Barratt, P. J. H.

Grand Bahama, by P.J.H. Barratt.

Newton Abbot, David and Charles; Harrisburg, Stackpole Books, 1972.

206 pages, folded leaf. illustrations, maps, portraits 23 cm

The Island series

This is the first comprehensive book about a strategically placed island which is unique in having only very recently achieved prominence after its sparse population had enjoyed a quiet, untrammelled existence for hundreds of years. Grand Bahama is the most northerly of the chain of islands that almost form a land bridge between Florida and Venezuela. It is already the second most important island of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. At the nearest point it is less than sixty miles from Florida. Aboriginal Indians occupied the island until its discovery by the Spaniards in 1512 when it was depopulated, to be resettled only after 300 years. The tourist potential was first exploited as recently as 1948. Although development was initially slow, between 1961 and 1969 the volume of visitors grew from 40,000 to half a million and tourism is now one of the mainstays of the economy. Today, Grand Bahama is one of the most magnificent playgrounds of the world. Although low-lying (the highest point is only 60 feet above sea level), large areas have been cultivated and reclaimed on an ambitious scale and the present facilities for golf, sailing and swimming are exceptional by any standards. This development has been sensational. In the once barren, pine-covered land the new city of Freeport has been built (which has land valued at up to $80,000 an acre). Freeport itself is the most important industrial city in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, with the added interest of being the only new town in the region financed by private enterprise -- a social and economic experiment of great significance that has raised many questions in the process, such as the importance of private sector investment, balancing the social mix of the population and the delicate matter of political relations between a 'private enterprise' town and a parent government. Resort and residential development has made the island the second largest in population in the Bahamas but for the most part an unspoiled, tranquil beauty still characterises its environment as a whole. The inland scenery has been enhanced by sensitively designed golf courses, and the vast shimmering waterways that have been driven through the interior. Few islands anywhere have been refashioned by man to this extent. P. J. H. Barratt, a town planner in charge of the development of Freeport, writes with first-hand knowledge of the island in all its aspects. Here is 'the island of the great shallows', in the area of Columbus's historic landfall, that is a holiday paradise, a land with an exciting future yet with all the fascinating problems of an independent, emerging society.

0811707512 (Stackpole)
9780811707510 (Stackpole)
0715356550
9780715356555

Grand Bahama (Bahamas)
Bahamas Grand Bahama.

Island series.

Location: Library main 286446
Call No.: BIB 226795
Status: Available