Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica

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Saint Catherine

Location

latitude 18°15'N,
longitude 77°12'W

Capital town

Spanish Town

Other towns

Portmore, Old Harbour,
Ewarton, Linstead

County

Middlesex

Area

1,192 km²

Rank

Jamaica's fourth largest parish

Population

500,000 in 2001

Commerce

Tourism, Agriculture,
Manufacturing

St Catherine (capital Spanish Town) is a parish located in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest parishes. It includes the first capital of Jamaica, Sante Jago De La Vega, currently known as Spanish Town.

1 Geography and people
2 Brief history
3 Commerce
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography and people

St Catherine is located at latitude 18°15'N, longitude 77°12'W. It is bordered by St Andrew in the east, Carendon in the west, and by St Mary and St Ann in the north. It has an area of 1,192 sq km, making it Jamaica's fourth-largest parish. Except for the Hellshire Hills near the coast, the south of the parish is virtually flat. The central and northern sections are very mountainous, however; the northern border is on Mount Diablo, which crosses over into St Ann, the highest point being 686 metres (2,700 ft).

A plain of approximately 57,000 acres (230 km²) occupies the southern part of the Rio Cobre basin. The Rio Cobre is the only river that runs along the southern plain. It provides water to irrigate over 18,000 acres (73 km²) on the plain, and provides electricity for the capital and surrounding towns like Linstead, Riversdale, Old Harbour, and the urban sections of Kingston and St Andrew.

This parish also accounts for the largest population in the country, with well over half a million residents. Most people live in Portmore, the largest community in the Caribbean.

[edit] Brief history

A 1774 engraving of Spanish Town's colonial offices

The first Spanish settlement in Jamaica was at Seville, now a part of St Ann's Bay. Soon after, the island's treasurer, Pedro de Mazuela, recommended the site that later became Santiago (or St Jago de la Vega). The parish was formed in 1534 when the boundaries of St Catherine were expanded to incorporate the former parishes of St Dorothy, St John and St Thomas-in-the-Vale. It was named after Queen Katherine of Portugal, King Charles II's wife.

Sugar cultivation and plantations were established even before the capital was transferred there in 1524 near to Mazuela's sugar mill. Time to time, life was threatened by raids from English pirates. In 1655 the English captured Jamaica from the Spaniards, who kept up guerrilla tatics for five years until they eventually abandoned efforts to recapture the island.

The English renamed the town Spanish Town, and kept it as the administrative capital of the island. For two centuries it prospered, and was one of the most populus areas on the island. Taverns, theatres, a slave market and the prison —which still stands today— were established in the parish. During the 'dead season' on the sugar estates — October to December — planters and their families from all over Jamaica would converge on Spanish Town. Synagogues were also to be found in the parish.

Since 1755 there had been lobbies from Kingston, by people who had wanted the capital transferred there. This was officially done in 1872 by the Governor Sir John Peter Grant. The boundaries of the present parish were established in 1867 when the number of parishes in Jamaica were reduced from 22 to 14. St Catherine was then expanded to include the former parishes of St Thomas-in-the-Vale, St John and St Dorothy.

[edit] Commerce

[edit] Agriculture

Agriculture remains the main source of employment in the parish. There are many small farmers who practise mixed farming; crops such as bananas, coconuts, pineapple, citrus, pumpkins, peppers, coffee and calaloo are planted for both domestic and commercial purposes. The larger properties produce sugar cane, bananas and citrus mainly for export. Dairy farms are also found in the parish. One of these is a 1,000-acre (4 km²) farm in Old Harbour. The Salt Ponds District between Spanish Town, Port Henderson and Passage Fort is noted for the fine fish especially calipera.

[edit] Manufacturing

St Catherine is next only to Kingston as an industrial centre. Industrial plants are some of the biggest employers in the parish. Spanish Town is the largest salt producing plant in the Caribbean, and Jamaica Milk Products, an affiliate of the Nestle organization, has a factory in Bog Walk, another major town in the parish. The largest power plant in the island and several factories are located in Old Harbour. Twickenham Park, near Spanish Town, is another industrial estate with mainly light industries including cigarettes, carpets, batteries, plastic items, medical and pharmaceutical products.

[edit] Tourist Sites

Jamaica's Emancipation Square can be found in Spanish Town. This is the only Georgian square in Jamaica. Kings House and the House of Assembly on the west and east sides, respectively, were erected in 1762. The Courthouse was built in 1819 and used as a chapel and armory with the Town Hall upstairs.
The Rio Cobre River and Gorge is one of the largest in the island. Sinking at a place called River Sink at Worthy Park, it runs underground for nearly six kilometres, then surfaces at River Head Grand Cave in St Thomas-in-the-Vale. Before entering the gorge it is joined by a number of tributaries, such as the Thomas River, the Rio D'Oro and the Rio Pedro. In the early 1770s, a road was opened through the gorge. The Flat Bridge was originally constructed of logs, which were washed away in a flood. The present bridge was built and it has withstood countless floods. A marker can be found, which shows where the water rose to over 25 feet above the bridge in 1933. An apocryphal story is that at noon, on every Good Friday, for a short period of time the ghosts of all the slaves who drowned in the river can be seen.
Caymanas Race Track, Jamaica's most famous race track, is in St Catherine.
St Clair Cave, one of Jamaica's more famous caves, is found in the parish. This large, complex cave contains one of the most notable bat roosts on the island, and is one of the few known historical sites for the possibly extinct bat, Phyllonycteris aphylla. Because of the biological importance of the system, and the inherent dangers involved in exploring it (i.e. noxious gases, histoplasmosis, Cutaneous larva migrans, difficult footing), casual visitation is discouraged.