Since our house is next to “The Fort” we were very curious about the history of the area. The great thing is that our neighbor and realtor Chuck Gidley decided to make his own Water Island History website thereby saving me a lot of research work. Hours of fun and many great photos and details. You can see it here: http://www.waterislandhistory.com/
The executive summary of the history goes like this. The island first shows up in the property records in the 18th century. Several different families owned it over the years. The reason it was called “Water” Island is that passing ships would collect fresh water from one of the several ponds that are around the shore. During WW2 the US government took over the island mainly to make a defensive position to protect the submarine base across the bay. There were several small anti aircraft positions scattered around the Island in addition to a anti submarine net going across the bay to St Thomas. The “Fort” was intended to be the home of two 6 inch artillery pieces. It was never finished because the war ended before it was completed. After the war the Island was sparsely used by the military until 1948. In 1948 the “San Jose Project” was moved from Panama to St Thomas and Water Island. This was the US Military’s poison gas testing program.
Over the next two years various chemical warfare tests were carried out. Chuck’s website has some great pictures of the facilities that were used. One thing that stands out is the use of goats for these tests, a herd was kept on the island to provide test subjects. After 1950 the San Jose Project was again moved to Utah and not too much activity was happening on Water Island.
A developer named Walter Phillips was able to secure a lease of the Island from the Navy a few years later and things started hopping again. He made Honeymoon Beach by importing a bunch of sand. Prior to this it was mangroves. He also built a small hotel. And along the way he began sub leasing plots so others could build houses. Another thing that happened was that the author Herman Wouk was living on St Thomas at the time. If you are familiar with his work he generally writes (Yes, he is still alive at 103 today!) (Another aside, he passed away the day after I wrote this!) fairly serious historical type novels. After living on St Thomas for a few years he wrote “Don’t Stop the Carnival”. Here’s a link: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Stop-Carnival-Herman-Wouk/dp/0316955124/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FBB3VRA4MERP&keywords=don%27t+stop+the+carnival&qid=1558215706&s=books&sprefix=don%27t+stop+the+%2Caps%2C195&sr=1-1
Unlike his other books this is a very funny irreverent book. It’s about a New York playwright who buys a small hotel on the fictional Island of Amerigo. Various disasters ensue, and he captures the feeling of the islands perfectly. Shortly after he wrote the book he moved off of St Thomas back to the mainland, probably because various locals were angry about the book. The speculation is that the Water Island Hotel was the source material for the book, but as with everything there are differences in opinion about which hotel was the model.
The hotel was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and permanently closed. During the 1990s Water Island ownership was transferred from the Defense Department to the USVI government. During this period a system was devised so the the individual lease holders could purchase their land. Chuck’s website has great details about this process. I’ll leave you now with another reminder of why this place is so special….
