Map of Gustavia

[tarkin1980]

Hey, I thought I'd share with you this map of Gustavia, the swedish colony on St. Barthelemy, that is currently in the game. I found this in the swedish national archive. The map is from 1799 and is drawn by Samuel Fahlberg.

[tarkin1980]

This is my own translation of a facebook post made by the swedish national archive:


In 1784, the small island of St. Barthélemy in the West Indies became a swedish colony. King Gustav III's desire for a colony had been satisfied.

After capturing St. Barthélemy from the french, the swedes founded and erected the town of Gustavia by the port of Le Carénage. Living quarters, administrative buildings, taverns and businesses were constructed in a massive scale. The swedish church Sophia Magdalena was completed in 1785. The town grew rapidly and by the early 19th century, Gustavia was one of Sweden's largest towns with over 5000 citizens.

The island was made a free port and a west indian trading company was founded. Slavery was wide spread on the island but was banned in 1840. St. Barthélemy did not turn out to be the success Sweden had hoped for, and in 1878 it was returned to France.

Among the first swedes to arrive to the island was the young physician Samuel Fahlberg. He made several drawings of St. Barthélemy, and laid the foundation of a city plan for Gustavia. For his services, he was admitted into the Royal Academy of Science in 1791. Samuel's life did, however, take a disastrous turn for the worse in 1810 when he, after an uprising, was forces to leave the island. He was later to be convicted for treason.

[Niels Terkildsen]

Early 20th century picture of Gustavia:

 

 

Not that it's very good, I just stumbled upon it in a Danish picture archive.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Terkildsen