Historical Highlights
300 BC to 1500 AD: Taino Indians inhabit St. Thomas.
1493: Christopher Columbus names the island San Tomas.
1585: Sir Francis Drake sails through the channel between the U.S. and British Virgins, now known as Drake’s Passage.
1607: Captain John Smith stops by, enroute to Virginia, to establish the first English colony in America.
1666: Denmark plants her flag on St. Thomas.
1671: Fort Christian erected as protection for colonists from pirates and other invaders.
1673: The first Africans arrive to be sold into slavery.
1678: Additional protection added — two hilltop towers, now known as Blackbeard’s and Bluebeard’s Castles.
1688: The first census. St. Thomas population: 148 whites; 422 blacks.
1691: Charlotte Amalie, first known as Taphus (for tap house), is founded.
1694: Denmark claims St. John.
1717: St. Thomas planters start cultivation of sugar cane on St. John.
1733: Denmark buys St. Croix from France.
1733: Slaves revolt on St. John, hold island for 6 months.
1760: Coral Bay, St. John is laid out in town lots (to date, no town).
1764: St. Thomas proclaim a free port.
1787: Lord Nelson visits St. John and Tortola.
1801: British capture the islands.
1802: They return them to Denmark.
1804: Fire burns much of Charlotte Amalie.
1834: End of racial segregation between whites and free blacks proclaimed.
1839: Compulsory education decreed.
1848: Emancipation of slaves in the Danish West Indies.
1867: U.S. offers Denmark 7.5 million for St. Thomas and St. John. Refused.
1900: By turn of century sugar cane production is all but over.
1917: U.S. buys Danish West Indies for 25 million in gold. They become the U.S. Virgin Islands under jurisdiction of U.S. Navy.
1927: U.S. citizenship granted to Virgin Islanders.
1931: Islands transferred from Navy to Interior Dept.
1936: Women receive right to vote in local elections.
1939: Navy establishes submarine base.
1941:Navy builds airport, roads, housing. Remains through World War II.
1950: Total of 26,650 tourists (14,400 by ship; 12,650 by air) visit island. Forty years later the total climbs to 1,767,299.
1956: Virgin Islands National Park established on St. John.
1959: St. Thomas This Week first published. Still the popular guide.
1962: University of the Virgin Islands founded.
1968: U.S. Congress passes act allowing residents to elect their own governor. Previously, governors appointed by the U.S. president.
1972: U.S. Virgin Islands elect their first delegate to Congress.
1990: Modern airport terminal replaces World War II hangar.
1998: Virgin Islands celebrate 150th anniversary of Emancipation.
