Charlotteville (Trinidad and Tobago)

Charlotteville
Charlotteville
Coordinates	11 ° 19 ′  N , 60 ° 33 ′  W Coordinates: 11 ° 19 ′  N , 60 ° 33 ′  W
Basic data
Country	Trinidad and Tobago
Ward	Tobago
Residents	1051 (2011)
Charlotteville, Tobago, View from the West (2008)

Charlotteville is a small town in the northeast of the Caribbean island of Tobago in the island state of Trinidad and Tobago . It is the largest town in the Parish Saint John.

location

Charlotteville is located on Man O'War Bay in the Caribbean . The Windward Road connects the place with Speyside to the south and then further with Roxborough and the island's capital Scarborough . Buses run regularly on this route. Hermitage Road, completed in 2007, connects the town with L'Anse Fourmi to the west. Charlotteville is concentrated on the east side of the bay, with houses stretching up the hills here. In the east of the bay, a path leads over a hill to Pirates Bay, which has one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. It used to be a retreat for pirates, today many boats of yacht tourists anchor here. Fort Campbelton used to stand in the west of the bay, today a memorial park with two cannons reminds of it and offers an excellent view of the place. On the road to Speyside, a path branches off to Flagstaff Hill, which was formerly used by the military and offers a good view of the island of St. Giles - this is where the Caribbean and the Atlantic meet.

history

On the site of today's Charlotteville, Tobago was first settled by Europeans in 1632: Jan de Moor, merchant and mayor of Vlissingen , founded the colony of Nieuw Walcheren here. The settlement lasted until 1636 when the Dutch were forcibly evicted by the Spanish governor of Trinidad, Diego Lopez de Escobar.

In the mid-19th century there were two sugar cane plantations in the area, Pirate's Bay Estate and Charlotteville Estate, which were bought by the Turpin family in 1865 and merged as the Charlotteville Estate; the 40 km² large plantation gave the later place its name. Like many cities in Trinidad and Tobago, Charlotteville gradually emerged from the central settlement of plantation workers; a year of foundation is not known. In the 1920s, sugar cane production was switched to cocoa, which led to significant population growth. The second economic mainstay of the place was fishing. In 1946 Charlotteville had reached a population high of 1,360 people. In 1963 the place was badly hit by Hurricane Flora. Agriculture and fishing are still important economic factors today; instead of cocoa, bananas are produced.

Economy and Transport

The approximately 1000 inhabitants live from fishing and tourism. There are guest houses, restaurants and shops in the village.

Facilities

A sports field with a grandstand forms the center, next to it are a police station and a public library. There are two Christian churches in the village. The environmental research center ERIC (Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville) is based in the village.

Personalities

• Kertson Manswell (* 1976, boxer)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Anthony: Towns and Villages of Trinidad and Tobago . 2nd Edition. Printmaster, Marabella 2001, p. 56 .
2. ↑ Lennie M. Nimblett: Tobago: The Union with Trinidad 1889-1899 . AuthorHouse, Bloomington 2016, ISBN 978-1-4772-3450-1 , pp. 10 .