Spanish Town

For other uses, see Spanish Town (disambiguation).

Spanish Town
—  Town  —
St. Jago de la Vega Cathedral
Nickname(s): Spain
Spanish Town
Coordinates: 17.9958766°N 76.9551086°W / 17.9958766; -76.9551086
Country	Jamaica
Parish	St Catherine
Founded as Villa de la Vega	1534
Population
- Estimate (2010)	162,359
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	876
Website	http://www.spanishtownjamaica.com/

Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the former Spanish and English capital of Jamaica from the 16th to the 19th century. The town is home to numerous memorials, the national archives, a small population, and one of the oldest Anglican churches outside of England (the others are in Virginia, Maryland and Bermuda).

History

A 1774 engraving of Spanish Town's colonial offices

The Spanish settlement of Villa de la Vega was founded by governor Francisco de Garay in 1534 as the capital of the colony. Later, it was also called Santiago de la Vega or St. Jago de la Vega. Indigenous Taino had been living in the area for approximately a millennium before this, but this was the first European habitation on the south of the island. When the English conquered Jamaica in 1655, they renamed the capital Spanish Town. Since the town was badly damaged during the conquest, Port Royal took on many administrative roles and functioned as an unofficial capital during the beginning of English rule. By the time Port Royal was devastated by an earthquake in 1692, Spanish Town had been rebuilt and was again functioning as the capital. Spanish Town remained the capital until 1872, when the seat of the colony was moved to Kingston. Kingston had been founded in the aftermath of the 1692 earthquake. By 1755, serious rivalry from lobbyists caused increasing speculation about the continued suitability of Spanish Town as the capital. In 1836, Governor Lionel Smith observed that "the capital was in ruins, with no commercial, manufacturing and agricultural concern in operation." To worsen the situation on the heels of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865, Sir John Peter Grant ordered the removal of the capital in 1872 to Kingston which had come to be considered the natural capital of the island. After the seat of government was removed, Spanish Town lost much of its economic and cultural vitality.

Points of interest

Built on the West Bank of the Rio Cobre, the town lies thirteen miles from Kingston on the main road. As a site of historical importance, its history was shaped by its experiences within two significant colonial periods. These periods are the Spanish from 1534–1655 and the English from 1655 -1782. The history of Spanish Town lives on in the remains of the old buildings in its street names that mark it as the start of Jamaica's overall history. Reminders of Spanish Jamaica include Red Church and White Church Streets, symbolic of the Spanish chapels of the red and white cross, as well as Monk Street, in reference to the monastery that once stood nearby. Nugent Street and Manchester Street were named for British Colonial Governors, George Nugent and William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester. King Street received its name because it runs past King's House and Constitution Street, near to the Square, it also refers to the fact that the island's administrative centre used to be located there. The centre of the town boasts a few Regency buildings, including the Rodney Memorial and the façade of the Old King's House, which was the residence of the governors until 1872.

Old Iron Bridge

Spanish Town is home to an early cast-iron bridge, designed by Thomas Wilson and manufactured by Walker and Company of Rotherham, England. Spanning the Rio Cobre, the bridge was erected in 1801 at a cost of £4,000. Its four arched ribs are supported on massive masonry abutments. After the abutments deteriorated, endangering the structure, it was listed in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund.

A restoration project began in 2004, with funding provided by American Express through the World Monuments Fund. Nevertheless, progress was slow until 2008, when a renewed restoration effort was made. A first phase of restoration was completed in April 2010, when the repair of the abutments allowed the bridge to be reopened for the public. More recently, violence has prevented the bridge from achieving the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today

In 2009 the population of Spanish Town was estimated to be about 160,000. The population of Spanish Town, like the rest of the St. Catherine, has been growing rapidly.

Today, Spanish Town is sometimes referred to colloquially as "Spain" or "Prison Oval" within Jamaica. The latter nickname is a reference to the cricket pitch or oval located just outside the St. Catherine District Prison where some inmates can get a limited view of the sport through their cell windows. Association football is also played at the Prison Oval; Rivoli United F.C. is the major team.

The town had one of the first Spanish Cathedrals to be established in the new world. This was built around 1525. Many Christian denominations have churches or meeting halls in the town, including a Roman Catholic church and Wesleyan, Baptist and Seventh-Day Adventist chapels. There is also a mosque.

Standing untouched in character is an historic alms-house and a public hospital and a maximum penal institution built in the eighteenth century. There is in the town itself a factory where dyes are made from logwood, and a rice processing plant. In the neighborhood are five large sugar estates, a milk condensary and a large textile mill.

Government and infrastructure

The Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre of the Department of Correctional Services, Jamaica is located in Spanish Town.

Transport

Roads

Spanish Town is on the main A1 (Kingston to Lucea) and A2 (Spanish Town to Savanna-la-Mar) roads. It is well served by buses, mini buses and taxis, which operate from the Spanish Town Transport Hub.

Rail

The now disused Spanish Town railway station formerly provided access to four lines:

• Kingston to Montego Bay
• Spanish Town to Ewarton
• Bog Walk to Port Antonio
• Linstead to New Works

The station opened in 1845 and closed in October 1992 when all passenger traffic on Jamaica's railways abruptly ceased.

Notable incidents

• The famous pirate Calico Jack and his crew were hanged in Santiago de la Vega in 1720 following a trial conducted by the governor, Sir Nicholas Lawes.
• The singer Natasja Saad died in a car accident on June 24, 2007.

In popular culture

• In Charlotte Brontë's famous novel Jane Eyre, Bertha Antoinetta Mason, the insane wife of Edward Rochester, came from Spanish Town.
• On June 24, 2007, Danish singer Natasja Saad died in Spanish Town Hospital after a car crash near the city.
• Singer and Actress Grace Jones was born in Spanish Town.
• Asafa Powell is from Spanish Town.

Other Sources

• James Robertson, Gone is the Ancient Glory, Spanish Town Jamaica 1534-2000, Kingston, Jamaica: 2005.
• Parish Information