PARISH HISTORY

The parish is located on the north-west end of the island, is bounded by Trelawny to the east, St. Elizabeth to the south and Hanover and Westmoreland to the west. St. James was named by Sir Thomas Modyford in about 1665, for the Duke of York (who later became James II) and was the reigning monarch at the time.

Along the coastal arear of St. James, remains of Jamaica's orginal inhabitants, the Arawaks, can be found. These 'early natives' are now affectionately reffered to as the 'Fairfield people', honour of a site near Montego Bay where characteristics of their pottery have been found.

Montego Bay is the most urban town in St. James. An early map of Jamaica has Montego Bay listed as 'Bahia de Manteca' or 'Lard Bay'. Monuments and historic sites in St. James include the Rose Hall Great House, the St. James Parish Church, the Old Ring-Cotton Tree Lodge and fort Montego Bay.

Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner for the parish, providing employment for hundreds of Jamaicans. Indeed over eight percent of the entire parish of St. James is dependent on the tourism industry.

See related link www.stjamespc.org

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address:         19 Union Street, St. James   

Telephone:      952-5500-2

Fax:                  952-4066

E-mail:             This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Chairman-  Mayor Charles Sinclair Jr.

Deputy Chairman - Deputy Mayor Cecil Davis

Secretary/Manager - Mr. Winston Palmer

Superintendent of Roads & Works - Kenroy Stewart

Director of Finance - Shelly-Ann Spence

Director of Planning - Trevion Manning

Director of Administration - Cecile Gibson

Public Relations Officer - Ricardo Rhoden

Disaster Coordinator - Amanda Thompson