Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Looking Back at the Virgin Islands
0
5 mi
Jost
Van Dyke
Virgin
Gorda
Salt Island
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
2
Tortola
0
5 km
British Virgin Islands
St. John
St. Thomas
BRITISH
VIRGIN ISLANDS
U.S. Virgin Islands
U.S.
VIRGIN ISLANDS
Caribbean
Sea
0
20 mi
0
20 km
Buck Island
ATLANTIC
St. Croix
Little Jost
Van Dyke
Jost Van
Dyke
1
1493.
Short of drinking water, explorer Christopher Columbus
anchors outside St. Croix and is greeted by a rainfall of arrows
from the natives. Embittered, Columbus calls that part of the island
Cabo de Flechas, or “Cape of the Arrows,” and sails toward Puerto Rico.
2
1674.
French troops take control of Christiansted, as King Louis XIV
proclaims the island part of the Kingdom of France.
Great Thatch Island
West End
Hans Lollick
Island
Little Thatch Island
Frenchman's
Cay
St. Thomas
Trunk Bay
Beach
Thatch
Cay
Grass
Cay
Botany
Bay
French-
town
Caneel Bay
Charlotte
Amalie
4
Lindbergh
Bay
Redhook
Bay
8
6
3
Sandy
Pt.
Frenchman's
Bay
St. John
Cruz Bay
Water
Island
Hassel Island
Cyril E. King
Airport
Green
Cay
Great St. James Island
Rotto
Cay
Patricia
Cay
VIRGIN ISLANDS
NATIONAL PARK
VIRGIN ISLANDS
NATIONAL PARK
Little St. James Island
Cas Cay
3
Early 1700s.
Edward Teach, the notorious English pirate called “Blackbeard,” anchors his feared
Queen Anne's Revenge
outside Charlotte Amalie during the “Golden Age of Piracy.”
4
1733.
Slaves imported from Africa to work some 100 plantations on St. John rise in rebellion against their
masters. The slaves take control of the island for about 6 months, killing many Europeans. It takes hundreds
of French troops to quell the rebellion.
5
1883.
The adventure novel
Treasure Island
publishes. Author Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have used
Norman Island as the setting for his classic novel.
6
1916.
Fearing that the Virgin Islands might be seized by Germany as a submarine base in World War I,
the United States purchases the Virgin Islands from Denmark for only $25 million.
24
