Rio Claro (Trinidad and Tobago)
| Rio Claro | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 10 ° 18 ′ N , 61 ° 10 ′ W | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Trinidad and Tobago | ||
| Mayaro-Rio Claro | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | TT-MRC | ||
| Residents | 3821 (2011) | ||
| founding | 1851 | ||
Rio Claro is a city in the Caribbean island state of Trinidad and Tobago . The city, located in the southeast of the main island of Trinidad , is the administrative seat of the Mayaro-Rio Claro region .
location
Rio Claro is inland, about 15 km east of Princes Town and 15 km west of Mayaro . The city is located in the southern foothills of the Central Range , a (maximum 307 m high) low mountain range that runs across the island of Trinidad. Politically, Rio Claro belongs to the Mayaro constituency.
history
In pre-Columbian times, the area in which Rio Claro lies today was used by the local Arawak Indians as a camp on foot marches through the region. From a European perspective, the area of today's Rio Claro was "discovered" in 1777. At this time, the Ortoire River ran through the area, which was discovered by two geographers working on behalf of Spain, Auguste Crame and Juan de Catilla, and presumably because of its clearness Water was named "Rio Claro". Shortly after the British conquered Trinidad, Governor Ralph Abercromby arranged for the island to be mapped. The geographer, who was responsible for the southeast coast of the island, relied on the work of Crames and de Catillas for mapping the inland.
In 1850, the British Governor George Harris ordered the construction of a road from Princes Town to Mayaro to connect the flourishing Mayaro to the well-developed west coast and to open up the land in between. The head geographer of the government, Sainte-Luce d'Abadie, was responsible for the construction of the road, which took almost a year to complete because of the impassability of the terrain. D'Abadie had a house built for himself in the middle of this route, by chance on the Rio Claro, which he called "Half-Way House", in German roughly half-way house . Until the end of the 19th century, the area was recorded on official maps as the "Half-Way House".
At the beginning of the 20th century, Rio Claro was a kind of suburb of Poole Village, a settlement five kilometers to the west. At that time, Rio Claro consisted only of various residential buildings; all infrastructure was in Poole Village. In 1914 Rio Claro (in contrast to Poole Village) was connected to the railway network of the Trinidad Government Railway , which suddenly increased its economic and administrative importance. The connection was made at the instigation of the cocoa plantation owners in the region, who were able to better transport their products to San Fernando . Rio Claro marked the end of the expansion of the Trinidadian railway network. A post office was opened in the village in 1925 and a Roman Catholic church was built in 1928. In the 1940s, Rio Claro had three cinemas.
Until 1990 Trinidad was divided into counties . As part of an administrative reform (Municipal Corporations Act No. 21), all counties were dissolved in 1990 and new administrative units were created. Until now, Rio Claro was in Nariva County, from 1990 onwards as the administrative seat of the newly created Mayaro-Rio Claro region.
Population development
Source:
Economy and Transport
The agricultural sector still plays an important role in Rio Claro, but is nowhere near the same level as during the heyday of cocoa cultivation in the 19th century. Coffee and cocoa are still grown. The logging is economically important.
Rio Claro is far away from the major Trinidadian expressways. It is connected to San Fernando, 40 km away, and Mayaro, 22 km away, via the Naparima Mayaro Road, which runs in a west-east direction . A Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSCTT) bus runs between Chaguanas and Rio Claro.
Facilities and culture
Rio Claro has two secondary and nine elementary schools, five Christian churches, a Hindu temple and a mosque.
The place is known as the regional center of the Parang culture. Several award-winning parang groups come from Rio Claro; the Rio Claro Parang Group was a founding member of the National Parang Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NPATT) in 1971. The history of the place is remembered as part of the Heritage Festival , which takes place every year in the last week of November , during which exhibitions, readings and film screenings take place. The steel band Rio Claro Koskeros is based in town.
Personalities
- Sybil Atteck (1911–1975, painter)
- Lord Superior (1937-2018, Calypsonian)
- Winston Dookeran (* 1943, economist and politician)
- Jack Warner (* 1943, politician and football official)
Individual evidence
- ↑ EBCTT.com: Electoral Districts. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c News.gov.tt: Rio Claro Celebrates 101: Heritage Festival honors Rio Claro's rich Railway History. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d Michael Anthony: Towns and Villages of Trinidad and Tobago . 2nd Edition. Printmaster, Marabella 2001, ISBN 978-0-00-976806-4 , p. 235 .
- ↑ Michael Anthony: Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago . Scarecrow Press, London 1997, ISBN 0-8108-3173-2 , pp. 466 .
- ↑ Dara Healy: Parang unveiled . In: Trinidad Newsday . 1st December 2018.
- ^ Klaus Näumann: Parang music in Trinidad: A Hispanic tradition in an Anglophone country . LIT Verlag, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-8258-8775-8 , p. 82 .