Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Port-of-Spain, population 49,000 (metro: 300,000) (2000), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. The city is located on the Gulf of Paria, on the west coast of the island of Trinidad. It is one of the major shipping hubs of the Caribbean, with exports of agricultural products and asphalt. Bauxite from the Guianas and iron ore from Venezuela are transferred there for overseas shipment. The tallest building in Port-of-Spain (and in the entire country of Trinidad and Tobago) is the Nicholas Tower.Port-of-Spain was founded on the site of the Amerindian village of Cumucarapo. The last Spanish Governor, Don Jose Maria Chacon, moved the capital from San Jose de Oruņa (modern St. Joseph) in the late eighteenth century. Following the surrender of Trinidad to the British in 1797, Port of Spain remained the capital. It continued to grow in size and importance, peaking in size in the 1960s at about 100,000 people. Since then it has declined in size as population moved to the suburbs and outlying towns along the East-West Corridor.
While the major shopping area around Frederick Street has declined in competition with malls and the growth of outlying towns, 'uptown' Port-of-Spain (St. Clair and Woodbrook) have seen a boom as large corporations build high-rise headquarters in formerly upscale neighbourhoods.
The pulse of the city is Independence Square - not really a square at all, but rather two long streets bordering a narrow pedestrian strip. At Independence Square you can pick up a taxi and find travel agents, banks and cheap eats. The city is crowned by Queen's Park Savannah, once part of a sugar plantation and now a public park with a race track. Largely an expansive grassy field, the park itself is not particularly interesting but there are some sights along its perimeter. In the park's northwest corner there's a small rock garden with a lily pond and benches. Along its west side is the Magnificent Seven, a line of seven fancy colonial buildings, including Stollmeyer's Castle, built to resemble a Scottish castle complete with turrets. Port of Spain is also famous for its Carnival held all over the city every year. The city is up and jumping all through the Carnival season. Port Of Spain has often been called by locals, "the New York of the Caribbean" because of its active nightlife and vibrant cultural scence.
From 1958 to 1962, Port-of-Spain was the capital of the West Indies Federation, although the plan was to build the federal capital at Chaguaramas, to the west of the city. Federation Park, a neighbourhood in western Port-of-Spain is a memorial to that time.
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