United States Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas and St. John
Saint Thomas is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and, together with St. John, Water Island, and St. Croix form a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. As of the 2010 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 51,634 about 48.5% of the US Virgin Islands total. The district has a land area of 32 square miles (83 km2).
The island was originally settled around 1500 BC by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World.
The Dutch West India Company 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 conquered the island in 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the entire island through the Danish West India and Guinea Company. The land was divided into plantations and sugarcane 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 took control of the slave trade on Saint Thomas, and for some time the largest slave auctions in the world were held there.
The first British invasion and occupation of the Danish West Indies occurred at the end of March 1801 when a British fleet arrived at St Thomas. The second British invasion of the Danish West Indies took place in December 1807 when a British fleet captured St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December.
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.
In 1917, St. Thomas was purchased (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) by the United States for $25 million in gold, as part of a defensive strategy to maintain control over the Caribbean and the Panama Canal during the First World War.
Despite natural disasters such as Hurricane Hugo (1989) and Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn (1995), 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.
Saint Thomas Reformed Church
Beautiful Church in Downtown Charlotte Amalie St Thomas VI.
St Thomas vacation August 2017.
1936 ST. THOMAS VIRGIN ISLANDS TRAVELOGUE IN THE WAKE OF THE BUCKANEERS 72052b
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Created by the Department of the Interior in 1936, In the Wake of the Buckaneers is a wonderful travelogue about St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. It shows some of the geographic features of the Virgin Islands and makes geographic inferences concerning this area. The film includes many beautiful scenes including maidens in one-piece swimsuits and the Drake Seat -- a bench that looks out on Megan Bay.
A 1930s review of this film mentioned that the sequence involving the mixing of the swizzle (around 9 minutes) may be objectionable but on the whole the film prethe tourists' point of view -- a reference to the fact that the film was made during the Prohibition era.
There is a also a book by the same name as this film by A. Hyatt Verrill, who chartered the ship Vigilant for an extended trip down islands in early 1920's. The book is a colorful account of the many interesting places visited during this voyage.
Saint Thomas is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and, together with St. John and Water Island, forms a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie.The district has a land area of 31.24 square miles (80.9 km2).
In 1917, St. Thomas was purchased (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) by the United States for $25 million in gold, 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.
Percival Wilson Sparks, a U.S. Naval officer, designed the flag that now represents the United States Virgin Islands. Sparks married a local U.S Virgin Island woman, Grace Joseph Sparks; when Sparks' superior, Rear Adm. Summer Ely Wetmore Kitelle, commissioned the design for the flag, P. W. Sparks asked his wife and her sister, Blanche Joseph (later Sasso), to sew the first flag. That flag was used until such time as a factory-produced flag could be acquired.
The flag's inspiration came from the U.S. Presidential seal. Sparks decided to have the eagle facing the olive branches (which represented peace) rather than the arrows (which represented the three islands: St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John). (At the request of Emilie Rose Sparks Gray, a daughter of P.W. Sparks and Grace Sparks, so that the family would have clear and undeniable proof, this piece of history was entered into the Congressional Record in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 1986, by the congressional delegate, Ron de Lugo.) Every year Transfer Day is recognized as a holiday, to celebrate the acquisition of the islands by the United States in 1917.
U.S. citizenship was granted to the residents in 1927. The U.S. Department of the Interior 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.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit
Mt Zion Church, St Thomas, USVI Dec 18, 2016
Earl Harrison, Bishop, Mt. Zion Church of God, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
Saint Thomas' Magic Point /Nick Lido in US Virgin Islands
Produced and Featured by Nick Lido's Travel Journal. Exploring Saint Virgin Thomas Island. View of magnificent Megan's Bay. Pre-colonial history: The island was originally settled around 1500 BC by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. The Caribs barely survived the first decades of contact with Europeans, either due to disease, deportation into slavery or being killed. Featured by
Danish colonial period:
The Dutch West India Company 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.
The Danish conquered the island in 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the entire island through the Danish West India and Guinea Company.
St Thomas Reformed Church Two Pitch Softball
Hallelujah!
St Thomas Reformed Church
STT Reformed Church Display
Church Youth day. At Eco Tours in mangroves St Thomas USVI
Enjoying this life that we have been given with Church Family & friends.
GLOBAL LIFE CHURCH ST.THOMAS VIRGIN ISLANDS LIVE
GLOBAL LIFE CHURCH ST.THOMAS VIRGIN ISLANDS LIVE - Captured Live on Ustream at
EVENT POSTPONEMENT: St. Thomas Historical Trust Step Streets Tour
If you can hear through the heavy rain and thunder, the organizers of this tour postponed it until the following Sunday, September 26, 2010.
Location: St. Thomas Reformed Church on backstreet downtown Charlotte Amalie
Time: 3 p.m. (come earlier of course)
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Church camp St.Thomas Orthodox church 1984
Video clip from 1984 camp at Camp Cape at Plantersville texas.
Dinner time. Home made food at camp by volenteers.
Church family ia one big family event.
ProSolar on St. Thomas
Business is good
Wind Power in the Virgin Islands
Wind turbines becoming more common on St. Croix and St. thomas
Months after the hurricanes basic health care is still hard to find in the US Virgin Islands
Diving with AquaMarine Watersports at Buck Island off St Thomas
Michele Evering-Watley's Zika Presentation St Thomas VI
Michele Evering-Watley gives a Zika Presentation at The Memorial Moravian Church St Thomas VI September 18th 2016
The Virgin Islands Children's Museum Just One
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Directed and Produced by Paul Cater Deaton, 2015.
Visual Stories from the ELCA Caribbean Synod: Wilbert
Perhaps your Church Council members don’t also go to steel band practice, but Wilbert Smith does at Reformation Lutheran Church on St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Seasoned by participation in the 50-year-old congregation and an even longer faith journey and marriage, “Irma and Maria again strengthened my belief,” he says. Don't mistake me. I'm not saying this is easy. I'm just saying we have to have patience in overcoming the difficulties in life and such a devastation that we have experienced.” Presented by videographer Kristina Lorraine Diaz for the Building Puentes initiative of the ELCA Metro D.C. Synod.
Gospel Explosion 2015 St Thomas VI
Aug 29th at BCB Auditorium come celebrate gospel with us at our second annual Gospel Explosion with Stella Award Winner Jonathan Nelson and Sunday Best Winner Jessica Reedy and from Jamaica Jai Kingston and from Tortola Ishika Charles. Tickets are $20.00, and $25 at the door.
Sermon About Evangelizing-- Part I
Nathan Mugaas
Lutheran Church of the Reformation, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands November 16, 2008 Scripture Text: Matthew 25:14-30