PARISH INFORMATION

GENERAL

POSITION/SIZE/DESCRIPTION

St James is located in the north-western section of the island. It has an area of 595 square kilometres. More than two-thirds of the parish consists of limestone. The Nassau Mountains rise from St Elizabeth, south of the parish and extend diagonally across St James then decline to a point just south of Montego Bay. Its highest point is approximately 1524 metres above sea level.

The two main rivers are the Great River which is the boundary between St James and Hanover and the Montego River which rises in central St James and flows north then west to Montego Bay.

BRIEF HISTORY

During the Spanish occupation the area now known as Montego Bay became the emporium for 'hogs butter' or lard. Hence the name Manteca Bahia, Lard Bay. The parish was given the name St James in honour of King James 11 by Sir Thomas Modyford, the first English Governor. At the beginning of English rule it was one of the poorest parishes with no towns, few inhabitants and little commerce. After the treaty with the Maroons in 1739 sugar became king in the parish and St James became one of the most important sugar producing parishes. By 1782 Montego Bay was described as next to Kingston, the most flourishing port in the island. More that 150 ships arrived each year bringing slaves and supplies and taking sugar. Wealthy merchants and planters erected lavish town houses. In 1773 Montego Bay had the only newspaper outside of Kingston - The Cornwall Chronicle.

St James was the home of the Christmas Rebellion in 1831/1832 which led to the hanging of Sam Sharpe, its main planner, who was made a National Hero posthumously. Maroon Town is located in St James but it was not the real Maroon settlement. Their main settlement was Trelawny Town which was located quite near to the present Maroon Town.

After emancipation the fortunes of the town and parish declined until J E Kerr and Co. promoted the development of the banana trade there. Doctors Cave became famous for its curative powers. This was the start of tourism in Jamaica. For a time Montego Bay was the tourist mecca in the English speaking Caribbean. The cave was destroyed by a storm in 1932. Today Montego Bay and its environs boast many fine hotels.

In the 1960s the Montego Freeport was constructed. Later a cruise ship terminal opened. Montego Bay was accorded city status on May 1, 1980. The Sangster International airport, one of the two on the island is the hub for the national airline, Air Jamaica. The infrastructure of the city is being improved to cope with its rapid expansion.

POPULATION: 178,000 (1999)

CAPITAL: Montego Bay

MAJOR TOWNS: Adelphi, Cambridge, Montpelier, Catadupa, Fairfield

MAJOR INDUSTRIES/SOURCES OF EMPLOYMENT

Tourism: Montego Bay was Jamaica's first tourist centre. One in four persons
there is employed in tourism. Over 500,000 tourists visit annually and this accounts for one-third of the revenue generated by tourism islandwide. The most recent addition to the numerous hotels in or near to Montego Bay is the Ritz Carlton.
Agriculture: Forestry, sugar cane, domestic crops
Manufacture: There are approximately 60 establishments mainly garment, woodwork, food processing
Industrial Zones: The Montego Free Zone, Bogue Industrial Estate, Ironshore, Providence Industrial Park, JIDC Park (at Glendevon)

MAJOR HISTORICAL/CULTURAL/RECREATIONAL/ECOLOGICAL SITES

The Dome or Creek Head: The Montego Bay Dome is located at the intersection of Creek and Dome Streets. This six sided brick structure was built in 1837 and stands astride the stream, which until 1894, was Montego Bay's only source of reliable water. The Dome was erected over the stream to protect the water which came up from the stream unto the road surface.

Rocklands Bird Feeding Sanctuary: This sanctuary was created and tended for decades by the late Miss Lisa Salmon who was one of Jamaica's foremost naturalists. The feeding station is open to visitors in the mid-afternoon and by four o'clock hundreds of feathered visitors start to arrive. It is not yet known just how many species you may see as Jamaica has 252 and of these 24 are endemic, including the national bird, the doctor bird. Jamaica lies along the path of the main migration route between north and south and hundreds of migrants spend much of their time here. There are 116 permanent bird residents.

St James Parish Church: This building was erected between 1775 and 1882 in the form of a Greek cross. The builders adopted the name of the Spanish church that had been built on the site - a convenient coincidence. It was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake in 1957 but was soon restored but with some slight deviation from its original design. Many of the monuments inside are considered to be among the finest of that era and include works by John Bacon the foremost English sculptor of his time. There is a memorial to Rose Palmer whose life was misshapen in literature to create the legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall.

Sam Sharpe Square: Originally known as Charles Square, it was named after Admiral Charles Knowles who was the Governor at the time the square was laid out in1775 by James Lawrence, the Custos of the parish. At various other times it has been called The Parade, Court House Square, or simply The Square. On October 17th 1983 the statue of Sam Sharpe was unveiled to mark Jamaica's 21st year of Independence. The square was renamed in his honour.

The Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe (1801 - 1832), National Hero, was the leader of the weeklong Christmas rebellion which began on December 28, 1831 and spread rapidly throughout the parish. He like Paul Bogle was a Baptist deacon and freedom fighter who paid the ultimate price, his life.

Rose Hall Great House: This house is probably the most famous in Jamaica. Built on a hill two miles east of Ironshore in 1770 by John Palmer the Custos of St James, it attracts over 100,000 visitors per year. It was named after his wife Rose who hosted some of the most elaborate social gatherings on the island. In the Christmas rebellion of 1831 slaves destroyed the house and it was left in ruins for over a century. In 1966 John Rollins a wealthy American bought the property and restored the house to its former grandeur.

The attraction to the house is triggered by the legend of the white witch of Rose Hall, Annee (the wife of John Rose Palmer) who was reputedly a murderer whose ghost is said to haunt the property. Historical records do not support this story.

The Cage: This little cut-stone and brick building in Sam Sharpe Square was constructed in 1806 as a lockup for vagrants, disorderly seamen and runaway slaves. The bell in the tiny belfry was rung at 2 p.m. every day to warn country slaves that they had one hour to leave town or face imprisonment for breaking the curfew on blacks.

Old Slave Ring - Cotton Tree Lodge: This semi-circular arena like structure where prospective buyers viewed slaves parading for the purpose, is located on the grounds of the Rerrie's house in Montego Bay. A dramatic reminder of our past, the slave ring is said to have belonged to a "Morishe", a slave trader.

Among other places of interest in St James are Barnett Estate, Blue Hole Garden, Burchell Memorial Church in Montego Bay where Sam Sharpe's remains are buried, Greenwood Great House, and The Town House at 16 Church Street Montego Bay.