St. Ann's Bay

The parish capital, St. Ann's Bay is a small bustling town at the base of the hills that lead into the interior along rough potholed roads. Originally called Santa Gloria by Columbus, St. Ann's Bay was the site for the earliest Spanish settlement of Sevilla La Nueva, or New Seville, which became the colony's first capital. Santa Ana, as the area was named by the Spanish, was where they formed a cultural mix with the native Taino population and imported enslaved Africans. From the Spanish arrival straight through to the emancipation of slaves, the area was an epicenter of conflict between the violent anti-missionary Colonial Church Union and the Baptist abolitionists. It was these struggles for liberation that inspired St. Ann's most renowned son, pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey.