Port Royal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Port Royal
|
|
|---|---|
|
City
|
|
An illustration of pre-1692 Port Royal
|
|
 Port Royal
Location in Jamaica
|
|
| Country | Jamaica |
| Parish | Kingston |
| Founded | 1494 |
| Destroyed | 1692 |
Port Royal is a historic town in Jamaica. It sits at the end of the Palisadoes peninsula, right at the entrance to Kingston Harbour. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it grew to become the biggest and richest city in the Caribbean by the late 1600s. It was a major hub for shipping and trade.
However, a huge earthquake on June 7, 1692, and a tsunami destroyed most of the city. This led to the rise of Kingston, which is now Jamaica's largest city. Port Royal has also been hit by many strong hurricanes and another big earthquake in 1907.
Port Royal became a safe place for English and Dutch privateers. These were sailors hired by their governments to attack Spanish ships. Spain had a very strong navy, so other countries didn't want to attack them directly. Port Royal became famous for its wealth and lively atmosphere. Privateer crews spent their treasures in the many taverns and gambling houses.
Later, when governments stopped hiring privateers, many of these sailors became pirates. Port Royal then became a kind of pirate base. Pirates from all over the world, even as far as Madagascar, came here. The town earned the nickname 'the wickedest city on Earth'.
After the 1692 disaster, Kingston slowly took over Port Royal's role in trade. In 1999, there were plans to make Port Royal a place for tourists, especially cruise ships. The idea was to show off its unique history and the amazing things found by archaeologists from its early days and pirate times.
Contents
Port Royal's Weather
Port Royal has a tropical savanna climate. This means it has a short dry season from January to April and a long wet season from May to October. The temperatures stay pretty much the same all year. January is slightly cooler at about 25.5°C (78°F), and May is warmer at about 27.7°C (82°F). On average, it gets about 1345 millimeters (53 inches) of rain each year.
A Look Back at Port Royal's History
Long before Europeans arrived, the Taino people, who were the first people of the Caribbean, lived in this area. They called the spot Caguay or Caguaya and used it for fishing. While they didn't seem to settle right at Port Royal, they lived in other parts of Jamaica.
How Port Royal Was Settled
Christopher Columbus first landed in Jamaica for Spain in 1494. This led to the decline of the Taino population. Permanent Spanish settlers arrived in 1509, led by Juan de Esquivel. They were looking for gold and silver but instead started growing sugar cane. Like the Taino, the Spanish didn't use the Port Royal area much, but they kept its Taino name. Spain held onto Jamaica mainly to stop other countries from getting it, as it was in a very important spot for Caribbean trade routes. Spain controlled the island for 146 years.
In 1655, the English took control of Jamaica. By 1659, about 200 houses, shops, and warehouses had been built around the fort in Port Royal. By 1692, five forts protected the port. The English first called the place Cagway but soon changed it to Port Royal. For a long time, Port Royal was the unofficial capital of Jamaica, while Spanish Town was the official one. In 1872, Kingston became the official capital.
Port Royal: A Pirate's Paradise
Port Royal was a safe place for privateers and later for pirates. These sailors attacked ships traveling to and from Spain and Panama. Buccaneers loved Port Royal for several reasons. It was close to busy trade routes, making it easy to find ships to attack. Most importantly, it was near the only safe passages into the Spanish Main from the Atlantic.
The harbor was big enough for their ships, and the shallow waters were perfect for repairing vessels. It was also a great spot to start raids on Spanish towns. From Port Royal, famous pirates like Henry Morgan attacked places like Panama and Portobello. Other well-known buccaneers, including Roche Brasiliano and John Davis, also used Port Royal as their base.
In 1657, Governor Edward D'Oyley invited a group called the Brethren of the Coast to make Port Royal their home. These were pirates who had started as cattle hunters and turned to piracy after being robbed by the Spanish. They mainly attacked Spanish ships, which helped protect Port Royal from Spanish attempts to retake the island.
The English governors gave these privateers special permission, called "letters of marque," to attack Spanish ships. This helped England defend Port Royal without directly fighting Spain. Spain then had to spend its time defending its own lands, leaving them less able to attack Jamaica.
Because of the privateers, Spain couldn't regularly send goods to its colonies in the New World. This made Port Royal grow even more. Merchants and privateers worked together in what was called "forced trade." Merchants would fund trading trips with the Spanish, but also pay privateers to attack Spanish ships and towns. This made Port Royal one of the richest places in the English parts of North America. For example, a raid on Portobello in 1668 brought in £75,000, which was much more than Jamaica made from sugar exports at the time.
Since the English didn't have enough soldiers to protect the city, the Jamaican governors relied on pirates. By the 1660s, Port Royal was known as a "pirate utopia" and even called the "Sodom of the New World" by some. At its busiest, the city had one drinking house for every 10 people. In just one month in 1661, 40 new licenses were given for taverns.
Around 10,000 people lived in Port Royal before 1692. Besides buccaneers, there were many other people like goldsmiths, tavern keepers, and merchants. They lived in 2,000 buildings packed into a small area. The city was so rich that people preferred to use coins instead of trading goods.
After Henry Morgan became lieutenant governor, Port Royal started to change. Pirates were no longer needed to defend the city. The trade of slaves became more important. Many citizens didn't like the city's wild reputation. In 1687, Jamaica passed laws against piracy. So, instead of being a safe place for pirates, Port Royal became known for where they were punished. Many pirates, including Charles Vane and Calico Jack, were hanged there in 1720. The famous woman pirate Mary Read died in a Port Royal prison around the same time.
Under British rule, the Royal Navy used Port Royal for repairing ships and storing supplies. From 1675, a Naval Officer was in charge of these facilities. However, the 1692 earthquake stopped further development. After the earthquake, they tried to build a naval base in Port Antonio, but it wasn't suitable.
From 1735, the Royal Navy focused on Port Royal again. New docks and storehouses were built, along with housing for officers. Over the next 30 years, more facilities were added, like workshops and places to repair ships. A Royal Naval Hospital was also built. By the late 1700s, a small area for supplying ships with food and water was added.
In the early 1800s, a lot of rebuilding happened at the Royal Navy Dockyard in Port Royal. It became a major base for the fleet in the Caribbean. A large storehouse with a clocktower was built, and the Admiral's house had a watch tower to spot privateers. The Dockyard continued to grow to handle new steam-powered vessels. It became a coaling depot in the 1840s. The Dockyard kept expanding until the early 1900s. In 1905, the Navy left Jamaica, and the Dockyard closed.
Many of the Dockyard buildings, which were mostly made of wood, were later destroyed. Some were lost in the 1907 Kingston earthquake, and others by Hurricane Charlie in 1951. A few buildings still remain, including parts of the Naval Hospital and some officers' houses. There's also a slipway, finished in 1904, which was used for launching torpedo boats to protect the Yard. In 2014, plans were announced to restore some of the Naval Hospital buildings to create a museum as part of a tourism project.
The Great Earthquake of 1692
Port Royal grew very fast, reaching about 6,500 people and 2,000 homes by 1692. As land became scarce, people started filling in water areas to build on, or they built taller buildings. Homes became heavier as people used brick, like in England. Some people suggested building low, wooden homes like the Spanish used to, but many didn't listen. All these factors made the disaster even worse.
On June 7, 1692, a terrible earthquake struck the city. Most of its northern part sank into the sea, taking many homes and buildings with it. Many forts were also destroyed. Fort Charles survived, but Forts James and Carlisle sank. Fort Rupert became a large area of water, and Morgan's Line was badly damaged.
The earthquake hit all of Jamaica, but Port Royal citizens were in more danger. The ground turned to liquid, buildings fell, and a tsunami followed. Many survivors died from sickness because of poor housing, lack of medicine, and no clean water. The earthquake and tsunami killed between 1,000 and 3,000 people, almost half the city's population. Diseases spread quickly in the following months, killing about 2,000 more people.
We know the exact time of the 1692 earthquake because a pocket watch was found underwater in the 1960s. It had stopped at 11:43 a.m., showing when the disaster happened.
The earthquake caused the sand under Port Royal to turn into a liquid-like substance, flowing into Kingston Harbour. The town was built on about 65 feet of water-soaked sand, which is not a strong base. The English had decided to build on this "hot loose sand," unlike the Spanish who came before them.
Scientists and underwater archaeologists now believe the earthquake was very powerful. Much of the damage happened because of "liquefaction." This happens when earthquakes shake loose, sandy, water-filled ground. The water pressure increases, making the sand particles separate and turn into a sludge, like quicksand. People who saw it happen said buildings slid into the water, but some likely just sank straight down.
Underwater archaeology, which you can see on shows like Wicked Pirate City, has found building foundations underwater. This proves that parts of the city sank. Maps made after the earthquake also show how the shoreline changed compared to older maps.
People tried to rebuild the city, starting with the one-third that wasn't submerged. But they faced many problems. A fire destroyed the first attempt at rebuilding in 1703. Then, several hurricanes in the early 1700s caused more damage, including flooding in 1722, another fire in 1750, and a major hurricane in 1774. Soon, Kingston became more important than Port Royal. In 1815, another big fire destroyed repairs, and a cholera outbreak in 1850 affected the whole island.
Recent History and Discoveries
On January 14, 1907, another strong earthquake hit. It again turned the sand into liquid, destroying almost all of the rebuilt city and sinking more parts. It also tilted The Giddy House, an old artillery storage room built around 1880, which is now a small tourist spot.
Today, Port Royal is much smaller, with fewer than 2,000 people. It doesn't have much business or political importance. Tourists visit, but the area needs repair. The Jamaican government has decided to develop it more for its history and tourism. This is partly because plans from the 1960s to make it a cruise ship port led to archaeological digs. These digs revealed so much that the focus shifted to include historical attractions.
In 1981, a team from Texas A&M University began a 10-year underwater archaeological study of the part of Port Royal that sank in the 1600s. They focused on an area that sank quickly and wasn't badly damaged. Because there was very little oxygen underwater, many old organic materials were preserved. This work has helped scientists understand what daily life was like in this English colonial port city.
In 1998, a plan was made to redevelop Port Royal. The idea was to create a 17th-century themed attraction based on the city's heritage. It would have two main areas: Old Port Royal and the King's Royal Naval Dockyard. Old Port Royal would feature a cruise ship pier and waterfront cafes. The King's Royal Naval Dockyard would have a museum and an underwater aquarium showing tropical sea life. The plan also included a five-star hotel.
Today, archaeologists call Port Royal the "City That Sank." Many experts believe it's the most important underwater archaeological site in the Western Hemisphere. It has given us artifacts from the 1500s and 1600s, and even older treasures from indigenous people. Several pirate ships from the 17th and early 18th centuries also sank in Kingston Harbour. Archaeologists are carefully exploring these sites.
By 2019, a floating pier for cruise ships was built, and the first ship arrived on January 20, 2020. While tourists could help the town, there's still much work to be done to make it a "world-class heritage, environmental and cultural attraction," according to a BBC report in 2020. Another report mentioned the Living Heritage Programme, which aims to make the town a "SMART, safe and secure community with a vibrant local economy, preserved cultural heritage and protected natural environment."
Images for kids
-
Ships at Port Royal around 1820
-
The fortress at Port Royal
