Saint George's (Bermuda)

Saint George's
Coordinates	32 ° 22 '54 "  N , 64 ° 40' 41"  W Coordinates: 32 ° 22 '54 "  N , 64 ° 40' 41"  W
Basic data
Country	Bermuda
surface	1.4 km²
Residents	1527 (2016)
density	1,114.6  Ew. / km²

Location of St. George's in Bermuda

Saint George’s (formerly Town of St. George or St. George's Town ) is a city in the British overseas territory of Bermuda . It is located on Saint George's Island in the northeast of the Bermuda archipelago. St. George's was founded as the first permanent settlement in Bermuda in 1612 and is now the oldest continuously inhabited English settlement in America. It has the status of an independent city (Municipality) and is enclosed by Saint George's Parish . The city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000 .

St. George's Harbor and City

history

The first settlers came to Bermuda involuntarily in 1609. They were on their way to Jamestown , Virginia to stock up on the new settlement when their ship sailed onto a reef off St. George's. The ship was part of the Third Supply Relief Fleet. It consisted of nine ships under Admiral Sir George Somers . The flagship Sea Venture was badly damaged in a severe storm and drifted off course. In order to prevent an uncontrolled sinking, the ship was set on a reef off Bermudas. All passengers could be saved.

From the remains of the ship and materials on site, two new ships were built, the Deliverance , a barque with 80 tons, and the Pinasse Patience, 30 tons. The admiral set out again for Jamestown with 150 survivors; three sailors stayed behind voluntarily.

The Virginia Company , which had also financed Jamestown, claimed the island and sent 60 settlers to Bermuda, where they met those who were left behind. They had already started building a settlement on St. George's Island, as a natural bay provided a good anchorage.

Old State House, seat of Bermuda Parliament from 1620 to 1815

Not only was the small town the capital of Bermuda until 1815 , but it also had an impact on American history: On August 14, 1775, Bermuda residents stole gunpowder from the stores of the English fort in St. George's. They rolled the barrels across the island to Tobacco Bay , where an American ship was already waiting. Originally intended to protect the islands, it was now used in the American Revolutionary War .

During the American Civil War it was an important port of destination for the blockade runners of the Confederacy . British traders supplied arms and ammunition and other supplies in exchange for cotton and other southern goods.

today

St. George's currently has a little over 1,500 residents. Nowadays, the economic boom is more likely to take place in the current capital, Hamilton . This enabled the former capital, Saint George's, to preserve many historical buildings from the 17th to 19th centuries. Today the administration makes great efforts to preserve the historical character of the place. Electricity and telephone cables were laid underground. The narrow streets such as B. Barber's Alley or Aunt Peggy's Lane have been restored historically.

St. George's may seem like an open-air museum for tourists, but at the same time it is a very lively city. The historic houses are inhabited and house restaurants, bars and shops. In the city center is the King's Square with the town hall and the visitor's office. There you will also find the reconstructed pillory and the diving chair with which talkative women were once dived into the harbor basin. Nowadays this process is demonstrated to tourists by a group of volunteers.

Unfinished Church ("Unfinished Church")

Ordnance Island is in the harbor . On the small island, which can be reached via a narrow bridge, there is a replica of the Deliverance, one of the ships that were built by the shipwrecked people under George Somers. His statue is also on the island. It was created by Desmond Fountain .

Other historical buildings worth seeing in the city are the Old State House from 1620, the first stone house in Bermuda and also the oldest house on the island, the Unfinished Church, The Old Rectory and also St. Peter's Church, the oldest Anglican church in America. Also of note is the Bermuda National Trust Museum.

Town twinning

•  Lyme Regis ( England ), birthplace of Admiral George Somers (since 1996).

Web links

Commons : Saint George's (Bermuda)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Saint George’s on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Keith Archibald Forbes: Bermuda's historic Town of St. George. In: Bermuda and her Atlantic Islands. Bermuda Online (BOL ). 
• Keith Archibald Forbes: Bermuda's Town of St. George, Part 2. In: Bermuda and her Atlantic Islands. Bermuda Online (BOL ). 
• Bermuda - Town of St. George. In: The Bermuda Island Travel Guide. (English). 
• Guide To St George, Bermuda - Hotels, Restaurants, Things To See. In: Bermuda 4u. (English, tourist information with city map for St. George's). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Melinda Williams (Ed.): 2016 Population and Housing Census Report . Government of Bermuda - Department of Statistics, Hamilton, Bermuda May 2, 2018, Population, p. 24 , Table 3: Population by parish and municipality, 2016 and 2010 (English, gov.bm [PDF; 4.4 MB ; accessed on August 30, 2019]).
2. ↑ June 2001. Rough customs in the Atlantic: gossips are dipped into the harbor basin. In: wieshoff.de. Jürgen Wieshoff , archived from the original on January 1, 2008 ; accessed on December 12, 2017 .