Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas U.S.V.I - 17 January 2000

This is an overview of Charlotte Amalie from Paradise Point (there is a Tram (gondola) that runs up the hill side to this magnificent view). This is in the evening - Christine, Heather, Mary, and I came up to enjoy the sunset and have a couple of drinks.

Main Street is where all the hot shopping is. Today tourists flood the streets from the cruise ships looking for the best bargains in the Caribbean. Also called Dronningens Gade (Danish for Queen's Street - Gade is pronounced Gatder), most of the buildings on Main Street were once warehouses used to store goods coming to and from the new world on the old sailing ships.

H. Stern Jewellers Main Street store. This is where Christine works selling bangles to all the rich cruise ship passengers. H. Stern is a world renowned jeweler with stores all over the world.

Royal Dane Alley is one of the many narrow dark alleyways winding through Charlotte Amalie. These are now quaint shopping malls, but back in the 1700 and 1800's these were often canals used to carry goods in and out of the warehouses on main street.

The large white house on the hill (Denmark Hill) is called Catherinburg. Catherinburg was built in 1830 by Hans Henrik Berg, a landowner and government official, and named after his wife Catherine Burg. This home served as the residence of the director of the Danish West Indian Company. In 1917 when the US purchased the islands, the Danes kept the Havensight dock as well as Catherinburg which was used as the Danish Consulate. Recently a native USVI Governor who felt the US should own these areas as well arranged the transfer to the USVI. Today, Catherinburg is the home of the USVI Governor.

The red house just below Catherinburg is where our friend Mary is living. It was the first home on St. Thomas to have glass in the windows and its street is named Crystal Gade after this fact.

Vendor's Plaza is the local Flea Market. Each morning the vendors set up their tents and goods and each evening they pack everything up and take down the tents. You can find lots of great bargains here from $20 Rolex watches to $5 Power Beads to 4 T-Shirts for $10. Remember, you get what you pay for...

Another shot of Vendor's Plaza with a nice view of Blackbeard's Castle in the background (about half way up and just right of the palm tree). Blackbeard's Castle was built in 1678 by the Danes and Africans and is the oldest standing structure in St. Thomas - The Fort Christian was built in 1672, but it was wooden and burned to the ground and had to be re-built - so this is the oldest original structure. It was originally called Skytsborg and was used as a fort to look out over and protect the harbor. There are slits on side for muskets and larger holes in front and back for ship cannons. The rear side of the fort was used to protect from attacks from the North. It is build from ballast stones and blue bitch - a local volcanic stone. Around 1700 Blackbeard - Captain Edward Teach - a native of Bristol England - used this tower as a lookout and to direct his ships. He didn't use it for long, b/c he was beheaded in 1718 off the coast of the Carolinas, but they say he used this tower as a way of divorcing his wives. The islanders were very impressed with Blackbeard - in addition to this castle there are actually 3 islands named after him - Thach Cay, Little Thach Island and Greater Thach Island. Today Blackbeard's Castle sits in the middle of Blackbeard's Inn, a little 16 room in that is very quaint. There is a great restaurant and bar with a wonderful harbor view. Blackbeard's Inn is very popular with the local gay community.

Fort Christian is where the Danes landed in 1671 and is a very old historic structure that is now a museum. This is one of the few building in the Caribbean that has been in constant use for over 300 years.

Currently the legislature building, this building was originally built as a barracks for Fort Christian which sits directly in front of it. This building also served as Charlotte Amalie High School and is the sight of the land transfer of the Danish West Indies to the United States.

WICO (West Indian Company) dock from across the Charlotte Amalie harbor. The natural deep water port (and neutrality of the Danish) made Charlotte Amalie a trading center for hundreds of years. Today the port is perfect for the huge cruise ships that come to visit the islands.

Steps

These steps go from the start of Main Street up to the Hotel 1829 on Government Hill. A beautiful old (yes it was built in 1829) hotel just down the street from the Governor's house and the Lt. Governor's house.

The most famous of the step streets, 99 Steps is a beautiful walk from Government Hill up to the Haagensen House - just a few steps down from Blackbeards Inn.

This lovely stairway leads up from one of the beautiful Cathedral's in St. Thomas. I love the way the shadows create a scrolly look on the wall above the iron gate in this picture.

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