Grand Bahama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grand Bahama is one of the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, and the closest major island to the United States, lying just 55 mi (90 km) off the coast of the state of Florida. Grand Bahama is the fourth largest island in the Bahama island chain of approximately 700 islands. The island is approximately 96 miles long west to east and 17 miles at its widest point north to south.
The island's earliest known inhabitants were the Stone Age hunter-gatherer Siboney Indians, of whom little evidence remains apart from artifacts such as ornamental shells or jewellery. These primitive people eventually disappeared to be replaced by the Taino Arawaks from South America, who travelling in dugout canoes eventually colonized most of the Caribbean. The Arawak communities on Grand Bahama, who became known as Lucayans (a name that lives on in the popular tourist town of Port Lucaya) were believed to have advanced and well-organized social and political structures, and there were estimated to be approximately 4,000 on Grand Bahama at the time of the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in 1492. This arrival, and the subsequent claim of the island by Spain shortly after, eventually caused the Lucayans to disappear from Grand Bahama entirely, whether dying through the spreading of European diseases, through the frequent European genocides, or being captured as slaves (usually to mine for gold in the larger Caribbean islands of Hispaniola or Cuba, or to dive for pearls in Trinidad). The disappearance of the Lucayans was rapid, and it is probably for this reason little is known beyond rough estimates about their society. However, in sites such as the Lucayan National Park and Dead Man's Reef there have been numerous artifacts discovered including animal bones, pottery shards, shell beads and evidence of a complex burial system.
The Spanish gave the island the name Gran Bajamar, meaning "Great Shallows", and what the eventual name of the Bahamas islands as a whole is derived from. Grand Bahama's existence for almost two centuries was largely governed by the nature of these "great shallows" - the coral reefs surrounding the island were treacherous, and repelled its Spanish owners (who largely left it alone apart from for infrequent en-route stops by ships for provisions) while attracting pirates, who would lure ships onto the reefs where they would run aground and be plundered. The Spaniards took little interest in the island after enslaving the native Lucayan inhabitants, and the islands were claimed by Great Britain in 1670. Piracy continued to thrive for at least half a century after the British takeover, though the problem was eventually brought under control. Grand Bahama was to remain relatively quiet until the mid-nineteenth century, with only around 200-400 regular inhabitants in the capital, West End.
In 1834, the towns of Pinder’s Point, Russell Town and Williams Town were established by former Bahamian slaves after the abolition of slavery in the British empire. The island was still little developed until a brief boom in economic activity during the American Civil War, when it was a center for blockade runners smuggling goods (mostly weaponry, sugar and cotton) to the Confederacy. A second brief smuggling boom occurred during the years of prohibition in the USA.
By the middle of the 20th century, Grand Bahama's population numbered around 500 and the island was one of the least developed of the Bahamas islands. However the island finally gained a stable source of income when in 1955 a Virginian financier named Wallace Groves began redevelopment with the Bahamian government to build the city of Freeport under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and create the Grand Bahama Port Authority [1] Soon after, the ambitious Edward St. George, with the financial help of Sir Jack Hayward, took the company to new frontiers. Seeing the success of Cuba as a tourist destination for wealthy Americans, St. George was eager to develop Grand Bahama in a similar vein. The city grew rapidly, with St. George adding a harbour, an airport (the largest privately owned airport in the world) soon after the city was founded, and adding the tourist center of Port Lucaya in 1962. Grand Bahama became the second most populous island in the Bahamas (over 50,000 in 2004), and the tourists that it attracts are now the mainstay of the island's economy. Grand Bahama's tourism sector is complemented by an oil bunkering facility owned by the Venezuelan Government and a transhipment port part owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
West End, which was until the rise of Freeport the capital of Grand Bahama, is the oldest city and Western most settlement on the island. McLeans Town is the eastern most settlement and a 30 minute ferry ride from the northernmost settlement of the Island of Abaco.
Cruise ships call at Freeport Harbour and numerous airlines use Grand Bahama International Airport (FPO).
