What is Lockhart?
Lockhart Companies Incorporated is a multi-generational, family-owned (predominately African-American) holding company system, operating under the umbrella of a parent company with two divisions – real estate, and insurance & financial services – each of which contributes towards the overall financial strength of the holding company system.
Founded by Alfred H. Lockhart, a progenitor of the current controlling shareholders, LCI and its predecessors have conducted business in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1884, making Lockhart one of the oldest continuous business concerns in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Rooted in Commerce
In 1884, Alfred Harris Lockhart established his first business in the Virgin Islands (then known as the Danish West Indies prior to their sale to the United States in 1917). A.H. Lockhart had emigrated to St. Thomas from St. Croix, where he was born in 1861. A.H. Lockhart’s business consisted initially of a trading operation, first on the docks of St. Thomas’ Charlotte Amalie Harbor and later in the Harbor’s venerable old warehouses.
Expansion
By the early 1900’s, A.H. Lockhart’s businesses had expanded to include a major importing company, with exclusive distribution rights to many popular items (including various types of European distilled spirits), a lumber yard, a dry goods store (later, St. Thomas’ first general department store), cattle and dairy farms, an abattoir, a hotel, and a bakery. In addition, Lockhart acquired developed and undeveloped real estate interests all over St. Thomas and St. John. By the time of his death in 1931, A.H. Lockhart’s holdings included approximately one-eighth of the privately held real property on St. Thomas and a larger percentage of St. John.
Transition
A.H. Lockhart’s holdings were somewhat broken up after his death, as they were inherited separately by, and to some degree consumed in the support of, his six children and their respective families. The businesses were first incorporated in 1936 under the corporate name A.H. Lockhart & Co., Inc., by A. H. Lockhart’s two sons. The company continues to be owned by the heirs.