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Port Maria |
| Not many people know that Port Maria, the “Puerto Santa Maria” of the Spanish, was the second town to be established in Jamaica by the colonizing Spaniards. Formerly a bustling seaport under both Spanish and English rule, the town today reflects little of its former prosperity or importance. Except for a handful of buildings, not much remains of the colonial era architecture. The town is set in the centre of a deep inlet of the northern coastline with a small island just offshore, and the bay is certainly one of the most picturesque in Jamaica.
As capital of the parish of St Mary; Port Maria is home to the St Mary Courthouse, an old elegant building subtly dominating the town’s waterfront. In front of the courthouse is a monument to Tacky, a freedom fighter of the 18th century. In 1760 Tacky, an African slave of Coromantee descent assembled a guerrilla army to attack their British enslavers and seize control of the land. The revolt started on the nearby Frontier plantation, but spread quickly after Tacky and his followers raided the munitions store in Port Maria.
Tacky’s Revolt was one of the most pivotal slave uprisings in Jamaican history, because although outnumbered and ill equipped, Tacky’s followers kept the British at bay for more than a month before the rebellion could be subdued. Following the rebellion, many of the slaves that managed to evade the British banded together and fled to the hills to join the maroons, but as many as 300 slaves were executed for their participation. Of interest also is the St Mary parish church, the small English-style chapel on the water’s edge, west of the town. |
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