Jamaica: St. Elizabeth Parish

Jamaica is a place of great beauty, beloved and returned to by many a tourist. St. Elizabeth, in the southwest area of the island, is Jamaica’s second-largest parish.

It is located in the County of Cornwall a name that seems to have Scottish origins. Black River the Capital of the parish can be found at the mouth of the Eponymous River. This well-know river is not only pretty, it is the longest river in Jamaica.




Brief History

Jamaica is sometimes thought of as a primitive place with modern conveniences provided only to tourists. However, electricity was operable as far back as 1893. Black River was the location and the house it was introduced in was named Waterloo. Although St. Elizabeth covered, before 1703, most of the Southwestern portion of Jamaica, as happens all over the world as a result of “progress” boundaries change.

St. Elizabeth was diminished in size in 1703. In that year, Manchester was taken. Again in 1814 it decreased in size when it lost a part of Manchester. The Governor at the time named the resulting combined areas after his wife. We can now see the influence England had on the island with Jamaica’s governing body consisting of the English titled class.

There was diversity in the population however. Tainos/Arawaks lived there. The influence of the Spaniards who settled in Jamaica can still be seen in the Saint Elizabeth area. Tourists can still find the old buildings with “Spanish wall masonry.” It is quite amazing that portions of these walls with their limestone and sand between wood construction are still standing.

As previously mentioned the British came to rule Jamaica. In 1655 they immigrated and began to establish sugar cane plantations. St. Elizabeth with its conveniently located seaport in Black River, prospered along with the planters. Another industry that proliferated was the logging. There was an eager market for the wood and it was used to make Prussian-blue dye a popular commodity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.