DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF THE CENSUS SAM. L. ROGERS, Director CENSUS OF THE VIRGIN ISLAND OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 1, 1917 PREPARED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OP EUGENE F, HARTLEY CHIEF STATISTICIAN FOE MANUFACTUKE3 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE .> JOt£ U7V7 1 vj CONTENTS. Page. Geography H Harbors 12 Trade with the United States 14 Minerals, flora, and fauna 16 Climate and rainfall 16 History 18 Efforts to acquire the islands 22 Government 24 St. Croix (Santa Cruz) Island 24 St. John Island 25 St. Thomas Island 26 Treaty between Denmark and the United States 28 Act to provide a temporary government for the Virgin Islands 33 POPULATION. Introduction 35 Population and its distribution 36 Total population 36 Decrease in population 37 Causes of decrease in populatirm 37 Population of cities 40 Urban and rural population compared 41 Table 3. —Total population for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1835- 1917 41 Density of population 43 Minor civil di\dsions 44 Color or race 44 Sex distribution 46 Table 10. —Males and females and ratio of males to females for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917 49 Age distribution 50 Table 11. —Distribution by sex and age periods: 1917 and 1911 51 Table 12. —Distribution by sex and broad age periods for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917 53 Table 13. —Distribution by age periods and by each year of age for per- sons under 25 years of age : 1917 54 Marital condition 56 Table 15. —Marital condition of the population 15 years of age and over, for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917 58 Table 16. —Marital condition of the tatal population, by color or race and age periods: 1917 59 (3) 16041!'" . CONTENTS. Place of birth 61 Table 17. —Place of birth and color or race: 1917 61" Males of voting and militia ages 62 Citizenship 63 School attendance 65 Table 24. —Persons 5 to 20 years of age attending school, by age periods: 1917 66 Table 25. —Persons 5 to 20 years of age attending school, by age periods, for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917 67 Table 26. —Persons 5 to 21 years of age attending school, by single years of age : 1917 69 Illiteracy 70 Table 27. —Illiterates in the population 10 years of age and over, for islands, cities, and rural districts: 1917 71 Table 29. —Illiterates in the population 10 years of age and over: 1917. ... 73 Inability to speak English 73 Dwellings and families 74 Occupations 75 Number and proportion of persons occupied 75 Number and proportion of persons in the general di\dsions of occupations. 77 Persons occupied, distributed by sex 78 Persons occupied, distributed by age periods 78 Persons occupied , distributed by color or race 80 Persons occupied , distributed by marital condition 81 Description of the occupation general tables 82 Table 41. —Total persons 10 years of age and over engaged in each specified occupation, classified by sex : 1917 83 Table 42. —Total persons 10 years of age and over engaged in each specified occupation, classified by sex, for islands and cities: 1917 85 Table 43. —Total persons 10 years of age and over engaged in selected occupations, classified by age periods, color or race, and sex, and by mar- ital condition for persons 16 years of age and over: 1917 88 Table 44. —Total males and females 10 years of age and over in selected occupations, classified by age periods and color or race, and by marital condition for persons 16 years of age and over, for islands and cities: 1917 94 Wages and hours of labor 106 Table 45. —^Wages received, hours worked per day, and days worked per year, by employees in each specified occupation: 1917 108 AGRICULTURE. Introduction 113 Area of enumeration 113 Schedules and methods of canvass 113 Definitions 113 Text discussion of tables 114 Value of farm products 114 P'arms and farm property 114 Farm data for the islands: 1917 ] 14 Farm tenure 116 Farnas by size groups 119 CONTENTS. 5 Page. Live stock on farms and elsewhere 121 Live stock on farms 121 Live stock not on farms 123 Live stock on farms and not on farms 123 Live-stock products 123 Poultry products 124 Honey and wax - 124 Crops 124 Summary 1 24 Tropical fruits and nuts 124 Forest products 125 Selected farm expenses 125 Farm expenses 125 Receipts from sales of feedable crops 126 Age of farmers 120 Age of farm operator 126 Term of occupancy of farms 127 Term of occupancy 127 Table 15. —Farms and farm property, and live stock not on farms: Novem- ber 1, 1917 128 Table 16.^—Number, acreage, and value of farms, classified by tenure and color of farmers; by islands: November 1, 1917 130 Table 17. —Value of all crops and principal classes thereof, and acreage and production of principal crops, by islands: 1917 130 MANUFACTURES. Introduction 131 General summary 132 Sugar 133 Liquors, distilled —Rum 133 Bay rum 133 Bread and other bakery products 133 Wage earners employed, by months 134 Prevailing hours of labor 134 Location of establishments 135 Character of ownership 136 Engines and power 136 Fuel 137 Special statistics ] 37 General table 137 Table 9. —Detail statement for the Virgin Island group, for each island and each city: 1917 138 FISHERIES. Introduction 141 General summary 142 Persons engaged 143 Equipment 143 Products 144 6 CONTENTS. MAPS. Page. Fig. 1 . The Virgin Islands 10 Fig. 2. The Virgin Islands of the United States—Location with respect to the principal Atlantic trade routes 15 ILLUSTRATIONS. Facing page. Fig. 3. Bird's-eye view of Charlotte Amalie and western part of St. Thomas Harbor 12 Fig. 4. Harbor of St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie 20 Fig. 5. Christiansted, St. Croix, from Protestant Cay 26 Fig. 6. Charlotte Amalie, from St. Thomas Harbor 32 Fig. 7. Native women coaling ship, St. Thomas Harbor 40 Fig. 8. Type of cistern used in storing rain water in rural districts of St. Thomas. 48 Fig. 9. Main Street, Clnistiansted, St. Croix. Schoolhouse in foreground 64 Fig. 10. Sugar plantation, St. Croix Island 116 Fig. 11. Type of farmhouse, St. Thomas Island 120 Fig. 12. Cattle on Estate Diamond, St. Croix Island 124 Fig. 13. Transporting cattle to St. Thomas market 126 Fig. 14. Charcoal kiln on St. Thomas Island 136 Fig. 15. Magens Bay, St. Thomas Island. Hans Lollik Island in background. 142 APPENDIXES. Page. I. General order 149, 150 II. Instructions to enumerators—General instructions, and instructions for punching card 151-163 III. Enumeration districts and enumerators 164, 165 IV. Schedules 166-174 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D. C, June 15, 1918, Sir: I submit the following report concerning the special census of the Virgin Islands of the United States, authorized by the Secretary of Commerce at the request of the Secretary of the Navy. Under the terms of the general order promulgated October 1, 1917, by the Director of the Census, and approved by the Secretary of Commerce (Appendix I), a census of the Virgin Islands was ordered to be taken as of November 1, 1917, and Mr. Eugene F. Hartley, chief statistician for manufactures of the Census Bureau, was designated as supervisor in charge. The inquiries were to relate to popidation, agriculture, manufactures, and fisheries. In addition to these inquiries, at the request of the naval govermnent of the Vu'gm Islands, statistics relatmg to wages and hours of labor of persons employed were collected from representative industrial establishments. On account of delays mcident to securing transportation, the actual enumeration of the islands did not begin until seven weeks after the date set for the canvass. The supervisor, accompanied by Mr. Arthur J. Hirsch, expert special agent in charge of agriculture; Dr. Alba M. Edwards, expert special agent in charge of population; Mr. Dan C. Vaughan, chief of the division of publications of the Department of Commerce; and Mr. Oscar H. Gordon, IVfr. William Ranger, and IVIr. George li. Thomas, of the Census Bureau, arrived at St. Thomas on December 17, 1917. On the following day, in conference with Rear Admiral James H, Oliver, naval governor of the Virgin Islands, and his aids, Maj. J. F. Dyer, Lieut. Commander William R. White, and Dr. C. S. Butler, surgeon, United States Navy, the scope of the various inquiries and the organization of the census were discussed. On December 19, through the courtesy of Gov. Oliver, adequate quarters were provided in Fort Christian, in the town of Charlotte Amalie. The division of the island of St. Thomas into 16 enumera- tion districts—10 in the town of Charlotte Amalie and 6 in St. Thomas rural—and of the island of St. John into 5 enumeration districts was completed (Appendix II). Enumerators were ap- (7) — 8 THE VtElGIN ISLANDS. pointed and instructed, and on December 24 the enumeration was begun promptly on both the islands of St. Thomas and St. John. The census of these two islands being well under way, the office was left in charge of Mr. Arthur J. Hirsch, while the supervisor, accompanied by Messrs. Edwards, Vaughan, Gordon, and Ranger, proceeded to Christiansted, St. Croix, on December 28 and imme- diately took up plans for the division of the island of St. Croix into 22 enumeration districts (Appendix II) and the appointment of enumerators. Ample quarters were provided in the Government House, in Christiansted, and on December 31 the enumerators for both the towns of Christiansted and Frederiksted and for St. Croix rural were instructed in their duties and proceeded to the actual enumeration of the island. The enumeration of St.