Main Street: The Stores and Their Proprietors, Part V

Chatting with Dr Leonard Richardson

Main Street traverses east-west through Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas, parallel to the Waterfront to the South. As the capital and the largest city of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie was founded in 1666 as Taphus (meaning "beer houses" or "beer halls"). The Main Street, the main tourist shopping center, is known for its Danish colonial architecture, building structure and history, with streets and places throughout the city with Danish names. Charlotte Amalie has many residential buildings and stores of historical importance, with several of them on Main Street. During the time of the Danish West Indies (1754–1917), the city was known as Taphus for its many beer halls. Taphus is Danish and directly translates to "beer houses", "beer halls", or (most literally) "taphouse". In 1691 the town received a more respectable name by being named Amalienborg (in English Charlotte Amalie) in honor of Danish King Christian V’s wife, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (1650–1714). Between 1921 and 1936, the city was named St. Thomas. In 1936 it was renamed Charlotte Amalie.