Required reading
Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 Alive 18,942 days
At one of the entrances to Cruise Port Falmouth there is a series of signs telling the history of Falmouth. I donʼt think anyone ever reads them. The small fraction of people who leave port on their own and find their way back through this gate are too tired, hungry, and sunburned to care much about history.
I took photographs of some of them, and I leave these here in the name of posterity so that maybe someday someone will read on the internet what they didnʼt read in real life.
Sadly, the URLs printed on the big signs donʼt work. This is a good example of why you never print web addresses on anything thatʼs expected to last longer than a leaflet.
FROM BRITISH COLONY TO INDEPENDENCE
JAMAICAʼS QUEST FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT BEGAN IN EARNEST WITH NORMAN W. MANLEY ESTABLISHING THE PEOPLEʼS NATIONAL PARTY IN 1938 AND ALEXANDER BUSTAMENTE FOUNDING THE JAMAICA LABOUR PARTY IN 1943. A NEW CONSTITUTION IN 1944 ESTABLISHED A HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, POPULARLY ELECTED, TO SHARE POWER WITH THE GOVERNOR. IN 1957. JAMAICA BECAME FULLY SELFGOVERNED. ALL INTERNAL AFFAIRS HANDLED BY AN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, AND LED BY A PREMIER. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, 1958, JAMAICA JOINED THE WEST INDIES FEDERATION, WHICH INCLUDED ALL OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS IN THE CARIBBEAN, WHICH DID NOT LAST LONG. DISBANDING IN MAY 1962. JAMAICA REQUESTED, AND WAS GRANTED, INDEPENDENCE FROM ENGLAND, EFFECTIVE AUGUST 6, 1962.
JAMAICAN MAROONS
JAMAICAʼS MOUNTAINOUS CENTER HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DIFFICULT REGION TO TRAVEL THROUGH, CONTROL, OR REGULATE. SINCE THE ENGLISH CONQUEST OF 1655, THE MOUNTAINS OFFERED REFUGE TO RUNAWAY SLAVES OR MAROONS, WHO WERE ABLE TO ESTABLISH STABLE COMMUNITIES IN REGIONS THE ENGLISH CONSIDERED IMPENETRABLE. THE MAROONS ENGAGED THE ENGLISH MILITIA IN OPEN WARFARE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY; THE FIRST IN THE 1730S, WHICH SAW MAROON COMMUNITIES SHIFT FROM THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS TO THE COCKPIT COUNTRY IN THE WEST. THE ENGLISH OFFERED THE MAROONS A TREATY IN 1739 THAT GAVE LIBERTY AND QUALIFIED AUTONOMY IN THEIR REGION. SKIRMISHES BETWEEN THE ENGLISH MILITIA AND MAROON COMMUNITIES IN TRELAWNY REIGNITED IN THE 1790S, RESULTING IN A MASS DEPORTATION OF MAROONS TO NOVA SCOTIA.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
THE HISTORY OF FALMOUTH IS WELL PRESERVED THROUGH THE HIGH DENSITY OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS THAT REMAIN IN TOWN. FROM LARGE MERCHANT STORE/HOUSES TO SMALL, BOARD HOUSES, CHURCHES, SHOPS. THE COURTHOUSE, AND FORT BALCARRES. RESIDENTS OF FALMOUTH CONTINUE TO LIVE, WORK, WORSHIP, AND SOCIALIZE IN HISTORIC BUILDINGS. FALMOUTH HERITAGE RENEWAL (FHR) HAS AN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM THAT TRAINS JAMAICANS IN HISTORIC MASONRY AND CARPENTRY SKILLS: THEIR WORK CAN BE IDENTIFIED ALL OVER TOWN. THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (UVA) RUNS A PROGRAM IN FALMOUTH TRAINING STUDENTS TO MEASURE AND MAKE ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS. FALMOUTH EXEMPLIFIES THE BEST OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION BY OFFERING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION IN A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT. TO MAKE A DONATION TO FHR, PLEASE VISIT WWW.FALMOUTHJAMAICA.ORG/. TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT UVAʼS FALMOUTH FIELD SCHOOL IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLEASE VISIT - WWW.ARCH.VIRGINIA.EDU/FALMOUTH/SITE/HOME.HTML
JOHN THARP
AN EXTREMELY WEALTHY PLANTER, JOHN THARPE CONSTRUCTED A PRIVATE WHARF IN FALMOUTH HARBOUR TO MANAGE SUGAR EXPORTS AND MATERIAL AND SLAVE IMPORTS FOR HIS PLANTATION EMPIRE AT GOOD HOPE, A FEW MILES SOUTH OF FALMOUTH ON THE MARTHA BRAE RIVER. LIKE MANY WEALTHY SUGAR PLANTERS IN THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. THARP TRIED TO MANAGE HIS PROPERTIES WHILE LIVING IN ENGLAND; UNLIKE MOST, THARP RETURNED TO JAMAICA PERMANENTLY IN THE 1790S TO MANAGE HIS PROPERTIES IN PERSON. AFTER HIS RETURN, THARP WAS ACTIVE IN LOCAL AND PARISH POLITICS AND WAS A SIGNIFICANT BENEFACTOR TO ST. PETERʼS ANGLICAN CHURCH.
HISTORY OF FALMOUTH
ORIGINALLY FOUNDED IN 1769. FALMOUTH GREW THROUGH THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TO BE THE MAJOR PORT AND THE SEAT FOR THE PARISH OF TRELAWNY, ONE OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE SUGAR PARISHES IN JAMAICA. HISTORICALLY DOMINATED BY MERCHANTS AND TRADERS, FALMOUTH WAS IMPORTANT IN JAMAICAN SLAVESʼ STRUGGLE FOR EMANCIPATION. FALMOUTH HAS REMAINED A COMMERCIAL CENTER IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES, THE SITE OF A WEEKLY MARKET THAT DRAWS SHOPPERS AND VENDORS FROM SURROUNDING AREAS. THE REMARKABLE DENSITY OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS REMAINING IN FALMOUTH, MANY OF WHICH LOCAL RESIDENTS HAVE LIVED IN AND MAINTAINED, IS A TESTIMONY TO THE TOWNʼS RICH HERITAGE.
HISTORY OF JAMAICA
ORIGINALLY INHABITED BY THE TAINOS, THE SPANISH WERE THE FIRST EUROPEANS TO SETTLE IN JAMAICA, UNTIL THEY WERE SUPPLANTED BY THE ENGLISH IN 1655. BY THE START OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, SUGAR CULTIVATION HAD BECAME JAMAICAʼS PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND EXPORT, RESULTING IN THE IMPORTATION OF MANY THOUSANDS OF AFRICANS TO WORK IN THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS. JAMAICAʼS SLAVES WON EMANCIPATION IN 1834, ALTHOUGH PEOPLE WERE NOT FULLY FREE UNTIL THE END OF THE APPRENTICESHIP PERIOD IN 1838. A COLONY OF BRITAIN UNTIL 1962, JAMAICA HAS SINCE OPERATED AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION, ITS GOVERNMENT CENTERED IN KINGSTON ON THE SOUTH COAST.
ARRIVAL OF COLUMBUSʼ FIRST SHIP
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS FIRST LANDED ON THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA DURING HIS SECOND VOYAGE, ON MAY 5, 1494. AS HE SAILED INTO THE HARBOUR OF ST. ANNʼS BAY, ON THE NORTHERN COAST, A FLEET OF ABOUT SEVENTY CANOES, FILLED WITH TAINOS, CAME OUT TO MEET HIM. IN JULY 1494, AFTER EXPLORING PRESENT-DAY CUBA, COLUMBUS SAILED AROUND JAMAICAʼS SOUTHERN COAST. COLUMBUS RETURNED TO JAMAICA DURING HIS FOURTH VOYAGE IN 1503, WHERE HE SPENT ALMOST A YEAR WAITING ON SHIP REPAIRS FROM SPANIARDS IN HISPANIOLA. STRANDED NEAR WHAT WOULD BECOME THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW SEVILLE IN ST. ANNʼS PARISH, COLUMBUS AND HIS CREW RELIED ON THE TAINOS FOR PROVISIONS.