Imagine a returning resident originally from the parish of St Catherine who had not been back to Jamaica since around 1970 visiting the parish today, he would be stunned by the developments that have taken place in his beloved parish in the intervening 50 or so years. While it is true that sections of the parish, like the centre of the capital Spanish Town have remained intact though badly decayed, the rest of the parish has gone through dramatic change, transforming it from a predominantly rural agricultural region to a thriving metropolis and the fastest growing urban area of Jamaica.
More than any other parish in Jamaica, St Catherine has had its traditional character changed by infrastructural development in the form of new highways that have by-passed its major towns such as Bog Walk, Linstead, Ewarton and its capital , Spanish Town and scenic routes like the Bog Walk Gorge or vistas of the flowing Rio Cobre, first by the Spanish Town by-pass and more recently by the spectacular North-South Highway. Moreover, the construction of mass housing units on lands facing Kingston harbour which began in the 1960s has created the completely new dormitory town of Portmore whose growth has been so phenomenal it was granted municipal status in 2003. Our returning resident would be completely bewildered, as are many local Kingston residents, by the amazing array of over 40 self-contained and recently developed communities from the Hellshire Hills adjacent to Port Henderson to the Caymanas Estates housing more than 10% of the total population of the Kingston Metropolitan Area. Facilitated by the construction of a causeway across Kingston Harbour and the Portmore toll road on the one hand and the conversion of the Mandela Highway into a modern 3-lane dual carriageway on the other , the city of Kingston and the communities that make up Portmore and the ‘old’ St. Catherine have been morphed into one massive urban sprawl in which it is difficult to decide where one begins and the other ends.
The ‘old’ St. Catherine as our returning resident from the English Midlands remembers it was centered on the capital, Spanish Town which is unique in many respects being the town that has the longest period of settlement in the entire country, the finest collection of historic buildings and the most significant monuments including the Anglican Cathedral. Founded in 1534 by the Spanish after the abandonment of the first capital at St. Ann’s Bay, they named it Villa de la Vega translated as ‘The Town on the Plain’ because of its location on the plains surrounding the river which they named the Rio Cobre and its proximity to two good ports. However, through a misunderstanding, the British called the town St. Jago (Santiago) de la Vega and then later, Spanish Town. Although the town’s basic plan is Spanish in origin, no Spanish buildings remain. The impressive public buildings like the House of Assembly and The Old Kings House in the old square or Parade, all date from the British period. The only remaining vestiges of the former Spanish presence are some of the street names –Church Street, White Church Street, Monk Street – that remind us of its ecclesiastical past the dominant feature of Spanish activity in the town.
As Jamaica’s capital during the years of prosperity and in the consolidation of British Imperial rule, Spanish Town’s story was difficult to distinguish from the story of Jamaica itself. Here the Council and the Assembly made, amended and repealed laws; constitutions framed, defended and annulled. Near the Assembly sat the Supreme Court and across the way lived the Governor. In its heyday Spanish Town was the centre of life where all visitors came – Admirals Horatio Nelson and Rodney; Captain William Bligh of Bounty and breadfruit fame and Winston Churchill. But once the capital was removed to Kingston in 1872, Spanish Town went into steady decline from which it has never recovered.
Spanish Town and the parish of St. Catherine may have lost some of their former glory but the town and the parish retain many of the elements of those halcyon days; structures like the old iron bridge spanning the Rio Cobre at the entrance to the town (now abandoned but still standing as one of the oldest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere) and the St Catherine District Prison, now called the Adult Correctional Centre which was the only prison at which hangings took place are good examples of little or no change. And of course there is the Anglican Cathedral which is the oldest British colonial cathedral built on the site of the original Spanish chapel but destroyed by a hurricane in 1712, immediately rebuilt and created as the Cathedral of the Diocese in 1843. The Baptist church situated on William Street is more commonly known as ‘Phillipo’s Church’ because of its association with the great missionary James Phillipo is another enduring landmark.
St Catherine also remains the site of some important government institutions including the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), the Police Training Academy and the National Archives all located in the environs of Spanish Town. The Jamaica Archives in particular, is an important national asset containing the most significant accumulation of records in the Commonwealth Caribbean –many stretching back to the 17th century and includes the Proclamation of Independence which confirmed Jamaica’s sovereignty in 1962. A short distance away at White Marl near Central Village is the Taino Indian museum located on the site of what was a thriving Taino village or succession of villages. Among the older educational institutions in the parish is St. Jago High School which was created in 1956 by a merger of Beckford and Smith’s school for boys attended by National Hero Rt. Excellent Norman Washing Manley, and Cathedral School for Girls. In recent years a host of new secondary schools have been constructed in the parish to serve the needs of the large population, as well as two tertiary institutions, the Portmore Community College and the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports which is the only one of its kind in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean.
Let us not forget also that the parish is the home of the only venue for the Sport of Kings – horse racing- situated on part of the old Caymanas sugar plantation. It is now owned and operated by the Lottery company Supreme Ventures Limited and is a source of steady employment for persons living in its immediate surrounding vicinity.
The economy of the parish is a blend of old traditional agricultural pursuits and a range of new industries. St Catherine was one of the three main cane growing and sugar producing parishes in the island, boasting factories at Bernard Lodge and Worthy Park. Alas, with the demise of operations and the closing down of Bernard Lodge, Worthy Park remains the sole survivor of what once was the most dominant economic activity in the parish. Today, Worthy Park not only survives but flourishes in the best tradition of a modern agri-industrial enterprise. It is Jamaica’s oldest sugar estate in continuous production, having been cultivating sugar cane since 1720 and engaged in rum production since 1741, several years before any other rum distillery in Jamaica. Worthy Park’s longevity is partly accounted for by the fact that since its inception in 1670 it has been in the hands of only three families and only one since 1918. It comprises some 10,000 acres of land in the Lluidas Vale valley of St. Catherine of which 40% still remains under sugar cultivation. In recent years Worthy Park has placed increased focus on its distillery operations through its Rum Bar rum brand launched in 2007 and produced in the most efficient distillery in the island. The rum has been making increased inroads in the market where it has become the rum of choice especially in rural Jamaica.
The other major agricultural enterprise in the parish is citrus, dominated by Trade Winds citrus Limited, the largest citrus farming enterprise in the country with some 2,700 acres under cultivation in the Bog Walk/Linstead area on lands that were converted from sugar production. The new North South highway provides a panoramic view of its groves on both sides of the highway and its various brands of which Tru-Juice has become a household word, is to be found in supermarkets, restaurants and other outlets throughout the country and in export markets in Europe and the Caribbean.
Among the ‘new’ manufacturing enterprises is Wsynco Group Limited located at Lakes Pen in St Catherine. Although founded only in 1999 it has grown phenomenally as manufacturers and distributors of beverages and food and packaging products as well as grocery and other food products and is one of the largest employers of labour in the parish.
St. Catherine remains unique as home to the largest salt producing plant in the Caribbean, and also to the only condensed milk factory in the island. The parish also a bauxite producing area and processes alumina at the Ewarton works St. Catherine. One change that our returning resident will not mind is having to take the tortuous and sometimes harrowing ride over Mount Diablo and having to inhale the stifling smell of the caustic soda from the Alumina plant that is used in the processing of the raw ore. However, he will miss the view of the red mud lake in the valley below created by the effluence from the bauxite works. The lake is still evident from part of the north south highway but afar in the distance to be barely recognizable.
On the other hand, if he takes the north south highway now named the Edward Seaga Highway after former Prime Minister Edward Seaga he will miss the parishes charming towns of Linstead celebrated in the folk song ‘Linstead Market’ Bog Walk and Ewarton; the charming river road running through the gorge with its strange rock formations including ‘pim rock’; the flat bridge one of Jamaica’s oldest and best-known bridges which was the main north-south link over the Rio Cobre since the 1770s and of course the meandering, Rio Cobre river itself, calm flowing in parts and turbulent in others but the travelers’ constant companion through the the gorge.
Also unrecognizable these days is the area around Ferry which is now the site of the Hydel school and university constructed on the site of the old Ferry Inn. Few Jamaicans, old or young are aware of the history of the area or how it got its name. Before the bridge across the Ferry River on the Spanish Town Road was built, a ferry was operated there from 1677 to 1703 to take travelers across. Almost directly across from the present day Ferry police station stood a massive silk cotton tree known as ‘Tom Cringle’s Cotton Tree’. Our returning resident would have had a last glimpse of it before leaving for England in 1970 before the 300 year-old tree collapsed with a tremendous crash in 1971 blocking the main highway for some time.
Perhaps the feature of St Catherine that was for a long time the greatest envy of its Kingston’s neighbours was the beach at Hellshire – the only beach that was less than a 90 minute drive to any other white sand beach in the country. Becoming popular in the 1970s, Hellshire beach was not only an easily accessible family entertainment spot for swimming, but became famous among locals and a ‘must visit’ for returning residents and other visitors for the numerous cookshops that served up a variety of seafood dishes of which the overwhelming favourite was fried or steamed fish and festival. Festival is a relatively recent addition to the Jamaican cuisine and probably has its origins at Hellshire beach. Alas, constant erosion has made the beach less popular in recent years and with the opening up of the north coast coast to travel in under an hour, Hellshire beach has lost much of its appeal in recent years.
Jamaicans who hail from St Catherine are proud to claim some of the nations most celebrated and popular contemporary citizens among them two former Prime Ministers, Bruce Golding and Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica’s first and only female head of government; and sprinter Asafa Powell, former world record-holder for the 100 metres and arguably one of Jamaica’s best-loved athletes.
DID YOU KNOW?
[bs-quote quote=”The Rio Cobre runs through the entire parish of St. Catherine and over its history, changed its course several times. In earlier times it entered the sea at Passage Fort, famous as the place where the English forces first landed in 1655. Then later it entered the sea at Great Salt Pond near Port Henderson and at another time near Old Harbour Bay. Nowadays it enters the sea at Hunts Bay in Kingston.
In the National Archives in Spanish Town can be found documents signed by signatories of the Declaration of Independence, documents signed by George Washington, Louis XV1, Toussaint L’Overture, Queen Victoria and Haile Selassie. Here may also be seen the last will and testament of Henry Morgan and the marriage record of Annie Palmer’ White Witch’ of Rose Hall ” style=”style-7″ align=”center” color=”#dd3333″][/bs-quote]
Moreover, the parish is home to the great St. Jago high school which took its name from the name of the country’s old capital. It is one of the oldest school in the Western Hemisphere as it was started in 1744, I bet many Jamaicans did not know that fact. It is renowned for graduating some of Jamaica’s senior military officers, world class cricketers, academic scholars, performing artists, and most importantly Olympic athletes ( which attest to why they do so well in Boys’ and Girls’ Championship). Also, it is the alma mater of National Hero Norman Manley. Other schools in the parish includes St. Catherine High, Spalding High and Spanish Town High School. Old Harbour was a was a shipbuilding town.
