Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica

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Saint Elizabeth
Location latitude 18°15'N,
longitude 77°56'W
Capital town Black River
other Towns Santa Cruz, Malvern,
Junction, Balaclava, Prospect,Southfield
County Cornwall
Area 1212.4 square km
(468.1 square miles)
Rank Jamaica's second largest parish
Population 148,000 in 2001
Commerce Tourism, Agriculture,
Bauxine Mining Manufactoring

St. Elizabeth, Jamaica's second-largest parish, is located in the southwest of the island, in the county of Cornwall. Its capital, Black River, is located at the mouth of the eponymous river, the longest on the island.

Contents

[edit] Brief history

Saint Elizabeth originally included most of the south-west part of the island, but in 1703 Westmoreland was taken from it and in 1814 a part of Manchester. The resulting areas were named after the wife of Sir Thomas Modyford, the first English Governor of Jamaica.

There are also traces of Taínos/Arawaks existence in the parish, as well as Spanish settlements. After 1655, when the English settled on the island, they concentrated on planting sugar cane. Today, buildings with 'Spanish wall' (masonry of limestone sand and stone between wooden frames) can still be seen in some areas.

St Elizabeth became a prosperous parish and Black River an important seaport. In addition to shipping sugar and molasses, Black River became the centre of the logging trade. Large quantities of logwood were exported to Europe to make a Prussian-blue dye which was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Electric power was first introduced in Jamaica in a house called Waterloo in Black River in 1893.

[edit] Geography

The parish is located latitude 18°15'N, and longitude 77°56'W; to the west of Manchester, the east of Westmoreland, and to the south of St. James and Trelawny. It covers an area of 1212.4 sq km, making it Jamaica's second-largest parish, behind Saint Ann's 1212.6 sq km. The parish is divided into four electoral districts (constituencies), that is North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West, three of which are dominated by the People's National Party and one by the Jamaica Labour Party since October 2002.

Lovers' Leap, Saint Elizabeth
Lovers' Leap, Saint Elizabeth

The northern and northeastern parts of the parish are mountainous. There are three mountain ranges —the Nassau Mountains to the north-east, the Lacovia Mountains to the west of the Nassau Mountains, and the Santa Cruz Mountains which, running south, divide the wide plain to end in a precipitous drop of 1600 feet at Lovers' Leap. The central and southern sections form an extensive plain divided by the Santa Cruz Mountains. A large part of the lowlands is covered by morass, but it still provides grazing land for horses and mules.

The main river in the parish is the Black River, and measuring 53.4 kilometres (33 miles), it is the longest river in Jamaica. It is navigable for about 40 kilometres (25 miles), and is supported by many tributaries including Y.S., Broad, Grass and Horse Savannah. The river has its source in the mountains of Manchester where it rises and flows west as the border between Manchester and Trelawny then goes underground. It reappears briefly in several surrounding towns, but reemerges near Balaclava and tumbles down gorges to the plain known as the Savannah, through the Great Morass and to the sea at Black River, the capital of the parish.

The geology of the parish is primarily alluvial plains to the south, and karstic limestone to the north. The karstic zones are known to contain over 130 caves (Jamaica Cave Register as of 2007 - from Fincham and JCO). These include Mexico Cave and Wallingford River Cave, near Balaclava, which are two associated sections of a major underground river that has its source in south Trelawny, as well as Yardley Chase Caves near the foot of Lovers' Leap, and Peru Cave, near Goshen, which has stalactites and stalagmites. Mineral deposits include bauxite, antimony, white limestone, clay, peat and silica sand which is used to manufacture glass.

[edit] Demography

The parish had an estimated population of 148,000 in 2001, 4000 of which live in the capital town. The distinct feature of this parish is that numerous ethnic groups can be found there; St Elizabeth probably has the greatest racial mixture in Jamaica. When the Miskito Indians came from Central America to help track the Maroons in the 18th century they were given land grants in this parish. In the 19th century Irish, Spanish, Scots and Germans migrated to Saint Elizabeth, and this accounts for pockets of distinct racial mixtures in the parish notably in the southeast.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Mining

The parish has been a major producer of bauxite since the 1960s. Port Kaiser, near a town called Alligator Pond, has a leading deep-water pier for bauxite export. The Alpart alumina refinery was constructed in the 1960s at Nain and produces nearly 2 million tonnes of alumina annually for export. The replacement cost of building the refinery is approximately $2 billion.

There are other alumina refineries close to the nearby town of Mandeville.

[edit] Agriculture

Apart from bauxite mining, the parish also produces a large quantity of Jamaica's sugar; there are two sugar factories in the parish. Fishing is a major industry in the parish, as is tomato canning; a plant is at Bull Savannah. The parish also cultivates crops such as cassava, corn, peas, beans, pimento, ginger, tobacco, tomato,rice and coffee. As a result of the fertile soil that provide for grazing fields, pastoralism is possible. Livestock include goats, sheep, hogs, and cattle, horses.

[edit] Tourism

Since the 1990s, the parish has become a significant tourist destination, with most visitors going to the Treasure Beach area. The Appleton rum distillery, near Balaclava in the north of the parish, is also a tourist destination. Ecological tourism along the Black and YS rivers, and in the Great Morass has been developed in recent years.

[edit] Education

The parish prides itself in the promotion of education and this is aided by several critical primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the parish:

  • The prestigious St. Elizabeth Technical High School in Santa Cruz
  • Long time rivals to St. Elizabeth Technical High School- Munro College and Hampton School, located in the hills of Malvern, the parish's senior boys and girls schools.
  • Black River High
  • Maggotty High
  • Lacovia High
  • Bethlehem Moravian College, one of the parish's leading tertiary institutions.

[edit] Places

[edit] Beaches

[edit] Towns and Villages

[edit] Caves

St. Elizabeth has approximately 44 caves:

  • Mexico
  • Peru Cave
  • Yhardly Chase Caves
  • Wallingford Caves

[edit] Other Places of Interest
  • Lover's Leap is a cliff plunging several hundred metres into the sea.
  • Y.S. Falls is a famous falls in Jamaica, similar to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
  • Bamboo Avenue - was developed in the 17th century when local landowners planted bamboo on both sides of the road to provide shade during their travels.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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Parishes of Jamaica
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