Kingston is the capital and the commercial,
administrative and cultural heart of the island. It is the largest English-speaking
city in the Caribbean, has the seventh largest natural harbor in the world,
and lies on a wide plain with the sea to the south and the St. Andrew Mountain
as its backdrop to the north. It was founded in 1692 after an earthquake
devastated the capital Port Royal.
The survivors moved to what is now Kingston and were able to plan a new city
from scratch. It was laid out in a grid pattern, which remains today and
makes it very easy to get around, especially in the downtown area. It became
the capital in 1872, and considerable rebuilding was needed after an earthquake
and fire on 14 January 1907 that killed almost 1,500 people.
It is now a modern, bustling, sprawling city that never seems to sleep. It
is the seat of Government, has an international airport, busy port and modern
cruise ship facilities as well as a wealth of tourist facilities from accommodation
to restaurants and gift shops to galleries.
The town was built on the waterfront but has gradually spread inland over
the Liguanea Plains, with new business and shopping districts. New Kingston
has emerged as he commercial heart of the capital and with its skyscrapers,
is like a mini-Manhattan in New York. A major renewal scheme is underway
to revitalize the former downtown area. The downtown area also houses many
banking, commercial and government institutions.
Residential Kingston is a charming mix of old and new, with wonderful traditional
gingerbread homes with their elaborate balconies and fretwork, classic eighteenth
century Georgian mansions, and modern houses and apartment blocks. It has
to be added, however, that while Kingston has many fine old buildings and
some hugely expensive new ones, it also has appalling slums, especially in
western Kingston. While the downtown area, close to the waterfront, is the
place to explore, the heart of Kingston is now in New Kingston, a triangular
area to the north, largely bordered by Half Way Tree Road, Old Hope Road
and Hope Road.
Exploring Kingston on Foot
Start your walking tour by the cruise ship piers in front of Ocean Boulevard,
although cruise ships no longer call at Kingston. The area just inshore,
between Princess Street and Duke Street which both run inland parallel with
each other contain a number of interesting buildings. The Oceana often hosts
live conferences, and the main post office is on Temple Lane.
Kingston Mall runs between Princess Street and King Street parallel with
and one block in from Ocean Boulevard. The National Art Gallery -
922-1561, is between Orange Street and King Street. Open from 10am to 5pm
daily, it is in the Roy West Building with exhibits about Jamaica's art history
and featuring many of the island's most talented artists. There is a fantastic
bronze statue of Bob Marley on the ground floor, and upstairs there are works
by Intuitive artists John Dunkley, David Miller and Sidney McLaren, sculptures
Edna Manley and modern pieces by Tina Matkovic, Colin Garland and Mallico
Reynolds, known as Kapo, and regarded as one of Jamaica's modern artistic
geniuses. The annual exhibition, featuring the island's best artists, is
held from December to January.
Off Ocean Boulevard between Church St. and Duke Street is the Jamaica
Conference Center with its ultra-modern convention hall. It is open on
Thursday only between 11am and 2 pm - Tel: 922-9160. It has on-site restaurants,
gardens, offices and in-bond and souvenir shops that are open daily.
On the other side of Duke Street are the headquarters of the Bank of Jamaica
. The Coin and Notes Museum is in the Bank of Jamaica building and
exhibits the history of Jamaican tokens, coins, and paper money. It
is open 8:30 am to 2 pm, Monday to Friday: 922-0750.
Head inland up Duke Street, turn right into Tower Street and continue just
past the junction with East Street. On your right is the Institute of
Jamaica: 922-0620. The Institute is noted for its collection of historic
documents about the Caribbean, and the National Library next door
has the largest collection of books, articles and prints in the West Indies.
The Institute also houses the Natural History Museum, formerly the
Science Museum. It is the oldest museum in Jamaica and
exhibits the preserved animals and plants found on the island. The Herbarium
(where dried plants are stored) contains over 125,000 specimens and is the
best in the Caribbean. It is open from 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday to Thursday.
Keep right to Georges Lane, turn right into
Duke Lane which has many fine old building, including the St. Andrew Scots
Kirk Church Tel: 9221818.
Kings House, the gleaming white Governor General's official residence is
set in 200 landscaped acres (80 hectares) at Vale Royal on Montrose Road
which lies between Hope Road and Old Hope Road, and the gardens are open
to the public daily. The Prime Minister's office is in Jamaica House, built
in the 1960s and originally the official residence. Continue over the junction
with Charles Street to visit Kingston Synagogue on the right. The United
Congregation of Israelites is the island's only synagogue.
William Grant Park
Retrace your steps to Charles Stret, turn right and then left into Love Street
and head for William Grant Park. Just before the Park which is in the heart
of downtown Kingston is the 1,000-seat Ward Theatre. There has been
theater, both indoor and open air, of one kind or another on this site for
more than 200 years. The present theater, rebuilt after the 1907 earthquake,
is now most famous for its unique Jamaican pantomime season which opens each
year on 26 December, although there are musical and theatrical events throughout
the year: 922-0453.
The park is more often referred to as the parade, so called because it is
used to house military barracks before these wre moved to Up Park Camp in
the middle of the eighteenth century. Today, the Parade and adjacent streets,
especialy to the east bustle with activity during the day. There is the Coronation
produce market with its hagglers (street vendors), and it is not unusual
to see street musicians or religious temperance groups. The Parade also boasts
a bandstand, fountains and open-air theater. It is also the terminal for
many of the town's buses.
Cross over the park at Kingston Parish Church on South Parade. The church
was rebuilt in 1909, two yers after being destroyed in the earthquake. Buses
for the airport leave from across the junction of North Parade and West Queen
Street. If you continue westwards along South Parade and then Beckford Street,
you reach its junction with Pechon Street where many of the buses leave for
areas outside Kingston, and the railway station is off Barry Street that
runs off Pechon Street.
Shopping Area
From the parish church head south on King Street, the main shopping street,
with as many stalls and vendors on the street as there are in the shoops.
The Post office is just beyond the junction with Barry Street. Continue south,
andthen turn right into Harbour Street, and left into Pechon Street to visit
the Victoria Crafts Market on the waterfront that caters for the tourist
hunting souvenirs. It offers woodcarving, woven goods, linen and silk batiks
and other island crafts.
Other Things To See And Do In And Around Kingston
The African Museum is in the gleaming white Devon House complex on the
corner of Hope Road and Waterloo Road. It was established in 1971. It contains
artifacts relating to Jamaica's African Heritage.
Devon House, a national monument, is an elegant white
three story Georgian-style Great House built in 1881 by George Stiebel, the
Caribbean's first black millionaire. It has been beautifully restored by
the National Trust. It contains one of the world's finest collections of
antique mahogany furniture. A large shaded verandah runs round the ground
floor, and there are balconies on the first floor with great views over the
gardens and surrounding countryside. In the landscaped grounds with towering
palms and lush vegetation, are a Port Royal-style grog shop, Norma's on the
Terrace restaurant specializing in Jamaican cuisine, craft shop, souvenir
shop, and a ice cream shop where you can try deliciaous tropical fruit tasting
ices. It is open from 10 am to pm, Tuesday to Saturday: 929-7029.
The Bob Marley Museum is further along at 56 Hope Road
on the corner with Marley Road. It opened in 1986 and was formerly Bob Marley's
residence and the site of the Tuff Gong recording studio. It contains an
increcdible mural 'The Journey of Bob Marley Superstar', painted by Everald
Brown, and has a collection of Marley memorabilia depicting the life and
career of the late reggae superstar. No photography is allowed. It is open
9:30 am to 5 pm, Monday, tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 12:30 pm to 6
pm o Wednesday, Sturday and public holidays - 927-9152.
Caymanas Park offers horse racing every Wednesday, Saturday,
and on public holidays. 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The course is in Waterford to
the west of Kingston and is best reached by taking the Causeway from Marcus
Garvey Drive in the city center.
The Folk Musical Instrument Exhibition opened as a teaching
aid to Jamaica School of Music in 1981 , and contains unusual musical instruments
collected between 1966 and 1981. The Geology museum exhibits rocks and mineral
s of Jamaica and collections from other countries, many of them rare.
The Hope Botanical Gardens are on Old Hope Road past Jamaica
College and next to the College of Arts, Science and Technology. Founded
in 1881, it is the largest botanical gardens in the West Indies, covering
200 acres (80 hectares). The huge lawns are surrounded by towering royal
palms. It is open daily from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm - 927- 1257.
The Jamaica Defense Force Museum (Military Museum) is in Up Park camp,
off South Camp Road. There are fascinating plans of the many forts built
around Kingston in the eighteenth century, as well as information, weapons,
medals and uniforms of the West Indies Regiment and the Jamaica Infantry
Militia tht existed from 1662 to 1906. It is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday
to Friday, and visits are by appointment.
Liguanea is north of New Kingston and site of the Sovereign
Centre, the capital's newest shopping complex, with cinemas, banks and a
food hall.
Lime Cay is a glorious sunspot off Kingston's shore. South
of The Palisadoes the uninhabited island can be reached by boat and
it is great for swimming and snorkeling. It is open all day, daily.
The National Arena and National Stadium are side
by side off State Road that runs off Mountain View Avenue on the eastern
side of town. The arena is used for a wide range of activities from trade
exhibitions to the Caribbean's largest flower show, the National Festival
Song Competititon andthe Festival King and Queen Costume - 929-4970. Close
by the arena is another fine bronze of Bob Marley.
Port Henderson lies to the south west of the capial connected
to it by a causeway that runs from Kingston waterfront across Hunts Bay to
Portmore. When Spanish Town was the island capital, Port Henderson was the
main harbor and protected by two forts - Fort Clarence and fort Augusta,
and it became a fashionable nineteenth century spa resort. The town was badly
damaed by the 1951 hurricane and is now a small coastal community opposite
Port Royal.
It is worth visiting as a number of its older buildings have been restored
or their ruins uncovered by the National Trust. These include the ruins of
Green Castle Great House and Bullock's Lodge and
the Longhouse, which was an inn until the end of the ninetenth century.
Fort Clarence stood at the end of an arid promontory to the south of Port
Hendersonand guards the harbor approaches. Today you can enjoy a swim off
Fort Clarence Beach or Hellshire Beach to the South. The Arawaks were early
settlers in this area and there are petroglyphs in Two Sisters Cave
at Hellshire Beach.
It is a small white sand beach with nearby steps that lead down to the 200,000
year-old cave below sea level. The area also has interesting vegetation and
wildlife adapted to the very dry conditions, including some iguana.
The Rockfort Mineral Baths are in a natural mineral spa on the coast
on Windward Road that runs east out of Kinston 938-5055.
Sabina Park on South Camp Road is where you go if you
want to experience a West Indies cricket match.
The University of the West Indies is off Old Hope Road on the eastern
outskirts of town. Turn off on to Mona Road, past the Mona Reservoir to reach
the university campus, originally part of the Mona Sugar Estate. You can
stroll around the campus where there are old aqueducts, machinery and other
reminders of its agricultural past alongside modern murals. The chapel close
to the entrance used to be a sugar warehouse on the Gales Valley Estate
in Trelawny. It was taken down brick by brick and rebuilt on its present
site. Under the roof you can make out the name of the original owner and
the date when it was first built. The university is open from 9am to 5 pm,
Monday to Saturday.
The Zoology Museum, operated by the University of the West Indies
houses exhibits similar to those at the Natural History Museum, but contains
many more animals. The marine and entomology collections are considered the
best in the West Indies.
The University's Creative Arts Centre has a varied program of student
productions. The University Carvial is held during February - 927-1660.
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