Montego Bay

For the song, see Montego Bay (song).

Montego Bay
View of Montego Bay from the hillside.
Country	Jamaica
County	Cornwall
Parish	St. James
Proclaimed city by act of Parliament	1980
Government
• Mayor	Charles Sinclair (Mayor)
Population  (2001)
• Total	96,488
• St. James Parish	175,127
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)

Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the third by population (after Kingston and Spanish Town).

It is a tourist destination known for its duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the sheltered Doctor's Cave beach with clear turquoise waters which is one of the most famous beaches on the island. The city is backed by picturesque low mountains.

History

Christopher Columbus, when he first visited the island in 1494, named the bay Golfo de Buen Tiempo ('Fair Weather Gulf') The name "Montego Bay" is believed to have originated as a corruption of the Spanish word manteca ("lard"), allegedly because during the Spanish period it was the port where lard, leather, and beef were exported. Jamaica was a colony of Spain from 1511 until 1655, when Oliver Cromwell's Caribbean expedition, the Western Design, drove the Spanish from the island.

Montego Bay c. 1820

During the epoch of slavery, from the mid-17th century until 1834, and well into the 20th century, the town functioned primarily as a sugar port. The island's last major slave revolt, the Christmas Rebellion or Baptist War (1831–1832) took place in the area around Montego Bay; the leader of the revolt, Samuel Sharpe, was hanged there in 1832. In 1975, Sharpe was proclaimed a national hero of Jamaica, and the main square of the town was renamed in his honour.

In 1980, Montego Bay was proclaimed a city by act of parliament, but this has not meant that it has acquired any form of autonomy as it continues to be an integral part of St. James Parish.

Today, Montego Bay is known for its large regional hospital (Cornwall Regional Hospital), port facilities, second homes for numerous upper class Jamaicans from Kingston as well as Americans and Europeans, fine restaurants, and shopping opportunities. The coastland near Montego Bay is occupied by numerous tourist resorts, most newly built, some occupying the grounds of old sugar cane plantations with some of the original buildings and mill-works still standing. The most famous of these are the White Witch's Rose Hall and Tryall, both of which now feature world-class golf courses.

The infrastructure of the city is going through a series of explosive modernizations which once completed aim to make Montego Bay a top destination in the Caribbean.

Doctor's Cave Beach Club is a popular tourist destination in Montego Bay

The Baywest Shopping Center in Montego Bay

Westgate Plaza in Montego Bay

Transport

Roads

Montego Bay is on the main A1 (Kingston to Lucea) road and the B15 (Montego Bay to Falmouth) road. It is well served by buses, mini buses and taxis, which operate from the Montego Bay Transport Centre.

Rail

The now disused Montego Bay railway station served the Kingston to Montego Bay main line. The station opened c1894 and closed in October 1992 when all passenger traffic on Jamaica's railways abruptly ceased.

Air

Montego Bay is served by Jamaica's largest airport, the Sir Donald Sangster International Airport.

Air Jamaica and several North American and European airlines run their Caribbean hub in "MoBay" (Sangster International Airport) connecting the island with the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. The southern U.S. city of Miami can be reached within 70 minutes. The southern U.S. cities of Charlotte, Houston, Atlanta, and Tampa can be reached by nonstop flights in less than three hours. Other locations like New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., and Chicago can be reached in under four hours.

Port

There is a free port and cruise line terminal on a man-made peninsula jutting into the bay.

In popular culture

The city was the subject of the namesake song by Bobby Bloom in 1970, later covered by Jon Stevens ten years later, and was revived by Amazulu to became a minor hit in the U.S. in September 1986.

In the "Whistleblower" episode of The Office, Michael Scott mentions that the whistleblower, once caught should be sent to Montego Bay, meaning instead Guantanamo Bay.

See also

• Railway stations in Jamaica

External links

• Travel guide to Montego Bay
• Aerial view
• Photos (Panaromio): [1]