Timeline of Kingston, Jamaica

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kingston, Jamaica.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 19th century

• 1692 – 7 June: The Jamaica earthquake destroys Port Royal due to heavy liquefaction and a tsunami; around 5,000 are killed there. Residents resettle nearby thus establishing Kingston.^[1]
• 1690s – Parish Church built (approximate date).^[2]
• 1703 - Port Royal laid waste by fire.^[3]
• 1712 – Hurricane.^[4]
• 1720 – Pirate Calico Jack hanged.^{[citation needed]}
• 1722
  • Hurricane.^[4]
  • Weekly Jamaica Courant newspaper in publication.^[5]
• 1729 – Wolmers's School founded.
• 1740 – "Twelve Apostles" battery constructed.^[1]
• 1746 – Theatre opens in Harbour Street.^[6]
• 1750 – Sephardic synagogue built.^[1]
• 1755
  • House of Assembly (legislature of British Jamaica) relocated to Kingston from Spanish Town.^[7]
  • Population: 10,000 (approximate).^[1]
• 1771 – 3 September: An earthquake causes moderate damage in Port Royal and Kingston.^[8]
• 1775 – American Company of Comedians in performance.^[9]
• 1780 - Fire.^[3]
• 1783 – Kingston Race Course laid out.
• 1788 – Population: 26,478 (of which 16,659 were slaves).^[1]
• 1794 – Kingston Medical Society founded.^[10]

19th century

Harbour Street, Kingston, c. 1820

• 1802 – Kingston incorporated.^[11]
• 1807 – Slave trade officially abolished per Slave Trade Act.
• 1823 – Population: 33,000 (approximate).^[12]
• 1824 – Jamaica Journal and Kingston Chronicle newspaper begins publication.^[13]
• 1825 – Jamaica Horticultural Society founded.^[10]
• 1834
  • Slavery officially abolished per Slavery Abolition Act.
  • Jamaica Gleaner newspaper begins publication.^[14][15]
  • Mico College founded.^[2]
• 1843
  • 26 August: Fire.^[11]
  • Agricultural Society founded.^[16]
• 1845 – Spanish Town-Kingston railway (Jamaica Railway Company) begins operating^[17] and Kingston railway station opens.
• 1862 - Fire.^[3]
• 1870 – Legislative Council of British Jamaica moves to Headquarters House.^[2]
• 1872
  • Capital of British Jamaica relocated to Kingston from Spanish Town.^[17][3]
  • Victoria Market built on site of "Sunday/Negro market."^[18]
  • Jamaica Club founded.^[2]
• 1879 – Institute of Jamaica^[19] and Sugar Wharf established.^[20]
• 1881
  • Population: 36,846.^[21]
  • Devon House (residence) built.^[22]
• 1882 – 11 December: Fire.^[23]
• 1885 – Shaare Shalom Synagogue built.
• 1887 – Jubilee Market dedicated.^[24]
• 1890 – Chinese Benevolent Society founded.^[17]
• 1891
  • Constant Spring Hotel in business (approximate date).^[25]
  • Population: 46,542.^[21]
  • Jamaica International Exhibition held.^[10]
• 1892 - Electricity came to Jamaica.^[26]
• 1894 – Montego Bay-Kingston railway begins operating.^[17]
• 1897 – Victoria Park opens (approximate date).^{[citation needed]}
• 1898 – Adrian Robinson becomes mayor.^[27]
• 1899 – Electric tram begins operating.

20th century

1900s–1950s

• 1907 – 14 January: The 6.5 M_w Kingston earthquake causes 800–1,000 deaths and flooding from a moderate tsunami.^[28][3]
• 1908 – King's House, Jamaica built.
• 1910 – Alpha Boys Band active.^[29]
• 1912
  • Ward Theatre established.^[19]
  • Hubert A. L. Simpson becomes mayor.^[27]
• 1914 – Population: 57,379.^[2]
• 1918 – Myrtle Bank Hotel rebuilt.^[25]
• 1923 – Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (city government) formed.^[30]
• 1927
  • December: Marcus Garvey returns to Kingston.^{[citation needed]}
  • Heritage Dam built.^[27]
• 1929
  • Blackman newspaper begins publication.^[31]
  • August: Universal Negro Improvement Association Convention held.^[31]
• 1930 – Sabina Park (cricket ground) established.
• 1935 – King of Kings Ethiopian Mission founded (approximate date).^[32][33]
• 1938 – Carib Theatre opens.^[34]
• 1947 – Alexander Bustamante elected mayor.
• 1948
  • Kingston Air Traffic Control Centre and Palisadoes Airport established.
  • University College of the West Indies established near city.
• 1951 – August: Hurricane Charlie.
• 1956 – Catholic Diocese of Kingston formed.
• 1957 – Earthquake.^[35]
• 1958 – Iris King becomes mayor.^[27]

1960s–1990s

• 1960
  • Parliament of Jamaica moves to Gordon House.^[7]
  • Population: 123,403 city; 376,520 urban agglomeration.^[36]
• 1962
  • 6 August: City becomes part of independent Jamaica.^[17]
  • Independence Park (sports complex) opens.
  • 15–28 August: 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games held.
  • Tivoli Gardens housing complex in Back O'Wall built.^[37]
• 1963
  • Studio One (record label) in business.^[38]
  • McIntyre Land Citizens' Association formed.^[39]
• 1964 – 11 November: Burial of Marcus Garvey in King George VI Memorial Park.^[40]
• 1965 – Ethnic unrest.^{[citation needed]}
• 1966
  • 21 April: Haile Selassie visits Jamaica.
  • August: 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held.
• 1968 – Jamaica Stock Exchange founded.
• 1970
  • Tuff Gong record label founded.
  • Population: 111,879 city; 475,548 urban agglomeration.^[41]
• 1972 – Ralph Eugene Brown PNP general-secretary becomes mayor.^[42]
• 1973 – Jamaica Pegasus Hotel built.^{[citation needed]}
• 1979 – National Library of Jamaica headquartered in city.
• 1982 – Population: 104,041 city; 524,638 urban agglomeration.^[43]
• 1987 – Bob Marley Museum opens.^[44]
• 1989 – Marie Atkins becomes mayor.^[45]
• 1990 – African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica / Jamaica Memory Bank headquartered in Kingston.^[46]
• 1991 – Population: 103,962 city.^[43]
• 1993 – The Jamaica Observer newspaper begins publication.

21st century

• 2001 – Population: 579,137.^[47]
• 2002 – Emancipation Park opens in Kingston.^[48]
• 2003
  • Passa Passa begins.^[49]
  • Desmond McKenzie becomes mayor.^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 – Monument "In Memory of Children Killed" unveiled.^[50]
• 2010 – May–June: 2010 Kingston unrest.
• 2011 – Population: 937,700.
• 2012 – Angela Brown-Burke becomes mayor.

See also

• Kingston history
• List of National Heritage Sites in Kingston
• Trenchtown history

References

1. Marley 2005.
2. Aspinall 1914.
3. Britannica 1910.
4. Marrion Wilcox; George E. Rines, eds. (1917), "Jamaica", Encyclopedia of Latin America, New York: Encyclopedia Americana Corporation, OCLC 603664
5. Frank Cundall (1916). "Press and Printers of Jamaica Prior to 1820". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. 26 (2): 290–412. hdl:2027/njp.32101019683158.
6. Errol Hill (1992), The Jamaican Stage, 1655–1900: profile of a colonial theatre, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, ISBN 0870237799
7. "History of Jamaica's Legislature". Jamaica Houses of Parliament. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
8. National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) (1972), Significant Earthquake Database, National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
9. Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy (2000), An Empire Divided: the American Revolution and the British Caribbean, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0812235584
10. Frank Cundall (3 January 1896). "Jamaica in the Past and Present". Journal of the Society of Arts. 44. London.
11. Arnaboldi 1852.
12. Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1823), "Kingston", A New Universal Gazetteer (4th ed.), New Haven: S. Converse
13. "Kingston (Jamaica) Newspapers". WorldCat. USA: Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
14. "Newspaper Archives of The Jamaica Gleaner". NewspaperArchive.com. Heritage Microfilm, Inc. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
15. Bernard F. Reilly, Jr. (2005). "Knowledge Biodiversity: The Perilous Economics of World News Heritage Materials". Association of College and Research Libraries, 2005 national conference. American Library Association. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
16. S.P. Musson; T. Laurence Roxburgh. Handbook of Jamaica for 1895. London: E. Stanford. hdl:2027/mdp.39015039504041.
17. "History Notes: Information on Jamaica's Culture & Heritage". National Library of Jamaica. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
18. Brown-Glaude 2011.
19. "Kingston Heritage Sites". Jamaica National Heritage Trust. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
20. Handbook of Jamaica, London: E. Stanford, 1922, hdl:2027/mdp.39015039504074
21. Jos. C. Ford; Frank Cundall (1908), Handbook of Jamaica for 1908, London: E. Stanford, hdl:2027/mdp.39015039504074
22. "Kingston". Jamaica. Lonely Planet. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
23. Jamaica in 1896: A Handbook of Information for Intending Settlers and Others. Institute of Jamaica. hdl:2027/mdp.39015009350003.
24. Ober 1920.
25. "Jamaica's Grand Hotels". Jamaica Gleaner. 26 November 2001. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
26. "Our History". www.jpsco.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
27. "History". Kingston & St. Andrew Corporation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
28. "Quake and Fire Wreck Kingston". New York Times. 16 January 1907.
29. Witmer 1987.
30. "Local government in the Caribbean". City Mayors.com. London: City Mayors Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
31. Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, UCLA. "American Series Introduction: Volume VII: December 1927 – August 1940". Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers Project. University of California. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
32. Ennis B. Edmonds (2012). Rastafari: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191642470.
33. Barry Chevannes (1994), Rastafari: roots and ideology, Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, ISBN 081562638X
34. "Movie Theaters in Kingston, Jamaica". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
35. "Quake Rocks Jamaica". New York Times. 2 March 1957.
36. "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1965. New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations. 1966.
37. Sives 2002.
38. "Mexico and Central America, 1900 A.D.: Key Events". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
39. Anderson 2007.
40. Robert A. Hill, ed. (August 1919), The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 1: 1826, University of California Press (published 1983), ISBN 9780520044562 {{citation}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
41. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office (1976). "Population of capital city and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1975. New York. pp. 253–279.
42. "KSAC head office being renamed the Ralph Brown Building". The Gleaner. 10 January 2005.
43. United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division (1997). "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". 1995 Demographic Yearbook. New York. pp. 262–321. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
44. Jalani Niaah; Sonjah Stanley Niaah (2008), "Bob Marley, Rastafari, and the Jamaican Tourism Product", in Marcella Daye; et al. (eds.), New Perspectives in Caribbean Tourism, Routledge, ISBN 9780415958387
45. "Remembering Mayor Marie Atkins". The Gleaner. 11 January 2009.
46. African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank. "About". Government of Jamaica, Agency of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
47. "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2011. United Nations Statistics Division. 2012.
48. "History of Emancipation Park". Government of Jamaica. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
49. Denise Campbell (29 May 2009). "The Dance That Could Save Kingston". The Root. Washington, DC: The Slate Group.
50. "The monument". Kingston & St. Andrew Corporation. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012.

Bibliography

Published in the 18th–19th centuries

• Edward Long (1774), "Parish and Town of Kingston", History of Jamaica, London: T. Lowndes
• G. Arnaboldi (1852). Tourist's Guide to the Chief Towns And Villages of the Island of Jamaica. Kingston. hdl:2027/hvd.32044072260029.
• James Henry Stark (1898), "Kingston", Stark's Jamaica Guide, Boston: J.H. Stark
• Lillian D. Kelsey (January 1898). "Winter Days in Jamaica: In and About Kingston". The International: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine. 4. Chicago: Brower.

Published in the 20th century

• "Kingston, Jamaica", Tourist Guide to the West Indies, Venezuela, Isthmus of Panama and Bermuda, New York: Hamburg-American Line, 1909, OCLC 58672123
• "Kingston (Jamaica)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1910. p. 821.
• Algernon E. Aspinall (1914), "Kingston", Pocket Guide to the West Indies, British Guiana, British Honduras, the Bermudas, the Spanish Main, and the Panama Canal, Chicago: Rand, McNally & Company
• Frederick A. Ober (1920), "Kingston", Guide to the West Indies, Bermuda and Panama, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, OCLC 1515460
• M. G. Smith; Roy Augier; Rex Nettleford (1967). "The Rastafari Movement In Kingston, Jamaica". Caribbean Quarterly. 13.
• Tom Graham (1972). Kingston 100 years. Kingston, Jamaica: T. Graham.
• Colin G. Clarke (1975), "Ecological Aspects of Population Growth in Kingston, Jamaica", Publication Series (Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers), 4, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers: 42–55, JSTOR 25765506
• Colin G. Clarke (1975), Kingston, Jamaica: Urban Development and Social Change, 1692–1962, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0520020251
• Jack Alexander (1977). "The Culture of Race in Middle-Class Kingston, Jamaica". American Ethnologist. 4 (3): 413–435. doi:10.1525/ae.1977.4.3.02a00020.
• Pauline Knight and Omar Davies (1978). "Analysis of residential location patterns in the Kingston Metropolitan Area". Social and Economic Studies. 27.
• Wilma Bailey (1978). "Social control in the pre-Emancipation society of Kingston, Jamaica". Boletín de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe (24).
• L. Alan Eyre (1984). "Political Violence and Urban Geography in Kingston, Jamaica". Geographical Review. 74 (1): 24. Bibcode:1984GeoRv..74...24E. doi:10.2307/214758. JSTOR 214758.
• Robert Witmer (1987). "'Local and 'Foreign': The Popular Music Culture of Kingston, Jamaica, before Ska, Rock Steady, and Reggae". Latin American Music Review. 8.
• Swithin Wilmot (1990). "Politics of protest in free Jamaica: The Kingston John Canoe Christmas Riots, 1840 and 1841". Caribbean Quarterly. 36.

Published in the 21st century

• Amanda Sives (2002). "Changing Patrons, from Politician to Drug Don: Clientelism in Downtown Kingston, Jamaica". Latin American Perspectives. 29.
• David Marley (2005), "Kingston", Historic Cities of the Americas, Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, ISBN 1576070271
• Michelle Stewart (2005). "Creole Language in Kingston: The Emergence of Basilectal Varieties – 1692–1865". Caribbean Quarterly. 51.
• Colin Clarke and David Howard (2006). "Contradictory Socio-Economic Consequences of Structural Adjustment in Kingston, Jamaica". The Geographical Journal. 172.
• Colin G. Clarke (2006). Decolonizing the Colonial City: Urbanization and Stratification in Kingston, Jamaica. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191515033.
• Patricia Anderson (2007). "Challenge of housing and community conflict in East and West Kingston". Social and Economic Studies. 56.
• Winnifred R. Brown-Glaude (2011), Higglers in Kingston: women's informal work in Jamaica, Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, ISBN 9780826517654
• Trevor Burnard; Emma Hart (2012). "Kingston, Jamaica, and Charleston, South Carolina: A New Look at Comparative Urbanization in Plantation Colonial British America". Journal of Urban History. 39.
• Trevor Burnard (2013). "Kingston, Jamaica: Crucible of Modernity". In Jorge Canizares-Esguerra; et al. (eds.). Black Urban Atlantic in the Age of the Slave Trade. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0813-9.

External links

• Maps of Kingston, Jamaica, 1960s
• Images of Kingston, Jamaica, various dates (via New York Public Library)
• Images of Kingston, Jamaica, various dates (via U.S. Library of Congress)

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