ST THOMAS: US Virgin Islands
Jewish history of St Thomas.
Synagogue: PO Box 266 Charlotte Amalie St Thomas 00804. Reform. Tel: 1 340 774 4312 Fax: 1 340 774 3249
In 1796, The Jews of St. Thomas founded a synagogue in 1796. In 1801, only nine Jewish families belonged to the congregation but, by 1803, this number had increased to 22, with arrivals from England, France, and St. Eustatius and Curacao. In 1804, the small synagogue was destroyed by fire and replaced in 1812. By 1823 that was dismantled and a larger building erected in the same location on Synagogue Hill. Named the Congregation of "Blessing and Peace and Loving Deeds," the Congregation numbered 64 families when a city-wide fire destroyed the Synagogue in 1831. The present-day Sefardic style Synagogue building with a sand floor built in 1833 has been used continuously every week since 1833 except for September 15, 1995, when Hurricane Marilyn devastated the island. [July 2012]
Altona Cemetery: Charlotte Amalie. one of two historic cemeteries owned and maintained by the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas. photos. photo. The closest populated place is Frenchtown [0.17 miles] and 0.36 miles from Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base. Masonic graves. [July 2012]
Savan Cemetery: Charlotte Amalie. photos. [July 2012]
References:
- Chumaceiro, Joseph Chayyim Mendes. The Evidences of Free-Masonry from Ancient Hebrew Records. Augusta, GA: 1896; New York: Bloch, 1921.
- Cohen, Judah. Through the Sands of Time: a History of the Jewish community of St. Thomas. Hanover: U. Press of New England, 2004.
- History of the Harmonic Lodge, a Freemasons Lodge in the Virgin Islands.
- Margolinsky, J. 299 epitaphs from the Jewish cemetery in St. Thomas, West Indies, 1837-1916, with and index; compiled from records in the archives of the Jewish Community in Copenhagen. Copehagen: 1965.
- [UPDATE] Film: Sand on the Floor: The Living History of Jews on St. Thomas [November 2016