Get ready to be transported back to a nostalgic time in St. John's history when survival meant clearing the land for cattle pastures, cultivating the soil and fishing...all the feed one's family. Seven generations of heartfelt stories of love and loss abound in this family memoir about the US Virgin Islands. Rich in history and heritage, the author shares some of the most memorable stories that have been handed down in her family from generation to generation. "When a prominent St. Thomas merchant accumulates 2,500 acres on the island of St. John to raise cattle and cultivate bay leaves, he has no idea that his generation will be the last to farm the land. During the 1920s to the 1950s, Herman O. Creque's hard work pays off on his estates of Annaberg, Mary's Point, and Lamesure, but at the peak of their profitability, he dies, leaving them all to his wife, Emily. Francis Bay is their children's favorite with almost thirty years of summer memories, fishing, hunting, and crabbing. One day, the beach and summer cottage will be theirs, or so they believe. When two conservationists from the United States, Laurance Rockefeller, and Frank Stick visit the island in 1952, they find the unspoiled nature of Emily's lands enchanting and "wish to preserve them for the enjoyment of the nation." Little do Emily's children suspect that life as they know it is about to change forever, and the unthinkable will tear their family apart. Vintage St. John is a collection of their heartfelt memories woven together from personal interviews. They paint a vivid picture of life before the establishment of the Virgin Islands National Park... and life shortly after." * This memoir Includes a brief history of the Creque Marine Railway on Hassel Island, the ownership of the island of Mingo Cay, Jeffrey Epstein's Little St. James Island, Norman Island and 140 acres of Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. * Other stories include: Vacationing in Cruz Bay 1955, Memories of working at Caneel Bay 1983, Cultivating onions at Cinnamon Bay 1903, Growing bay leaves at Lamesure Estate for the Bay Rum Industry and the raising of livestock with a new type that originated in St. Croix, called Senepol cattle 1930s. With 200 rare photographs of the Virgin Islands, this memoir is a visual feast for those curious about St. John's history under the Danish and US flags. ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

The Danish West Indies - the islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix - were a traditional Caribbean colony, characterized by sugar production, trade, and shipping. The colony was under the Danish flag from 1671 until 1917, since which time the islands have been known as the United States Virgin Islands. The archival sources for the history of the three islands are first and foremost in the Danish National Archives. These records are exceptionally comprehensive and their research potential is enormously rich, as the Danes have been meticulous in documenting almost everything that happened in the colony and in preserving the records. The Danish archival sources are therefore unique historical resources today. This book is a thorough guide to the vast Danish West Indian material in Denmark.

This second edition of America's Virgin Islands by William W. Boyer is the only history of the United States' territory covering the period from 1492 to 2010. Especially emphasized is the period since 1917 when the U.S. acquired the Islands from Denmark. Constituting three small Caribbean islands--St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John--each is unique, but together they are widely known as a favorite tourist destination featuring sun, sand and surf. In many respects, the territory is a microcosm of the human family. The diversity of its physical environment is matched by the diversity of its people. The focal point of the book is a record of the struggle of the Islanders' greater number as slaves, then serfs, and lastly as citizens to gain control of their own destiny. Broadly conceived, this is a history of human rights and human wrongs. The author does not merely portray the history of the Islands and their people; he also shows how the Islanders share the same aspirations as other colonial subjects. In so doing he taps previously unused sources. The relationship between the USA and the Virgin Islands has been marked by indifference and vacillation on the part of American officials. Moreover, the thousands of tourists who flock to the territory annually are unaware of the Islands' checkered and rich history. For many, the Islands are simply a tropical paradise. America's Virgin Islands is a fascinating, extensively documented, and detailed source of information, valuable to those interested in a political and cultural perspective, to those interested in African American or Caribbean history, and likewise to those who live in or visit the Islands.

Acevedo-Rodriguez provides a thorough flora of this geologically distinct island. Included are treatments of indigenous pteridophytes, dicotyledons, & monocotyledons. It is fully illustrated with black-&-white drawings.

This volume is an account of the development and destruction of slavery in St Thomas, St John and St Croix, the Caribbean islands which today comprise the US Virgin Islands. The book sees slavery as fundamental to the entire fabric of colonial society, and pays particular attention to the social and political life of the whites and freedmen in interaction with the slaves.