charlotteamalie

All the Charlotte Amalie photos in this set, www.flickr.com/search/?q=charlotte+amalie+st.+Thomas+bain...

I can't believe Google Street View doesn't cover Charlotte Amalie! Oh, well. Fortunately the 99 Steps, built from ballast stones in the 18th century when St. Thomas was Danish, remains a popular subject for Flickr photographers. (note: there actually 103 steps)

(handwritten on the negative: "The famous 103 steps") There must be a story behind why they changed the name from 103 steps to 99... On August 4, 1916, the U.S. signed a treaty with Denmark to buy the Danish West Indies, now the U.S. Virgin Islands, for $25 million, motivated by concern that the Germans might sieze them as a submarine base. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_the_Danish_West_Indies This photo ran in The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.), August 20, 1916, with the caption "103 Steps, St. Thomas One of the sights of Charlotte Amalie in the Danish West Indies is the flight of 103 steps" oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1916-08-20/ed-1/se...

What do you make of the publication date on this photo? The sticker seems to say "7/31/16," which fits well with the Oregonian newspaper publication. The year scratched on the negative is harder to decipher. But mostly, other negatives in this series seem to say 3/17/31 -- that's late for a Bain publication date. Did something happen in 1931 to cause re-publication, or; might the year be mismarked--should have been "3/31/17" for the purchase of the Danish Virgin Islands by the U.S.? It's risky to read too much into numbers, but Wikipedia gives the end-date for Danish Administration as 3/31/1917. All the Charlotte Amalie photos in this set, www.flickr.com/search/?q=charlotte+amalie+st.+Thomas+bain... --Helena (LOC)

Yes, the Islands went from U.S. Navy administration to civil administration on March 18, 1931, with the inauguration of a local government and governor. This is one of those examples that we've seen before in the collection where an earlier picture was re-used at a later newsworthy date for the subject. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Amalie,_U.S._Virgin_Islands en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Martin_Pearson

This photo is depicted in The Sun and New York press., July 30, 1916, SECTION 5 SPECIAL FEATURE SUPPLEMENT, Image 49 with article "DANISH ISLES FOR UNCLE SAM" (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030430/1916-07-30/ed-...). The United States purchased St. Thomas (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) in 1917 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. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas,_U.S._Virgin_Islands

All the Charlotte Amalie photos in this set, www.flickr.com/search/?q=charlotte+amalie+st.+Thomas+bain...

Date on negative, 7/27/16. Sun caption: "One of the narrow streets of the old town."