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The Great Salt Pond in the Hellshire Hills, St. Catherine was extensively mined for salt and there were two salt works at Salt Pond Hill operated by Capt. Joseph Noye in the 18th century, and in one year he produced 10,000 bushels of salts. In 1670 an agreement was made with St. Thomas Modyford who patented adjoining lands of St. Thomas in the Vale and St. Dorothy to supply them with salt at a low rate. |
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Discover the inherent charm of villages with names like Standfast, Wait-A-Bit, Me-nuh-sen-yu-nuh-come, or Nonsuch |
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Resort Areas
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| | Montego Bay |
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Half Way Tree |
| “Uptown” meets “downtown” in the constantly entertaining and lively road junction that is Half-Way-Tree. The capital of the parish of St Andrew, Half-Way-Tree is the unofficial marker of the divide between the urban, inner-city commercial areas of downtown Kingston, and the quieter, residential suburban communities of St. Andrew.
Surrounded by schools, offices, stores, banks and other commercial interests, Half-Way-Tree is a shopper’s paradise, since everything imaginable can be bought there. The range of shopping options is almost infinite, you can find the proverbial pin-to-an-anchor in the stores of the plazas, arcades and malls along Constant Spring Road, or from vendors that line the streets or walk about hawking their wares. In fact, passing through Half-Way-Tree, everyone seems to be busy, at the same time moving to reggae music which seems to radiate loudly and constantly from the walls of buildings, but which really is coming from vendors selling audio tapes of the most recent dance or dancehall “session”.
The major centre of activity north of downtown Kingston, Half-Way-Tree tells its own story in name, temperament and landscape. The area originally gleaned its name from the fact that until 1866, when it died of old age, a huge cotton tree dominated the landscape. The tree was a major meeting point for travellers and traders coming to and from Kingston, Spanish Town, St. Thomas or St. Mary who would stop to refresh themselves at one of the pubs or to haggle with other vendors.
Today, even though the tree is gone, the junction is still a major transit point for commuters. Half-Way-Tree, is in fact, the second largest bus and taxi terminus in the Kingston area after the Parade downtown. Beside the bus depot is the Nelson Mandela Park, named for the anti-apartheid activist and former President of South Africa. Nelson Mandela and his ex-wife Winnie Mandela (who both visited the island on his post-release world tour) are regarded as heroes of sorts in Jamaica, where the anti-apartheid movement was particularly intense.
At the intersection where Constant Spring Road, Hope Road, Hagley Park Road and Half-Way-Tree Road meet, stands the Half-Way-Tree Clock, atop a Victorian-era clock tower. The tower and clock were built by public subscription in 1913 as a memorial to King Edward VII of England; on the north side is a bust of the king, and the inscription “Edward VII, Peacemaker”.
The St Andrew Parish Church, built in 1700 and restored three times since, rests at the intersection of Eastwood Park Road and Hagley Park Road is. The church is designed in the neo-Gothic architectural style popular at the time, and contains many interesting artefacts, including the oldest church registers on the island, which date back to 1666 and contain an exhaustive account of the many births, marriages and deaths of members of the privileged classes since the English arrived in Jamaica. Behind the church is the Parish Church cemetery, with a number of old tombstones, many of which tell interesting stories about the people buried there.
Beside the church, on Hagley Park Road, is the Half-Way-Tree Courthouse, a magnificent brick building built in the early 1800s. Also of note is the Richmond Park Great House, located along Half-Way-Tree Road heading towards Cross Roads. The Great House itself has been refurbished and is houses the Jamaican Georgian Society, a non-profit group that seeks to identify old buildings and help to preserve Jamaica’s architectural heritage. |
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