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Grand Bahama Island
KNOWLEDGE OF Grand Bahama Island
You can date the modern history of Grand Bahama Island, largely known as Freeport and Port Lucaya (since those communities are the largest population centers) to around 1955. Of course, the history of the scenic tropical cay goes much further back, but their modern history does not. Start, though, with the very, very distant past.
That past can be traced back to a tribe called the Siboneys, an Indian people who, like most islanders, lived off fishing, shelling and other sea-related products. That past goes back some millenniums, according to some geological evidence. But the Siboneys didn't prosper for various reasons. Their presence was replaced by the Lucayans, for whom the second-most popular population center is named, Port Lucaya. The largest population area is Freeport, on the other end of the island, a commercial hub not only for tourism but for shipping and commerce, as well.
When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, the citizenry numbered some 40,000, not only on Grand Bahama but also throughout the entire Bahamas chain. Of those, some 4,000 to 5,000 were on Grand Bahama proper, according to historians.
Like on the other Bahamas islands, though, Grand Bahama residents were drafted for slavery by the Spanish government, which said it owned the island after Columbus landed. That led to a virtual depopulation of the island, as residents were taken to Europe for servitude.
That was the case until another government laid claim to the islands, the English crown. This is when Settler Charles II of England created what was called the town of Nassau, then known as Charles Town, in 1695. The island became a colony of England in 1718, when the English monarchy named Woodes Rogers as the Royal Governor.
That was the beginning of the height of piracy—familiar names of the times are Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Captain Kid. And piracy was indeed the primary industry during that period, along with slavery.
However, Britain ended its own slave trade in the 1800s, and the Bahamas took on the character of farmers and fishermen. And that was, in fact, the character of Grand Bahama for the next 200 years or so. It was a life so simple.
But it also became a life somewhat prosperous, as Grand Bahama became a booze-smugglers paradise when the U.S. Congress enacted Prohibition in 1919. Born was a lively and profitable liquor bootlegging industry. But Prohibition was deemed a failure, largely due to the bootlegging. Prohibition came to an end in 1933.
That past can be traced back to a tribe called the Siboneys, an Indian people who, like most islanders, lived off fishing, shelling and other sea-related products. That past goes back some millenniums, according to some geological evidence. But the Siboneys didn't prosper for various reasons. Their presence was replaced by the Lucayans, for whom the second-most popular population center is named, Port Lucaya. The largest population area is Freeport, on the other end of the island, a commercial hub not only for tourism but for shipping and commerce, as well.
When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, the citizenry numbered some 40,000, not only on Grand Bahama but also throughout the entire Bahamas chain. Of those, some 4,000 to 5,000 were on Grand Bahama proper, according to historians.
Like on the other Bahamas islands, though, Grand Bahama residents were drafted for slavery by the Spanish government, which said it owned the island after Columbus landed. That led to a virtual depopulation of the island, as residents were taken to Europe for servitude.
That was the case until another government laid claim to the islands, the English crown. This is when Settler Charles II of England created what was called the town of Nassau, then known as Charles Town, in 1695. The island became a colony of England in 1718, when the English monarchy named Woodes Rogers as the Royal Governor.
That was the beginning of the height of piracy—familiar names of the times are Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Captain Kid. And piracy was indeed the primary industry during that period, along with slavery.
However, Britain ended its own slave trade in the 1800s, and the Bahamas took on the character of farmers and fishermen. And that was, in fact, the character of Grand Bahama for the next 200 years or so. It was a life so simple.
But it also became a life somewhat prosperous, as Grand Bahama became a booze-smugglers paradise when the U.S. Congress enacted Prohibition in 1919. Born was a lively and profitable liquor bootlegging industry. But Prohibition was deemed a failure, largely due to the bootlegging. Prohibition came to an end in 1933.
Chapi