Culture & History · St. Thomas

Hassel Island

Place photograph · views may be from different dates.Photo: Captain-tucker, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Culture & History / St. Thomas

The place & its history.

An uninhabited 135-acre island at the western edge of Charlotte Amalie Harbor, once a peninsula of St. Thomas called Orkenhullet. The National Park Service and the St. Thomas Historical Trust preserve the Garrison House, which quartered British soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars, plus Prince Frederick's and Cowell's batteries, a signal station and the Creque Marine Railway. Boats run out from the Charlotte Amalie waterfront.

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Description sources · checked Jul 21, 2026.

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Photo explorer / Hassel Island

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1 / 2 · Historic ruins on the shoreline of Hassel Island in Charlotte Amalie harbor.

Photo: Captain-tucker, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Representative USVI culture and history image for 81C Arts; not a photograph of this listing and may depict another island.

AI illustration · not this listing; may depict another island.

Culture & History

81C Arts

A downtown Charlotte Amalie gallery on St. Thomas, between the Waterfront and Main Street, that doubles as a cafe and wine bar, event venue and art hotel. It runs as the nonprofit Atelier St Thomas Arts Foundation, with year-round exhibitions, workshops and youth enrichment programs.

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St. Thomas

AI-generated representative USVI community archive and family-history scene for Caribbean Genealogy Library; not a photograph of this listing or its exact library, staff, visitors, records, collection, or interior, and may depict another island.

AI illustration · not this listing; may depict another island.

Culture & History

Caribbean Genealogy Library

A genealogy and Caribbean history library on the second floor of Building 3 in Al Cohen's Plaza at the top of Raphune Hill, St. Thomas, above the Paint Depot and next to Mango Tango Art Gallery. Founded in 2000, it holds over 5,000 books, periodicals and microfilms and runs entirely on memberships and donations. Confirm opening times before you visit.

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St. Thomas

AI illustration · not this listing; may depict another island.

Culture & History

CMCArts St. Thomas

The Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts keeps its St. Thomas location at 1549 Dronningens Gade in Charlotte Amalie, with a second at 10 Strand Street in Frederiksted on St. Croix. The non-profit has run exhibitions, workshops and classes for all ages for 30 years. Confirm opening times and current exhibitions before you visit.

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St. Thomas

Photo: Prayitno, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Culture & History

Fort Christian Museum

Danish settlers built this red-walled stone fort in the 1670s to defend Charlotte Amalie Harbor, which it still overlooks. It has served since as a government building, a courthouse, a jail and a place of worship, and now works as a museum where visitors see the dungeons, courtroom, chapel and rooftop.

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St. Thomas