VIRGIN ISLANDS – US --
The US Virgin Islands were formerly the Danish West Indies and consists of the following three islands:
St. Thomas
St. John
St. Croix
The US Virgin Islands were bought from Denmark on 17 January 1917 for $25 million and the United States took possession of the territory on 31 March 1917.
The United States had been interested in the islands for years because of their strategic position near the approach to the Panama Canal and because of the fear that Germany might seize them to use as U-boat bases during World War I.
2 US islands sometimes included in the Virgin Island group are 2 Puerto Rico islands –
1. Vieques or Isla de Vieques (sometimes called the Spanish
Virgin Islands)
2. Culebra (originally called Isla Pasaje & Isla de San Ildefonso
and sometimes known as Isla Chiquita & Ultima Virgen)
Genealogy research – see http://www.vifamilies.org/familylistings.html for Virgin Island
Families and Links to the Caribbean Genealogy Library , a nonprofit membership library
specializing in genealogy and local family history serving the Virgin Islands and beyond.
Check out “Research Resources” on the site.
Page