Saint Elizabeth Parish

Coordinates: 18°03′N 77°47′W / 18.050°N 77.783°W / 18.050; -77.783
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Saint Elizabeth
Parish
Saint Elizabeth in Jamaica
Saint Elizabeth in Jamaica
CountryJamaica
CountyCornwall
CapitalBlack River
Other townsSanta Cruz, Malvern, Junction,
Balaclava, Prospect, Southfield
Area
[1]
 • Total1,212.4 km2 (468.1 sq mi)
 • Rank2[2]
Population
 (2012)[3]
 • Total150,993
 • Density120/km2 (320/sq mi)

Saint Elizabeth, one of

Cornwall. Its capital, Black River, is located at the mouth of the Black River
, the widest on the island.

History

Saint Elizabeth originally included most of the southwest part of the island, but

Manchester. The resulting areas were named after the wife of Sir Thomas Modyford, the first English Governor
of Jamaica.

There are archeological traces of

Taíno/Arawak
existence in the parish, as well as of 17th-century colonial Spanish settlements. After 1655, when the English settled on the island, they concentrated on developing large sugar cane plantations with enslaved African workers. Today, buildings with 'Spanish wall' construction (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

logwood were exported to Europe to make a blue dye very like Prussian blue
, which was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.

St Elizabeth was the first parish to have electric power, where it was first introduced in a house called Waterloo in Black River in 1893.

Geography

The parish is located at

Saint Ann's
1,212.6 km2. The parish is divided into four electoral districts (constituencies), that is North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West.

Lovers' Leap, Saint Elizabeth

The northern and northeastern parts of the parish are

lowlands is covered by morass, but it still provides grazing land for horses and mules
.

The main river in the parish is the

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

silica sand
, which is used to manufacture glass.

Demography

The parish had an estimated

Maroons, were allowed to settle in southern St. Elizabeth in return for their assistance and given land grants in this parish. This parish has also attracted Dutch, Spanish, Indian, Maroon
, mulatto, English, and European inhabitants from the 17th century onwards, with the result that many observers feel that it has more people of mixed-race ancestry than can be found in any other part of the island.

In the 19th century Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, Scottish, Germans, Chinese, and East Indians migrated to Saint Elizabeth. There are pockets of ethnic concentrations in the parish, including Mulatto and Creole, notably found in the southeast.

Politics

Saint Elizabeth Parish has four MPs based in four constituencies: Saint Elizabeth North Eastern, Saint Elizabeth North Western, Saint Elizabeth South Eastern and Saint Elizabeth South Western.

Economy

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.

Agriculture

Apart from

hogs, and cattle, horses
.

Tourism

Since the 1990s, the parish has become a significant

Ecological
tourism along the Black and YS rivers, and in the Great Morass, has been developed in recent years.

Education

The parish has 12 high schools and 75 primary level institutions as well as 167 early childhood institutions.[citation needed] Notable institutions include:

Places

Beaches

Towns and villages

The Social Development Commission's national grid of communities has sixty one communities in St. Elizabeth broken down into 465 districts. The communities which include major towns are:

  • Aberdeen
  • Accompong
  • Balaclava
  • Ballards Valley
  • Barbary Hall
  • Bigwoods
  • Black River
  • Braes River
  • Brinkley
  • Bogue
  • Brompton
  • Bull Savanna
  • Burnt Savannah
  • Carlisle
  • Carisbrook
  • Cotterwood
  • Crawford
  • Elderslie
  • Exton
  • Fairfield
  • Fullerswood
  • Goshen
  • Giddy Hall
  • Hodges
  • Holland
  • Hopewell
  • Junction
  • Lacovia
  • Leeds
  • Lititz
  • Maggotty
  • Malvern
  • Merrywood
  • Morningside
  • Mountainside
  • Middle Quarters
  • Mulgrave
  • Nain
  • Newell
  • Newton
  • Parrottee
  • Pepper
  • Pedro Plains
  • Pondside
  • Portsea
  • Potsdam
  • Quickstep
  • Red Bank
  • Rose Hall
  • Roses Valley
  • Rose Hall
  • Russells
  • Retirement
  • Santa Cruz
  • Southfield
  • Siloah
  • Springfield
  • Top Hill
  • Thornton
  • Treasure Beach
  • Watchwell
  • Williamsfield
  • Warminster
  • White Hill

Flagaman

Caves

St. Elizabeth has approximately 44 caves, including:

Other places of interest

  • lighthouse
    here too.
  • St. Ann
    .
  • Bamboo Avenue in Holland Bamboo was developed in the 17th century when local landowners planted bamboo on both sides of the road to provide shade during their travels.
  • Black River is one of the island's largest wetland freshwater ecosystems.[5] Parts of the river can be explored by guided boat trip, where one can experience mangroves, and observe a host of wildlife, including salt water crocodiles, herons, and egrets.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ The title of largest parish in Jamaica has caused some confusion. The parishes of St. Catherine, Saint Elizabeth or St. Ann are usually ranked as the largest, depending on the source. The Gleaner, one of the nations most reputable newspapers, lists St. Catherine as the largest with an area of 1,260 sq km, St. Ann as the second largest with 1200 sq km, and St. Elizabeth third with 1,185 km² (Geography and History of Jamaica. The Jamaica Gleaner. Accessed 9 April 2009). However, The Jamaica Library Service database ranks St Ann the largest with an area of 1212.6 km² (Saint Ann Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Library Services. Accessed 9 April 2009), St. Elizabeth second with 1212.4 km² (St. Elizabeth Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Library Services. Accessed 9 April 2009), and St. Catherine third with 1192.4 km² (Saint Catherine Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Library Services. Accessed 9 April 2009).
  2. ^ Saint Elizabeth Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Library Services. Accessed 9 April 2009
  3. ^ "Population by Parish". Statistical Institute of Jamaica. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  4. ^ "About Lover's Leap". Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  5. ^ "Black River Lower Morass | Ramsar Sites Information Service". rsis.ramsar.org. Retrieved 10 October 2022.

Bibliography

  • Lover's Leap: Based on the Jamaican Legend, Horane Smith, Minerva Press (1 June 1999),
    ISBN 0-7541-0589-X

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica.

18°03′N 77°47′W / 18.050°N 77.783°W / 18.050; -77.783

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Elizabeth_Parish&oldid=1214962214"