Caribbean Tales - The Bahamas - Grand Bahama Island
Grand Bahama
The island has an area of 530 sq. miles. 96 X 17 miles at widest points. 55
miles east of Palm Beach. (Freeport/Lucaya was built only 40 years ago, so
doesn't apply for our purposes). Grand Bahama is also home to one of the oldest
underwater cave systems in the world. It was the native Bahamians, the Arawaks,
who invented the ultimate in relaxation: the hammock.
West End, the oldest city on Grand Bahama Island,.a coastal village flung
out on the island's westernmost tip, 25 miles from Freeport. Swimming in its
sea-sleepy streets is a history of arms smugglers, rum runners, and wreckers.
Deadman's Reef is the home of Paradise Cove, one of the most important Lucayan
archaeological sites discovered to date, it has been dated at around 1200-1300AD.
Holmes Rock & Seagrape together form a little community known for a unique
cave that sits behind a local tavern. It is over 200 yards in diameter and
produces fresh water at low tide and salt water at high tide.
Eight Mile Rock is the largest settlement on Grand Bahama Island. The town
is actually a string of settlements, each of which takes the name of the family
who settled there, lumped together, and is named after the 8 miles of solid
rock contained here. The towns, from the west, include: Martin Hill, Jones
Town, Rocky Shore, Martin Town, Pinedale, Hanna Hill, Bartlett Hill, Wildgoose,
and Hepburn Town.
Pinder's Point is actually a string of four connected villages, Pinder's
Point, Lewis Yard, Hunter's and Mack Town, each named after their founder.
Located on the rocky coast east of Hawksbill Creek. Eventually, after freed
slaves took over the lands and passed them on to their descendants, the four
communities grew into each other, forming a four-mile stretch of habitations
that embraces the island's oldest Catholic Parish, three restaurants, three
bars, two churches, and two boiling holes.
Williams Town & Russell Town are two small villages named for the families
that occupy them. Williams Town was founded by Joseph Williams, a slave liberated
in Britain's Emancipation Act of 1834, which effectively freed all slaves
in crown territory. In the Bahamas, all freed slaves were allowed to lay claim
to whatever unsettled land they could find. Williams Town, is a sleepy community
nestled in pine trees, at the end of Beach Way there is also an old cemetery
marked off with a stone wall. Near the waterfront, about 200 yards to the
west of the jetty is a "boiling hole" an opening in the seafloor
where cold, fresh water pours out.
Smith's Point is named after the Scotsman, Michael Smith, who served in the
early 1800s as Commissioner of the island. Instead of money, he was given
400 acres of land.
Mather Town lies next to Smith's Point, just across a small channel.
Freetown received its name because it was the first place where slaves were
freed in 1834. Before the advent of roads, a foot path from Freetown in the
east was the primary thoroughfare for travelling to the settlements in the
West. The Hermitage in Freetown is considered the oldest building on the island.
Built in 1901(?), it was first a Baptist Church and later served as a hermitage
for a Trappist monk which led to its name. The village is about 15 miles east
of Mather Town, established near Gold Rock Creek. Most of the indigenous people
of Grand Bahama came from Freetown, (especially the elders) and move to other
areas as they sought a better way of life for their family. Some moved to
Water Cay because it was a lucrative sponging, farming, turtle, and fishing
village and. Others moved to areas such as Sweeting's Cay, McLean's Town,
Pelican Point, High Rock, West End, Eight Mile Rock, Pinder's Point, Hawksbill
and Freeport. Some of the names associated with this historical village are:
William and Peter Cooper, Johnny and Margaret Hield, Frank and Polian Laing,
John and Addi Nesbitt. The men in Freetown made a living by Sponging in areas
such as Andros Mudd, Abaco Birth, Western Rollers (West Of Walker's Cay),
and Water Cay. They left their families and stayed out to sea up to three
months at a time. They also caught Crawfish and Turtle. Other Marketable products
were Manila (Sisal), Dog Wood Bark, Sugarcane (which was grown in abundance),
Syrup, which they made locally, Lemon and Grapefruit, all of which were sold
in Nassau to support their families. The women farmed while the men were out
to sea. They raised Sweet Potatoes, Cassava, Beans, Pigeon Peas, Guinea Corn,
Engine Corn, Sand Peas, Cabbages, Onions, Peanuts, and Benny. The soil in
Freetown was very fertile, producing many types of ground produce, and the
residents harvested crops in abundance year after year for the use of the
family. The women also dug wild Yam, Unction, and Bay Rush, some of which
they sold. Unction was used to make starch for bread, cereal, and to starch
clothes. Bay Rush was used basically for the same thing.
High Rock gets its name from the 30-foot high rocky bluff between the coastal
road and the sea. The village is built of mostly wooden framed buildings.
McLean's Town, actually located on a separate cay, is the easternmost settlement
that can be reached by road and consists of two roughly parallel roads, the
north road boasts a couple of taverns; the south road borders Carrion Crow
Harbour, named after the carrion-eating "turkey" buzzard or vulture.
The cay has an unreliable supply of ground water, therefore, water is pumped
from the mainland. The villagers are good fishermen and those who own boats
will ferry passengers to Deep Water Cay and Sweeting's Cay, the easternmost
settlement.
Deep Water Cay is located on the eastern end of Grand Bahama Island, it is
accessible only by boat from McLean's Town. The cay is surrounded by 250 square
miles of shallow sand and mud flats.
Sweeting's Cay is a quaint fishing village, located in the east. It is only
accessible by boat.
Lightbourne Cay is an uninhabited cay located just east of Sweeting's Cay
and is accessible only by boat. At low tide, the shoreline becomes a spectacular
sandy expanse, stretching for yards.
Water Cay is named for the abundant supply of fresh water to be found here.
This small island lies in northern Grand Bahama, almost in the center of the
island. It was settled, about 100 years ago, by seven share holding families,
including the Russells from Peterson Cay, the Youngs from Freetown, the Hields
and Cornishes from Abaco, and the Poitiers from Cat Island.