Early life and education He was born in Vestervig, Thy, Denmark as the son of captain Casimir Wilhelm von Sch ...
− governor general * Tiphanie Yanique – writer *
David Levy Yulee David Levy Yulee (born David Levy; June 12, 1810 – October 10, 1886) was an American politician and attorney. Born on the island of St. Thomas, then under British control, he was of Sephardic Jewish ancestry: His father was a Sephardi from Mor ...
− politician and the first member of the United States Senate to have been, at one time, a practicing Jew


In popular culture


Music

" St. Thomas" is among the most recognisable instrumentals in the
repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a ...
of American jazz
tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...
based on a traditional calypso sung to him by his mother, Valborg Solomon Rollins, who was born on Saint Thomas.


Points of interest

*
Blackbeard's Castle Blackbeard's Castle is one of five National Historic Landmarks in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is located in the city of Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas. Erected in 1679 by the Danes as a watchtower to protect the harbor as well as ...
*
Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge is located about 2 miles (4 km) south of the island of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands of the United States. Adjacent to the refuge is Capella Island, about half the size of Buck, owned by the territor ...
* Cathedral Church of All Saints *
Coral World Ocean Park Coral World is a marine park and tourist attraction located next to Coki Beach on the East End of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Facilities and attractions Since its opening in 1978, the park has featured a signature Underwater Observatory ...
*
Fort Christian Fort Christian is a Dano-Norwegian-built fort in Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Built 1672-1680, early in the first successful colonial establishment on the island, the fort served as a critical point of defense and govern ...
* Magens Bay Arboretum *
Magens Bay Magens Bay is a bay in the Northside region on Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean. Description Lying on the northern ( Atlantic) side of the island, Magens Bay (Estate Zufriedenheit) features a well-protected white s ...
* Red Hook * Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral *
St. Thomas Synagogue St. Thomas Synagogue is an historic synagogue at 2116 Crystal Gade, Queens Quarters, in Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The formal name of the synagogue is Congregation Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasadi ...


Gallery

File:USVI St. Thomas - Charlotte Amalie - Blackbeard Castle.JPG,
Blackbeard's Castle Blackbeard's Castle is one of five National Historic Landmarks in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is located in the city of Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas. Erected in 1679 by the Danes as a watchtower to protect the harbor as well as ...
in Charlotte Amalie File:Megans Beach.jpg,
Magens Bay Magens Bay is a bay in the Northside region on Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean. Description Lying on the northern ( Atlantic) side of the island, Magens Bay (Estate Zufriedenheit) features a well-protected white s ...
as seen from Drake's Seat, St. Thomas File:View From Bluebeard's Castle, St Thomas US Virgin Islands.png, View from Bluebeard's Castle, St. Thomas File:St Thomas Magens Bay 5.jpg, Magens Bay


References

{{Authority control Islands of the United States Virgin Islands Former Danish colonies