Everything about Saint Elizabeth Parish Jamaica totally explained
St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica's second-largest
parish, is located in the
southwest of the
island, in the
county of
Cornwall. Its capital,
Black River, is located at the
mouth of the
eponymous river, the longest on the island.
Brief history
Saint Elizabeth originally included most of the south-west part of the island, but in
1703 Westmoreland was taken from it and in
1814 a part of
Manchester. The resulting areas were named after the wife of Sir Thomas Modyford, the first English
Governor of Jamaica.
There are also traces of
Taínos/
Arawaks existence in the parish, as well as Spanish settlements. After
1655, when the English settled on the island, they concentrated on planting sugar cane. Today, buildings with 'Spanish wall' (masonry of limestone sand and stone between wooden frames) can still be seen in some areas.
St Elizabeth became a prosperous parish and Black River an important seaport. In addition to shipping sugar and molasses, Black River became the centre of the
logging trade. Large quantities of logwood were exported to Europe to make a Prussian-blue dye which was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Electric power was first introduced in Jamaica in a house called Waterloo in Black River in
1893.
Geography
The parish is located
latitude 18°15'N, and
longitude 77°56'W; to the
west of
Manchester, the
east of
Westmoreland, and to the
south of
St. James and
Trelawny. It covers an area of 1212.4
sq km, making it Jamaica's second-largest parish, behind
Saint Ann's 1212.6
sq km. The parish is divided into four electoral districts (constituencies), that's North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West, three of which are dominated by the
People's National Party and one by the
Jamaica Labour Party since
October 2002.
The northern and northeastern parts of the parish are
mountainous. There are three mountain ranges —the Nassau Mountains to the north-east, the Lacovia Mountains to the west of the Nassau Mountains, and the Santa Cruz Mountains which, running south, divide the wide plain to end in a precipitous drop of 1600 feet at Lovers' Leap. The central and southern sections form an extensive
plain divided by the Santa Cruz Mountains. A large part of the
lowlands is covered by morass, but it still provides
grazing land for
horses and
mules.
The main river in the parish is the
Black River, and measuring 53.4 kilometres (33 miles), it's the longest river in Jamaica. It is navigable for about 40 kilometres (25 miles), and is supported by many
tributaries including Y.S., Broad, Grass and Horse Savannah. The river has its source in the mountains of
Manchester where it rises and flows west as the border between Manchester and
Trelawny then goes underground. It reappears briefly in several surrounding towns, but reemerges near Balaclava and tumbles down gorges to the plain known as the Savannah, through the Great Morass and to the sea at Black River, the capital of the parish.
The geology of the parish is primarily alluvial plains to the south, and karstic
limestone to the north. The karstic zones are known to contain over 130 caves (Jamaica Cave Register as of 2007 - from Fincham and JCO). These include Mexico Cave and Wallingford River Cave, near Balaclava, which are two associated sections of a major underground river that has its source in south Trelawny, as well as Yardley Chase Caves near the foot of Lovers' Leap, and Peru Cave, near Goshen, which has
stalactites and
stalagmites. Mineral deposits include
bauxite,
antimony, white limestone,
clay,
peat and
silica sand which is used to manufacture glass.
Demography
The parish had an estimated
population of 148,000 in
2001, 4000 of which live in the
capital town. The distinct feature of this parish is that numerous
ethnic groups can be found there; St Elizabeth probably has the greatest racial mixture in Jamaica. When the Miskito Indians came from
Central America to help track the
Maroons in the
18th century they were given land grants in this parish. In the 19th century
Irish,
Spanish,
Scots and
Germans migrated to Saint Elizabeth, and this accounts for pockets of distinct racial mixtures in the parish notably in the southeast.
Economy
Mining
The parish has been a major producer of
bauxite since the
1960s. Port Kaiser, near a town called
Alligator Pond, has a leading deep-water
pier for bauxite
export. The Alpart alumina refinery was constructed in the 1960s at Nain and produces nearly 2 million tonnes of alumina annually for export. The replacement cost of building the refinery is approximately $2 billion.
There are other alumina refineries close to the nearby town of Mandeville.
Agriculture
Apart from bauxite mining, the parish also produces a large quantity of Jamaica's
sugar; there are two sugar factories in the parish.
Fishing is a major
industry in the parish, as is tomato canning; a plant is at Bull Savannah. The parish also cultivates
crops such as
cassava,
corn,
peas,
beans,
pimento,
ginger,
tobacco,
tomato,
rice and
coffee. As a result of the fertile soil that provide for grazing fields,
pastoralism is possible.
Livestock include
goats,
sheep,
hogs, and
cattle,
horses.
Tourism
Since the
1990s, the parish has become a significant
tourist destination, with most visitors going to the
Treasure Beach area. The
Appleton rum distillery, near Balaclava in the
north of the parish, is also a tourist destination.
Ecological tourism along the Black and YS rivers, and in the Great Morass has been developed in recent years.
Education
The parish prides itself in the promotion of education and this is aided by several critical primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the parish:
Places
Beaches
Font Hill Beach
Galleon, Crane
Fullerswood
Parottee
Fort Charles
Calabash Bay
Great Bay
Treasure Beach
Blue Fields Beach
Towns and Villages
Accompong, a Maroon village, located in the Cockpit Country in the north of the parish
Cotterwood
Lacovia, on the Black River
Caves
St. Elizabeth has approximately 44 caves:
Mexico
Peru Cave
Yhardly Chase Caves
Wallingford Caves
Other Places of Interest
Lover's Leap is a cliff plunging several hundred metres into the sea.
Y.S. Falls is a famous falls in Jamaica, similar to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
Bamboo Avenue - was developed in the 17th century when local landowners planted bamboo on both sides of the road to provide shade during their travels.Further Information
Get more info on 'Saint Elizabeth Parish Jamaica'.
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