Maroon Town, Jamaica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maroon Town is a settlement in Jamaica. It has a population of 3122 as of 2009.[1]
Maroon Town is located in the conical Cockpit Country that spans parts of the parishes of St. James, St. Elizabeth and Trelawny. Located in Saint James Parish, Jamaica the community sits approximately 29 kilometers, southwest of Montego Bay, the parish capital.[citation needed]
This former settlement of the Jamaican Maroons has a variety of Jamaican flora and fauna. Farmers in this area invest in ground provisions (including yam) and other staples, but especially bananas. Bananas have over the years been commercially successful as a profit-making venture in this community and are also a regular staple of locals.
The Maroon Pride Banana Chips brand originated in this community.
Cudjoe's Town and Trelawny Town
It is a former home of runaway slaves who became Jamaican Maroons and fought two guerrilla wars against the colonial authorities, the First Maroon War of the 1730s and the Second Maroon War of 1795–6. When it was a home to these escaped slaves, it was called Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town). Once the governor, Edward Trelawny, authorised the signing of a treaty with Cudjoe in 1739, Cudjoe's Town became known as Trelawny Town.[2]
After the Second Maroon War, the colonial authorities deported the Maroons of Trelawny Town to Nova Scotia and then Sierra Leone. They then renamed the settlement Maroon Town, and since then it has been a place of archaeological research.
