Port Maria
THE EARLY DAYS OF THE SEAPORT TOWN
Port Maria in St. Mary is one of the prettiest country towns. Spreading out along the curve of the bay, with the Outram River running through, it looks out across the sea to tiny Cabarita island standing guard offshore. It is believed to have been the site of an early Taino settlement, and was later settled by the Spanish.
When the British took over the island, most of St. Mary was in woodlands. Up to 1709 settlers were being encouraged to move into the remote parishes, which were “thynly settled with land of inexhaustible fertility, enough to entertain great numbers.” By 1730 settlers began clearing the land for cultivation and vast sugar estates soon covered the area.
But all was not quiet on the seafront. The intense struggle for domination by European powers saw dozens of vessels plying the Caribbean waters, and the island was under constant threat of attack. It also had to protect itself against marauding pirates and buccaneers who pillaged ships and raided coastal areas. So in 1759 Fort Haldane was built on a high bluff overlooking the bay, with a secret tunnel and several mounted canons facing out to sea.
By 1774 Port Maria began to take shape as a small village: There were about a dozen houses, some with chimneys; water wells were within a few feet of surface latrines; and there were several wharf fingers and stores. At that time there was no church, and divine service had to be conducted in private homes.
Much of the land belonged to Zachary Bailey, a prosperous St. Mary planter. In 1816 the parish vestry acquired land, by way of exchange from his nephew. Port Maria had grown in population and needed to lay out a town and public buildings. In 1821 the town hall, courthouse and parish council offices were built. The port bustled with commerce as Jamaican products were in high demand in Europe. Ships set sail for the high seas ladened with cargo including sugar, rum, molasses, coffee, pimento, indigo, hides and assorted exotic woods including lignum vitae, mahogany and lance wood. The 1820s soon saw “a coloured population, growing in affluence and respectability.”
The St. Mary parish church was built in 1861 on a picturesque spot on the low-lying coast, with its graveyard stretching down to the sandy seashore. The adjoining Victoria Park was used as a muster ground for the militia in 1887 and several historic monuments were erected on the grounds. The imposing Presbyterian Church, built in 1830 on a hill overlooking the bay, was used to Christianize slaves from Frontier, a sprawling estate nearby.
By 1933 Port Maria was a well-established and wealthy town. It had its society clubs and tennis clubs. The well to do sent their children to be schooled in England, and the town boasted an impressive list of professionals, all sons and daughters of the parish.
The curious little island of Cabarita is sometimes referred to as Treasure Island. It once belonged to Henry Morgan, the notorious buccaneer, who it is said lost it while gambling. This small circular island is a three-quarter mile swim from Pagee Beach, and forms part of the breakwater for Port Maria. It comprises seven and a half densely wooded acres, with steps cut into the rocks, which lead up to a two-acre plateau. Local lore tells of buried treasure, and of a shallow grave where the skeleton of a runaway slave was found along with a flint stone pistol beside an old hut. In the early 1900s it was by a watchman and his dog.
