Drake's Passage

Situated in the heart of St. Thomas' downtown historic tourist district, as part of your Charlotte Amalie shopping tour, please visit air conditioned Drake's Passage to browse the unique collection of nearly 25 small jewelry, souvenir, perfume, and electronics shops. Easily accessible from Main Street or the Waterfront, amenities include restrooms, a snack shop, outdoor bar, and art gallery. For the 2009-10 tourist season, Jonna White Gallery has relocated her collection of intaglio etchings of vivid island scenes to the walls of the Passage, creating a gallery of bold visual excitement.

Originally built in the early 1800's as a series of interconnecting single-story warehouses, the Drake's Passage buildings straddle a central passage running lengthwise between two structures with entrances from Main Street, the Warerfront, or Trompeter Gade. These streets, alleys, and passageways, designed to easily move cargo from ship to shore, were eventually converted from warehouse spaces to dry goods outlets and subsequently to tourist oriented retail shops with the advent of tourism in the late 1950's and early 1960's.