Kingston and St Andrew each began their existence as separate parishes but were merged as one for administrative convenience in 1923. Officially, they are referred to interchangeably as the Corporate Area or the Kingston Metropolitan Area but to the ordinary Jamaican a single reference to Kingston is sufficient, and any division or physical separation between the two is purely artificial. However , St Andrew is commonly perceived to run geographically from Cross Roads to Rockfort in the East, reaching up to the Blue Mountains with Half Way Tree as its centre. A familiar expression of being born ‘below the clock’ is a clear reference to this artificial division which situates Kingston from Cross Roads southwards to Kingston Harbour.
Kingston is not only the name of the parish but also the name of the Corporate area’s capital city so any reference to ‘Kingston’ is taken to mean both the parish and the city. But where do we begin?
Its best to begin at the beginning with a bit of history. Kingston did not exist before 1692 when the powerful earthquake that year destroyed Port Royal, then the centre of trade and a large residential area, forcing its survivors to flee to lands across the harbour known as the Liguanea Plains. Many of the merchants from the old port were allotted sites on the seafront – a fact commemorated in the name Port Royal Street which still exists. The land on which the new city was to rise formed part of what was then the parish of St Andrew covering the Liguanea Plains. It was owned by a Colonel Samuel Barry who later sold it to Sir William Beeston who was Governor at the end of the 17th century. Both still have streets named after them.
Kingston was made a parish in 1713 and became Jamaica’s capital in 1755 but the seat of government was returned to Spanish Town three years later. In the meantime, Kingston grew so rapidly that in recognition of its position as the principal city of Jamaica it was granted city status in 1802, the first settlement in the island to be permitted this degree of autonomy in its affairs. It was eventually named the island’s capital in 1872. However, the city’s phenomenal growth was suddenly interrupted when in 1907 another earthquake followed by a fire destroyed much of downtown Kingston, killing almost 1,500. In the aftermath of the fire and over the next 50 years , Kingston was not only re-built but the entire Liguanea Plains was developed to encompass all of St Andrew.
Physically, Kingston is situated on the eastern half of the leeward coast of Jamaica and is sheltered from the North east trade winds by the Blue Mountains. The built-up area of the city covers more than 50 square miles.
The most striking feature of the city for any first time visitor is that it is enclosed by hills – from west to east Red Hills, Coopers Hill, Stony Hill , Jacks Hill, Long Mountain, and the Wareika hills are shouldered by the Dallas Mountains to the east and the imposing Blue Mountains behind in the distance. The second feature to immediately strike the visitor is the Palisadoes spit. This consists of a series of cays linked by materials washed down by the Hope, Cane and Bull Bay Rivers. It is 10 miles in length running from Port Royal to its junction with the delta of the Hope River at Harbour View and parallels the shoreline of the Liguanea Plain. As such, it forms a natural breakwater, making Kingston harbour between the plain and the Palisadoes one of the finest anchorages in the world.
Finally, the built-up area of Kingston extending more than 50 square miles, lies between the Hope River in the east and the Rio Cobre which forms the parish boundary between St Andrew and St Catherine in the west. Within this area and extending northwards to Newcastle at the foot of the Blue Mountains some 700,000 or just over 25% of Jamaica’s population, inhabits the country’s second smallest population of any parish – a mere 452 square miles!
The artificial division between Kingston and St Andrew is mirrored by a division into uptown (St Andrew) where the well-off live and downtown (Kingston) where the poor dwell. Physically uptown is above Half Way Tree and downtown is below the clock at Cross Roads. This is obviously an oversimplification as there are so-called ghetto areas scattered all about, including uptown and a few affluent households may be found downtown but by and large the city lives apart from itself. Music has helped to break down some of the economic and class barriers that previously defined the city. It is from the downtown that Jamaica’s rich musical heritage was born. Artistes like Ken Boothe, Higgs & Wilson, the Blues Busters , Prince Buster , Marcia Griffith and Judy Mowatt came from this area. Close by in Trench Town, emerged the voices of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. In recent years, dance hall has allowed downtown-originated deejays and producers to move into uptown neighbourhoods and pulled uptown patrons down into Kingston’s inner city streets.
While the trek uptown has continued unabated for the last 100 years, Kingston (downtown) remains the centre of Jamaica’s religious and cultural activity. The Coronation Market; Jamaica Conference Centre, Gordon House the seat of Parliament, the Supreme Court and a number of government Ministries and Departments and the country’s oldest newspaper the Gleaner are all still located downtown. Historic places of worship including Scots Kirk; The Coke Methodist Chapel, Kingston Parish Church, the Jewish Synagogue and the Roman Catholic Cathedral on North Street are to be found here as are the Institute of Jamaica housing the National Library, the National Gallery, the Central Bank, the Ward theatre and Liberty Hall. Then there are the parks – Sabina Park, home of Jamaica and West Indies cricket, St William Grant park in the heart of the downtown Parade and National Heroes Park housing monuments to all the National Heroes as well as an area for the burial of Prime Ministers that are all part of its domain. Located here too are the two most venerable educational institutions in the country, the Mico University College, Jamaica’s leading teacher training institution founded in 1834 and Wolmer’s school the island’s oldest secondary school founded in 1736.
In the 1960s there was a bold attempt to revitalize the downtown area. The vision was that businessmen could now live and work downtown and tourists could land in Kingston port, stay in hotels and visit the historic sites described earlier. After an initial push in which a hotel, banks, office towers and even an apartment block were constructed, efforts to expand the waterfront development languished for several years until a re-energized effort began with the construction of telecom provider Digicel’s headquarters. This has been followed by new investments in office building by Grace Kennedy and Company to house its headquarters and an adjacent new home for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which will join the old Jamaica Stock Exchange building and the ICD Group of Companies in a cluster of buildings. These extend southwards to the harbour from Port Royal Street and eastwards to the old ice factory taking in a reconstructed Victoria Pier to house a restaurant and entertainment centre, the Conference Centre, the Bank of Jamaica and the corporate offices of the Bank of Nova Scotia.
The ‘New’ Kingston which began taking shape even as efforts began to revitalize the downtown area is centered in New Kingston, a carefully planned business residential and resort complex which stands on the site of the old Knutsford Park race course. Its most outstanding recent addition is Kingston’s first genuine uptown public park, named Emancipation Park which was opened in 2002. The two-hectare site sits in the heart of the financial and hotel district and has become a popular recreational spot for residents from all corners of the city as well as a venue for public concerts and other events.
Half Way Tree can be considered the centre of uptown Kingston and was in fact the the capital of St Andrew when it was a separate parish. Half Way Tree gets its name from a cotton tree which was a favourite halting place for travelers. The centre of Half Way Tree is dominated by the Bus Park that disgorges tens of thousands of commuters each day from Kingston’s metropolitan communities serving both as a terminus and as a transit point for connections to all parts of the city. The Bus Park and the adjacent Mandela Park mark the southern end of a mile-long shopping strip running north to south along the Constant Spring Road comprising an unbroken stretch of American-style strip malls that form the hub of uptown shopping.
Uptown Kingston is not lacking in its own historic sites. The intersection of Trafalgar, Hope and Waterloo Roads was once known as ‘millionaires corner’ when towards the end of the 19th century three of the richest men built stately houses across from each other . The current site of the YMCA on the south side, Abbey Court Apartments on the north side and Devon House on the west side formed this perfect triangle. Devon House, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a Great House was built in 1881 by Jamaica’s first Black millionaire, George Stiebel. Of the three residences, only a restored Devon House remains of the basic original structures. It is now the centre of a complex that includes restaurants, craft shops and other attractions and the grounds are a popular site for wedding photographs, families,picnics and young couples.
A short distance away from Devon House is Jamaica House which was built originally as the official home of the Prime Minister but which has been used by all recent prime ministers purely as offices. On adjoining lands is Kings House residence of the colonial governors and now inherited as the home of the country’s Head of State, the Governor General. These edifices are only of curiosity value to residents and visitors because of restricted access to them. Of much greater interest and appeal, located only a few hundred metres further north going up the Hope Road is the Bob Marley Museum which comprises the late musician’s former home and studio. A sort detour can always be made to the National Stadium home of the Reggae Boys and the track where sprinting icons Usain Bolt and Merle Ottey first sprang to international notice. Just outside the stadium is the statue of Bob Marley and in the stadium complex itself are life-sized statues of Jamaica’s greatest athletes including the inimitable Mr Bolt.
The north-western limits of Kingston’s built up area houses the nation’s two universities – the University of Technology and the University of the West Indies (UWI). Sandwiched between them is the University Hospital of the West Indies which is the city’s only teaching hospital with an international reputation. The UWI Mona campus is built on the site of the old Mona sugar estate of which the remains of the works and the aqueduct may still be traced on the University’s grounds. The chapel is a fine Georgian structure which once formed part of the Gales Valley sugar estate in Trelawny whence it was removed stone by stone and re-erected on its present site.
Oh Kingston, city of the imagination, what can we say of thee today? Twenty-first century Kingston has thrown off its violent reputation of the earlier years and draws increasing numbers of visitors to her shores with the city’s cultural vitality and cosmopolitan flavor. It has deservedly earned (2015) the UNESCO designation of a Creative City for Music and in 2016 its Blue and John Crow Mountains was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. More and more Kingston is being ranked among the top 10 trending destinations to visit; and the city doesn’t even have a beach!
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