The 99 Steps, made by bricks that were once used as ballast on Danish and British ships, were built into the hillside to keep the orderly grid of the city intact.These steps were built by the Danes in the mid-1700s who found “step-streets” to be the easiest way to climb up and down the steep hills of Charlotte Amalie. The bricks used to construct the steps were originally brought from Denmark as ballast in the holds of trading ships. There are actually 103 steps.