Management of the U.S. Virgin Islands Airports and Seaports

The Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA) is the most recent in a series of federal and local government agencies responsible for managing the ports of the United States Virgin Islands.

United States Navy

The U.S. Navy was the first administrator of the U.S. Virgin Islands after the territory was purchased by the United States in 1917. The Navy managed all airport and seaport facilities during this time. As part of a wartime decision, the U.S. constructed a submarine base on the island of St. Thomas and replaced the small airstrip at Bourne Field in Lindbergh Bay with a military air hangar and a 600-foot runway.

Bourne Field, located two miles west of Charlotte Amalie, was commissioned on September 1, 1935. The U.S. Marine Corps Air Station at St. Thomas was established on December 1, 1941, following the redesignation of the Marine Corps Air Facility at Bourne Field. The air station became part of the Navy Operating Base, St. Thomas, on March 4, 1943. The airport was initially known as Harry S. Truman Airport and was renamed in 1984 to honor Cyril Emmanuel King, the second elected governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. A new airport terminal opened in November 1990, retaining the name Cyril E. King Airport (STT).

During World War II, the station also included a seaplane base at Lindbergh Bay and a leased emergency field located on the island of Anguilla.

U.S. Department of the Interior

Eventually, the need for U.S. military control of the U.S. Virgin Islands ended. Control of the ports was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior, which managed them from 1931 through 1969. Following the end of the war, the air station was downgraded to a caretaker facility on September 30, 1946, and further reduced to inactive status on December 1, 1946. The facility was officially closed on February 16, 1948.

At one point, the Department of the Interior leased former military properties in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as some farmlands on St. Croix, through a lessee, the St. Thomas Development Authority.

The Virgin Islands Corporation (VI Corp)

The Virgin Islands Corporation (VI Corp) was a wholly owned government entity created by the Virgin Islands Corporation Act of June 30, 1949 (48 U.S.C. 1407) and amended on September 2, 1958. It was established as the successor to the Virgin Islands Company, incorporated in 1934. The Corporation's principal offices were based in St. Croix, and management was overseen by a 7-member Board of Directors, chaired by the Secretary of the Interior. The Corporation was chartered until June 30, 1969, unless dissolved by an act of Congress. In July 1954, the U.S. Department of the Interior assigned properties formerly managed by the St. Thomas Development Authority to VI Corp.

The Corporation primarily generated revenue through activities such as growing sugarcane, manufacturing raw sugar, and generating and distributing electricity. It also provided potable water to the Government of the Virgin Islands through saltwater distillation facilities. It managed certain Navy-owned properties on St. Thomas, including the Naval Submarine Base and the Marine Corps Air Facility. Additional revenue-generating activities included administering an agricultural and industrial loan program, managing a small livestock herd, and offering housing for employees and others on St. Croix. The Corporation’s holdings comprised 80 rented housing units, six hotels, one guesthouse, four piers, a beach club, a golf course, and a clubhouse, about 35 additional buildings, three water systems, transportation equipment, and various miscellaneous units. Moreover, the Corporation engaged in non-revenue-generating activities aimed at promoting economic development and the general welfare of the Virgin Islands population. Dr. Kenneth Bartlett served as president of the Corporation. In 1961, former Massachusetts state senator Robert P. Cramer resigned from the Senate and relocated with his family to Christiansted, St. Croix to accept an appointment from U.S. President John F. Kennedy to serve as the president of VI Corp.  The programs run by the Corporation were terminated on June 30, 1965, and VI Corp was dissolved on July 1, 1966.