Bermuda's St. George's Parish

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Bermuda's St. George's Parish

Most eastern of the nine counties of these West Atlantic islands

To refer to this web file use "bermuda-online.org/seestgeo.htm" as your Subject

Accommodation

Recommended hotels are shown in bold. Some have the facilities shown by the following symbols. Hotels shown with 5-2 Stars reflect the symbols shown on Expedia.com.

Symbols

Other symbols

Introduction

Bermuda's Architectural Heritage: St. George's. Jarvis, Michael, edited by White, David L. Photos by Robin Judah and sidebars by Trimingham, Andrew. November, 1997. Bermuda National Trust. Second in the series.

St. George's Parish is all of St. George's Island (originally known as Tortus Island) and partly Main Island, Bermuda's biggest island and historically significant. St. George's Island is 703 acres. St. George's Island - then referred to as King's Island because it was where the British King's representative was based - was the first to be colonized. It includes St. George's Harbor, all of St. David's Island, originally 503 acres but enlarged in 1942 to over 650 acres build the (now decommissioned) Fort Bell (US Army), then Kindley Air Force Base (USAF), then USNAS. The Parish starts where Hamilton Parish ends, on the road after Blue Hole Hill, before the Causeway to the airport. It is joined to Main via a road and to St. George's Island via the Swing Bridge, then over it and Longbird bridges briefly into Hamilton Parish then this Parish again at Tucker's Town and Castle Islands..

The Parish also includes all islands in St. George's Harbor; the Causeway; Coney Island and Ferry Island. (It once provided the horse ferry as the only connection between St. George's Island and Main Island.

The map below

This shows the layout of the Parish but not the physical boundary of the Town of St. George in the Parish. Both are different. The bus route does not go as far as Fort St. Catherine, which in the Parish but not the Town.

Achilles Bay

Alexandria Battery

see Bermuda Forts - number 62 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves.

Astor Estate

Ferry Reach. A private property, still called this although it has not been owned for decades by the Astor family. It got its name when American tycoon Vincent Astor (1891-1959, son of John Astor who died on the Titanic) built an estate here, on the South Shore of Ferry Reach, at great expense in the 1930's. His architect was Edward Durrell Stone. The property included a sprawling mansion still there - now guest cottages or subdivided into apartments. - and a large boat house. Astor also built a 2ft gauge (narrow gauge) railway, with a Baldwin locomotive which carried him and his guests over the hill to his own private station on the Bermuda Railway. Astor erected the house with his first wife, Helen Huntington, but both likely lost interest in it when the pristine Castle Harbour, their main vista, was destroyed to make Kindley Field. (Interestingly, at about the same time as the Astor railway was built, there was a similar-gauge small railway in the United Kingdom, the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&BR) - now a Trust in the UK, with a similar or identical Baldwin locomotive, which was scrapped back in 1935. L&BR was restored in 1979 and now runs a steam service). Astor was the major benefactor of the Bermuda Aquarium from 1926 and arranged most of the financing when it was at Agar's Island. When he died, the estate was sold to others. In 1962, an RB-47 reconnaissance aircraft from the United States Air Force crashed on the property after taking off from the nearby Kindley Air Force Base and damaged some of the outbuildings. All four crew members perished. It has been alleged that this was when the private railway stopped but in fact it was much earlier than this when it ended, probably about the same time as the demise of the Bermuda Railway in 1948.

Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS)

Telephone (441) 297-1880. One mile before the Town of St. George boundary and just across from the airport. On a Wednesday, there is a free guided tour starting at about 10 am. Buses will drop you off a half mile away, or you can park a moped. Areas of specialization include marine biology, mariculture, monitoring of global environmental dangers and global warming signs, oceanography and studies of the Gulf Stream. Founded in 1903 by scientists from Harvard University, New York University and the Bermuda Natural History Society as a station for research in biology and zoology. Incorporated in New York in 1926 as a US not-for-profit organisation. By 1932 the Bermuda Government and the Rockefeller Foundation joined forces to provide facilities and a modest endowment, and opened the BBSR at its present location in Ferry Reach, St. George's. The scope and focus of the organisation has grown and the new name has been devised to reflect its current status as a world-class science and educational institute focusing on marine ecosystems, ocean/atmospheric interactions and ocean health, as well as their influence on man's habitat and health.

One a local hotel and later a field hospital for the US Army in the early 1940s, it conducts high quality research from a mid ocean island; educates future scientists; and provides well equipped facilities and technical staff support for visiting scientists, faculty and students. A bonus has been the number of local students who have participated in special courses at the facility and then gone on to become scientists. One of its projects is the Risk Prediction Initiative. It carries out large scale predictions by correlating data from the scientific community on oceans and atmosphere. The intention is to better understand the implications of things like hurricanes, floods, droughts, and so on. The impact of these on all communities affected and on business is profound. Thus, the Biological Station has joined forces with the reinsurance industry in Bermuda and world-wide, working on the prediction of natural phenomena and in bringing both science and business together to do so.

The work carried out in the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Study (BATS) is the longest continuous experiment of its kind. There has been a unique opportunity to monitor global changes by comparing what has happened in the past - water levels, ocean and atmospheric interchange, the "greenhouse" effect, to show how world environment is more affected by the atmosphere and the oceans than by anything else. Scientists are also involved in ongoing projects relating to the effect of oil spills in oceans, with emphasis on particularly fragile areas such as coral reefs and mangroves; and in the molecular field, with biologists looking at potential medicinal benefits from the oceans. For example, experiments on Bermuda sponges have led to the possibility that certain compounds can be utilized as drugs to treat illnesses such as cancer and arthritis.

In July 2004, the Bermuda Biological Station was awarded a Bermuda Government Environmental Grant Scheme to support a research project into the health and ecology of sea grass beds around Bermuda, the causes of their decline and the potential for remediation.

Bermuda Forts

Those in this Parish include some of the oldest and most historic, as well as most picturesque in Bermuda.

Bermuda International Airport

Bermuda National Parks

British Military Cemeteries

Bermuda Railway Trail

Bus routes

The Parish is served by the following routes that go to and from the city of Hamilton. Some routes are much better served than others in frequency and lateness. See the schedule available free from the bus terminal in Hamilton and note its times on Monday to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday & Holiday. Be sure you understand where buses do not go in the Parish.
# 1 route (Hamilton to St. George's, via South Shore, Castle Harbour, The Caves and Grotto Bay).
# 3 route (Hamilton to St. George's via Middle Road, The Caves and Grotto Bay).
# 6 route (St. George's to St. David's).
#10 route (Hamilton to St. George's via Palmetto Road, Aquarium and Bermuda Perfumery).
#11 route (Hamilton to St. George's via Black Watch Pass, Aquarium and Bermuda Perfumery).

Carter House

The society, which does not have Internet access, is a museum of Bermudian history.

Causeway and Longbird Bridge

The Causeway itself is not merely a bridge as often assumed by visitors. It is the narrow strip of land linking Hamilton Parish with St. George's Parish. It was first built in 1864 by the Bermuda Government, rebuilt in 1871 after the first hurricane and originally stretched from Blue Hole Hill to and through Long Bird Island. It is the only link between St. George's, the Airport and the rest of the Island, with the bridge itself suffering from rust and problems with its electrical system.

At one point it linked up with the old Swing Bridge to St. George’s. When construction began at the US military base Kindley in 1941, part of Long Bird Island was demolished, and the passageway between the islands filled with dredged material to create the airfield. It has been rebuilt several times again because of hurricane damage, most recently Hurricane Fabian's direct hit of September 5, 2003. It closed for emergency re-construction, re-opened with one lane both ways. One lane each way was restored in October 2003. It spans Castle Harbor as a series of flat and arch spans. Longbird Bridge is at the airport end of the causeway and is so-called because it was part of Longbird Island until 1942. Where the nearby airport and adjacent area is now was was once a line of islands, Jones', 2.5 acres; Little Round, Long Cay, Round and Sandy. Longbird Bridge is named mostly after Long Bird Island, once 62 acres, the biggest of these islands. This bridge, the smaller of two swing bridges in the area, is a two-span steel girder with an open grating traffic deck.

In its closed position, it lets traffic pass over it and is supported at the east and west abutments and at the pivot pier immediately under the control house. When the bridge is opened to allow the passage of boats, all road traffic stops on either side of the bridge and the east and west supports are withdrawn. In this position, the bridge becomes a balanced cantilever supported only on roller wheels on the pivot pier. It can then be rotated by hydraulic rams to its open position. In this condition, balance is provided by a concrete counterweight on the bobtail span and the bridge cannot carry traffic.

Bumping over the old barge bridge became a thing of the past in late 1952 when Kindley AFB's new Long Bird Bridge. built by the US Military, was officially opened. (Technically, at that time, it was part of what had been since 1941 the leased Kindley Air Force Base of the US Army Air Corps, later the USAF).

The Bermuda Government announced in July 2000 plans to replace the bridge with a fixed-span overpass giving clearance of between 30 and 40 feet to marine traffic passing below it but this has not been done. Instead, repairs in 2001 extended its life to 2007. The Engineers are not in favor of replacing the bridge with a new swing bridge because the more moving parts there are, the more likely it is that corrosion and breakages will occur, especially in an exposed location.

In 2002, the US Government, in lieu of all other Bermudian claims that the USA caused serious environmental damage at the former US Naval Air Station nearby and Naval Annex in Southampton Parish, gave the Bermuda Government US$11 million, equivalent to the replacement cost of Longbird Bridge.

Some re-construction in mid-2003 reinforced the flat spans, casting them as arches. Only one lane was open to traffic until completion in August 2003. The construction caused long, tiresome delays, made worse by timed traffic lights which mopeds and scooters use illegally by going in front, much to the annoyance of persons in cars, trucks and taxis.

It was damaged extensively with a death involved, during Hurricane Fabian of September 2003.

On Friday January 26, 2007, it was closed for four hours, nearly 500 people went without power and hundreds of schoolchildren and workers were sent home as hurricane force winds battered Bermuda. With gusting winds hitting 75 knots, flights from Bermuda International Airport and ferry services were also cancelled. Public Safety Minister David Burch shut the Causeway at 1.30 p.m. for safety reasons, with sustained winds at 45 knots. It remained shut until winds dropped at about 5.30 p.m., leading to scores of frustrated motorists in lengthy tailbacks. All Government schools were closed at lunchtime after power outages at five schools across the country, with a number of private schools following suit. In the afternoon, a Continental flight from Newark was delayed, while JetBlue and Delta’s Atlanta flights were cancelled because the closure of the Causeway meant people could not reach the airport. People called the Government to complain about the closure of the Causeway, but it was done for public safety. Government had set guidelines to shut it in strong winds in the light of Hurricane Fabian in 2003. Following Fabian, the Government took the stance that when wind speeds rose above 45 knots the Causeway would be closed to vehicular traffic.

In mid 2007, work began on replacement bridge being erected alongside the original. Traffic has been restricted to one-lane traffic for almost two months after it was deemed unsafe due to storm damage. The intention is for the replacement bridge to ease traffic, while a five-year programme of maintenance work is carried out by the Ministry of Works and Engineering.

Clearwater Beach and Park

Club Med Hotel

- abandoned - has been up for lease since 1989

A very big, shuttered-up building on the top of the hill near Fort St. Catherine Beach, with gorgeous sea and land views, among the best in all Bermuda. It is the dominant landmark in the area by air and sea. It has a troubled history. It began life as a leased Holiday Inn. It failed, the leasehold was sold, became a Loews Inn, failed again, then became a Club Med resort until 1989, when it again failed. The building reverted to landlord the Bermuda Government, owner of the land and property. Fort Victoria was leased with the property, and became the site of the hotel's swimming pool and tennis courts as it was lost forever to visitors and those who appreciate unique British military property.

Smaller picture, by author Keith A. Forbes, shows another view of the hotel and fort. The now-derelict site, instead of being without any human occupation, was, until April 2007 when they were finally ejected - the home of trespassers, more than 33 homeless folk who have took refuge in the formerly vacant staff dormitories of the once bustling hotel, despite the many "no trespassing" signs. They joined forces to form a ‘People’s Alliance’ in a bid to make the derelict building a better place to live. Many of the people are skilled and have jobs but are unable to to afford the Island’s high rents and cost of buying a home. They have been dubbed Bermuda’s ‘working poor’ – part of a growing segment of the population caught in the housing trap. They ranged in age from 14 to 56 and bonded together to pool skills and food under the People’s Alliance banner. They included skilled laborers, carpenters, beauticians and even some Government workers. They ran the Alliance to ensure each resident has access to food and that their most basic needs were met. Some visited grocery stores to see if they would give food that would otherwise be thrown away. Their efforts were successful and they had a relatively good supply of nonperishable food. They had power and furniture, some found there, others scrapped, plus TVs and more, inside the rooms. The property looked like it had been battered by a strong hurricane. All escaped the exorbitantly high rents and costs of housing elsewhere. They were aware that they would be forced to leave if the property is leased, but were happy that they had a roof over their heads and were not forced to live in Bermuda’s public parks and beaches. This is a side of life other Bermudians and tourists do not see, except when publicity results when the Police are called. In late 2007 the discovery of asbestos halted plans to demolish the former Club Med and prompted squatters to move back in after being evicted by the Government.

Despite its stunning setting for a top-class resort, the property has remained vacant for more than 18 years with several investors putting forward ambitious plans, backed by tens of millions of dollars, only to have them collapse.

In December 1993, the United Bermuda Party's Jim Woolridge became the first in a string of Tourism Ministers from both major parties to claim that good news on Club Med was just around the corner. He announced that he had met with a group of businessmen from Massachusetts who had viewed the site and were interested in building a new hotel. But before anything could move forward, the Government had to deal with the fact that Club Med still held the lease to the land on which the hotel stood. In 1995, the French resort company proposed reopening 100 of the hotel's 340 rooms and simultaneously slashed its asking price for the building from $32 million to $13.5 million. Its argument was that it would be easier to sell the business as a going concern. But the Government rejected the proposal, as Works & Engineering Minister Leonard Gibbons pressed ahead in taking Club Med to court to reclaim the property, arguing that the company was in violation of the terms of its lease. When the matter went to Supreme Court in August 1995, Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux reversed his decision on whether to send the matter to arbitration and legal proceedings began that were to continue, on and off, for more than two years.

In February 1996, Club Med approached Government with a proposal to reopen the hotel by May of the following year. The Government set aside its legal action and compromise agreements were reached on re-licensing requirements relating to fire safety, sewage treatments and room standards. Club Med decided reopening would not be possible until the spring of 1998, but in March 1997 proposed to reopen as a timeshare property.Government responded by re-launching its legal action to take back the lease. The result? Club Med gave up the lease in September 1997. In 1998 the Atlanta-based Camberley Hotel Company was in the frame as the next potential developer. Talks between the company and Government progressed well over the subsequent months and by July the company had come to a labour agreement with the Bermuda Industrial Union and had set early 2000 as a target opening date. A month before the November 1998 General Election, Camberley president Ian Lloyd-Jones said his company's $32-million revamp plan for the hotel would be put on hold until after the poll. The Progressive Labour Party won the election and David Allen replaced David Dodwell as Tourism Minister. Talks continued, but by May 1999 the Camberley deal was close to collapse due to finances, or the lack thereof. By late 2000, Mr. Allen sparked some optimism by announcing that Malaysian development company Aman Capital wanted to redevelop the site. But by December 2001, the plans had effectively collapsed. In September 2002, after a short battle with cancer, Mr. Allen died. Three more bids to redevelop the hotel site were considered by Government, but one of the competing groups got fed up with waiting for a decision by late 2002.

A year later the St. George's Renaissance Consortium, backed by Canada-based Quorum, led by Wanda Dorosz, got the nod for a limited-term exclusivity agreement. Costs were estimated at around $80 million and the group wanted to be in business by 2005. They claimed to have spent more than $2 million on the project that would have brought a Four Seasons hotel to Bermuda. The consortium's $220 million plan, unveiled in November 2003, included demolishing the old building and replacing it with a hotel of at least 90 bedrooms and a cottage complex of 90 condominiums, designed in a European style with public squares and fountains. An underground theatre, seating between 400 and 500 people, would be used for cultural events and the consortium had gathered support from several overseas cultural institutions which would have resulted in world-class theatre coming to the island. By March 2005, the plans remained on track, with a much-increased cost estimate of $210 million and the Four Seasons hotel chain set to manage the resort. However, by December 2005 the Renaissance group, with its $220 million worth of financing in place and primed to press ahead, was dealt a major blow when it appeared Government stopped talking to it. The next move was unveiled by Dr. Brown in January 2006 when he revealed that talks had started with US-based KJA Company and Jack Avedikian. Ten months later this agreement was terminated.

It is hoped that if and when the property is resurrected it will be bull-dozed and rebuilt as a five-star hotel for an as yet unnamed hotel operator who will agree to the property and land being only leased, not bought outright. This has been the main stumbling block to date. A testing 'signature' golf course is also on the cards to give the new hotel, if built, an extra hook for attracting visitors to the East End.

May 9, 2007. Construction work on the five-star St. Regis hotel at the former Club Med site is to begin this year, Premier Ewart Brown pledged at a public meeting. Dr. Brown said he wanted to reassure “pessimists” that ambitious plans to transform the derelict building would not go the same way as a string of similar proposals which have collapsed in the past few years. Speaking at the Progressive Labour Party meeting in Clearwater School, St. David’s, Dr. Brown told a crowd of about 50 people that the luxury resort could help rejuvenate St. George’s. “The pessimists among you will say: ‘So what, there have been others who said they were going to build.’ I appreciate and understand your pessimism, but let me tell you I made a commitment: in 2007, construction will begin on the new hotel in St. George’s. I can promise you it will be delivered. “Bermuda now has some buzz. Bermuda is popular again with the Wall Street companies, who invest hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s why that site is going to be developed.” He said work would begin as soon as Carl Bazarian, of Bazarian International, the investment banking firm behind the scheme, completes negotiations over a lease with the Ministry of Works and Engineering. "Carl Bazarian is a very serious and committed developer. I’m very confident that he will keep his word. We need to see that building leveled. We need to see it gone. That will the very first phase of the work done. I wanted to come here tonight and reassure you that nothing has got in the way. The brand that’s been mentioned is St. Regis. You don’t get a much more luxurious brand that St. Regis. Club Med is to St. Regis as a dwarf is to a giant. We are bringing something that can make a difference in the town. I have challenged the mayor and alderman to help make St. George’s alive again. It’s been too sleepy. Business doesn’t thrive in a town that sleeps.” The new St. Regis resort is expected to be completed in three years. It is likely to have up to 150 units, comprising one- two- or three-bedroom apartments and villas, and will be a maximum three storeys high.

Coney Island

A Bermuda National Park. Named after the coney fish (Cephalopholis fulva) one prominent around here. 14.5 acres in size and open to the public from daylight to sunset, free of charge. It is located off the southwest tip of St. George's Island, joined to Main Island, but accessible by road only via the North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish. It has an interesting, undeveloped park and beaches, also a noisy motor cycle track. Its northernmost tip is called North Point and was the western terminus of a railway bridge that once ran to Ferry Reach. The public beaches are in the Department of Environmental Protection but are frequently littered with bottles, plastics, wood and more.

Convict Bay

It takes its name from a concept borrowed by the British government of using obsolete warships as floating prisons, prison hulks, at New York City during the American Revolution. In 1799, the British government towed the hulk Somerset to this part of St. George's Harbour, hence the name. By 1824, two such hulks were located here while others were at the Royal Navy Dockyard in Sandys Parish. Today, it is a residential area for non-felons but the name has stuck.

Coot Pond

North shore, a little west of Fort St. Catherine. A small water hole. Named after the American Coot Fulica americana, a bird once abundant here. It was dark grey with large green legs. Breeding adults have red head shields.

Discovery Bay

Ferry Reach

Ferry Point Park

On September 5, 2003 Hurricane Fabian caused extensive damage. Number 54 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. On the same road going to the Bermuda Biological Station but a good mile further along. It is a wonderful coastal park area in a natural state. On the left is Ferry Reach itself, that narrow body of water linking St. George's Harbor to the open sea at Coney Island. On the right is the open Atlantic Ocean. The park has some interesting historic monuments, including the Martello Tower, one of many fortifications that once ringed the Town of St. George. The area is a very popular for local camping in the summer, dotted with tents, with permits. There is also a graveyard for members of the Second Battalion, 56th Regiment (West Essex) of the British Army. In 1853, nearly 230 of its officers and men died in Bermuda from yellow fever.

Fort St. Catherine

Beyond the reach of Bermuda's public transportation bus system, it's accessible by local mini bus or take a taxi, or a rented moped. Actually, the fort is the seventh and last built on the site. Even more armament was added later, to defy an enemy who never came. In its heyday, it was the ultimate fortress to deter enemies. In the 1950's, noted American actor Charlton Heston starred as Macbeth in a spectacular floodlit production of the Shakespearean play staged on the ramparts. Unhappily, he suffered from a chronic case of road rash after falling from a rented moped while sightseeing before one of his performances. But he didn't cancel - instead, his buttocks and thighs were creamed with a soothing lotion applied by a blushing local lady.

In the fort's Old Artillery Store, see the dioramas depicting Bermuda's earliest history. The Powder Magazine, now restored to 19th century war readiness, offers audio exhibits and an antique weapons collection. The Keep has an audio visual show on Bermuda's many other forts and their history, as well as records of the many British regiments that once garrisoned Bermuda. There is a small admittance fee to the fort. To date, in non British flags, only the flag of the State of Maine has been flown, for a specific photo opportunity well publicized in Maine. The Fort is also available for group tours, special events, receptions and corporate functions.

Fort St. Catherine Beach

Gates Fort

See Bermuda Forts. Also number 63 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. This small but historic fort is more of an observation post than a fort. It is a mile due south of Fort St. Catherine along the coastal road called the Cut Road, and the same distance east of the town of St. George. It was constructed between 1612 and 1615 and takes its name from Sir Thomas Gates, Governor elect of Jamestown, Virginia, from 1609. Because he was shipwrecked off Bermuda along with Admiral Sir George Somers and colonists from the flagship "Sea Venture," he governed Bermuda from 1609-1610 before he became the first Governor of Virginia in 1610. Its chief attractions today are its stunning views of open sea and its site at the edge of the "Town Cut," the tailor-made narrow channel leading from the open sea into St. George's Harbor. It offers a perfect vantage point and a photographic opportunity for observing at very close quarters large cruise ships carefully navigating the Town Cut to enter St. George's. It was badly attacked by vandals on October 2001.

Golf Courses

Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town. For reservations, telephone (441)-293-0330. It began when the British steamship company Furness Withy bought the area in the late 1920's as an exclusive golf course and club for its cruise ship passengers on the New York to Bermuda route. The club became known as the Mid Ocean. No one who is not already a member can buy property in the area. Membership is very costly. The golf course is regarded as one of the finest in the world. Note that only members and their guests can play on it.

St. George's Golf Club

Tucker's Point Golf Club

Great Bay

Islands in the Parish

Banjo	Also Bartram's or Mullet. 1.25 acres, Mullet Bay, off St. George's Island. It was named Bartrum's in honor of John Tavernier Bartrum, a grandson of the English naturalist John Tavernier. Born in Lincolnshire in 1811, Bartrum came here as a member of the British Army (37th Regiment of Foot) in 1832, purchased his discharge in 1837 and resided at Ferry Reach until his death in 1889. He became famous for his book The Cage Birds of Bermuda in 1879.
Bremen	Number 68 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. 0.25 acre, east of Smith's Island, St. George's Harbor.
Brangman's	Originally Moore's Island, or Southampton Island. 2 acres, between Castle (opposite it) and Nonsuch Islands, Castle Harbour. Part of the Castle Group. Historically important. Southampton fort is here, built in 1612.
Brook's	0.85 acre, north of St. David's Island, St. George's Harbor.
Burt's	North of St. David's Island, St. George's Harbor.
Castle	Number 73 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. Originally King's Island, 3.5 acres, Castle Harbor. One of the "Castle Group." It has the historically important King's Castle stone fortification, dating back to 1612, built by Governor Richard Moore, the oldest standing English fortification in the New World and oldest standing stone building in Bermuda. It contains the Captain's House, built in 1621, the oldest standing home of Bermuda stone and the oldest standing English house in the entire Americas. Archaeological excavations are almost continuous. Recently, a King George III half penny was found there, dated 1775, legal tender in Bermuda during the American Revolutionary War, and 15 pieces of rare Bermuda Hogge Money dating back to 1615, the largest collection of this ever found. The historic buildings are overlooked on the summit by Devonshire Redoubt, built in stone in 1621 to replace one destroyed by fire in 1619. It was from the King's Castle fort that the only attack ever recorded by the Spanish against Bermuda was repulsed in 1614. Two shots were fired from the fort at the two Spanish ships sighted just outside the channel into Castle Harbor. The planned invaders headed out to sea without knowing the fort had only one more cannonball left. The fort was improved over the centuries and even saw active duty in World War II. The ancient English forts on these Castle Islands are without parallel in North America, standing evidence of the beginning of the coastal defense system of the overseas British Empire.
Charles	Charles' (Old Castle), 3.5 acres, another in the "Castle Islands" group of Castle Harbour, with prime historical importance for its original fortification.
Coney	14.5 acres, open to the public from daylight to sunset, free of charge. It is located off the southwest tip of St. George's Island, joined to Main Island, but accessible by road only via the North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish. It has an interesting, undeveloped park. But it also has a noisy motor cycle track.
Cooper's	77.5 acres, off St. David's. Historically significant. In 1612 it was claimed by Christopher Carter in payment for his share of ambergris forfeited to the Bermuda Company. He spent years there digging in vain for what he thought was buried treasure. It was once occupied by a NASA space tracking station and has two lovely public beaches. They were once US Army, then US Air Force, then US Navy property until the base was closed in 1995.
Ferry	1.5 acres, south west of St. George's Island and north of Coney Island. It is named after the horse ferry that used to come here until the late 19th century. It was then the only connection between St. George's Island and Main Island. A bridge connects the island with Ferry Point behind it.
Governor's	Number 68 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. 1 acre, St. George's Harbor, near St. David's Island, between Peggy's Island and Paget Island. Its old ruined fort was once the dominant feature. It was named for Governor Moore who in 1612 to 1613 began the fort as a way to command the vulnerable but then strategically important channel nearby. By the time Moore's term ended, 11 guns were in the fort. One of the publicly inaccessible forts but historically important.
Grasbury's	0.75 acre, southeast of Annie's Bay on Cooper's Island, Castle Harbor.
Green	Continuation of Nonsuch, St. George's Harbor.
Hen	2.75 acres, north-west of Smith's, St. George's Harbor. Number 65 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves.
Higg's	5 acres, St. George's Harbor. Number 64 on the Bermuda National Parks & Reserves map.
Horseshoe	2.25 acres, St. George's Harbor. Also Number 64 on the Bermuda National Parks & Reserves map.
Idot	Near Nonsuch, St. George's Harbor.
Little Oswego	0.73 acre, east of Oswego (Great), off St. David's.
Little Rogue	Off Ferry Reach.
Little Scaur	Between Grazbury's and Long Rock, south of Annie's Bay, St. David's.
Long Rock	1 acre, northeast of Grazbury's and Little Scaur, Castle Harbor.
Nonsuch	Castle Harbor, west of Cooper's Island, south of St. David's, 14.5 acres. It has small, pristine, untouched beaches and a fresh-water marsh. Its trees are mostly Olivewood, Palm, Bermuda Cedar and casuarina. Its main occupants are the cahow bird (but no nests), butterflies, skinks, silk spiders and the longtail bird. Originally Nonesuch Island, it achieved fame when Dr. William Beebe and staff used it for their deep water diving experiments for a major organization in New York. Much later, it became a school for juvenile delinquents. Now it is a bird and wildlife sanctuary, the Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve. The Cahow project was begun here by Dr. David Wingate (he retired in 2000), to protect and preserve this indigenous Bermuda bird once thought extinct. The island is now a living museum, a re-creation of Bermuda's native flora and fauna. Limited escorted field trips, for special-interest groups only, began in 2000, from the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) for $75 per person. Telephone 297-1880. Credit card bookings and Thursday morning only. All proceeds support environmental research and education at BBSR. There is also a week-long Nonsuch Island Natural History Camp every year (usually in June) for local high school students, at the nature reserve. Students camp out under the stars, sleep on lilos or camp beds, bathe with solar showers or cold water from a bucket.
Ordnance	The only island in the old town, this one is 1.75 acres and man-made. There were once several islands here. The present island incorporates what was Ducking Stool, Frazer's and Gallows. One stored munitions for the British Army and Royal Navy. Another was where people convicted of capital crimes or witchcraft were hanged. It is now permanently connected to St. George's Island by a bridge so cunningly designed that it does not seem to be a bridge at all. It was a US Navy submarine base when the USA entered World War 2 two years after the British. Cruise ships berth here. Several of the most prominent attractions of the town are located here or nearby. Today, the island has a small park for choice views, a statue of Admiral Sir George Somers who founded the town in 1609, and one of the two cruise ship berths.
Oswego	Also known as Great, 2.5 acres, St. George's Harbor.
Paget	Number 66 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. In St. George's Harbor, this 36.25 acre island's principal feature is massive Fort Cunningham. First built in the early 1820's and historically important, it was altered in the 1870's to contain two iron fronts instead of masonry walls. Known originally as "Gibraltar shields," only in Bermuda were they made into continuous straight walls, one for five guns and one for two. Seven huge guns for the shields were found in 1991, two being of only six known examples to have survived anywhere of the famous British Army 38-ton, 12.5-inch caliber Rifled Muzzle Loader guns of the 1880's. Unfortunately, most tourists cannot visit because there is no regular scheduled boat service. The fort, in Government hands, has been allowed to deteriorate. In summer 2001, the Centre, a Bermuda Government-financed facility for youth, had its Overnight Camp on the island for local children 7 to 13 years old.
Peggy's	Off Smith's, St. George's Harbor. Number 65 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves.
Pudding	Small and barren. South of Stocks Harbor and west of St. David's. Its position saved it from destruction when the USA military bases were built from 1941. This was when it once again got the unofficial name of " Grog Island" - from the fact that a lot of drinking went on here, as it used to 300 years earlier.
Rogue	0.25 acre, off Ferry Reach.
Rushy	1.5 acres, south of Castle Point, Tucker's Town. A nature reserve. No landing without official permission.
St. David's	During World War Two, more than three quarters were taken over for the construction of the American military base. The now closed US Naval Air Station was located here for over 50 years. Once St. David's really was an island, 510 acres, originally one of the six principal Bermudas. It was connected in the 1930's to the mainland by the Severn Bridge, since dismantled. Today, it is connected to the mainland by a perimeter road skirting St. George's Harbor. St. David's Islanders have always been different to most other Bermudians. Some still have distinct characteristics of American Red Indian heritage. The St. David's Lighthouse has an interesting historical backdrop. Built in 1879 and periodically refurbished, it still serves as a beacon for mariners. It was constructed to stop St. David's Islanders from luring ships with other kinds of lights to come too close to the reefs and get their bottoms torn out for easy plundering. When the lighthouse defeated their illegal activities, they became fishermen and excellent pilots. Also well worth visits are the Great Head Battery and Park and, when open (usually on a Wednesday), Carter House, on the former US Naval Air Station, an excellent example of an historic Bermuda homestead saved from destruction when the US military arrived in 1941. It is a living museum of Bermudian history. Clearwater Beach and Park at Annie's Bay on Cooper's Island off St. David's is a 36 acre site with two public beaches closed to the public from 1941 to 1995 (during the 54 years Cooper's Island was a US Navy reserved area). It has nature trails and fine views of Nonsuch Island and Castle Harbor.
St. George's	Also known as Tortoise, and Tortus. 703 acres, Bermuda's first colonized island. Includes World Heritage Town of St. George. Now joined to Main by the Swing and Longbird Bridges and the Causeway. One of Bermuda's six principle islands. Historically significant.
Smith's	Number 67 on list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. 61 acres, in St. George's Harbor, St. George's Parish. Named for Sir Thomas Smith or Smythe, the first Governor of what later became the Somers Isles Company, an office he still held at the time of his death in 1625. He was an empire builder of immense energy and ability. The island is historically very significant, Bermuda's first settlement. It was here that Carter, Chard and Waters, who got the reputation of being the three "Kings of Bermuda" from 1610 to 1612, settled when they were the first accidental permanent colonists in Bermuda. They built cabins of palmetto, planted beans, watermelons, tobacco, maize, fished of the coast, hunted wild hogs, salted bacon and fish they caught and even made a fresh water catch. When the Plough arrived from England on July 11, 1612 with the first party of planned colonists, it went first to St. David's to discharge them then went two days later to an anchorage on the south shore of Smith's Island. Carter, Chard and Waters proudly displayed to Governor Richard Moore the varieties of garden produce they had grown. Moore was delighted because the Somers Isles Company in London had supplied him with 81 varieties of seed to try in Bermuda. Many of the first crops Virginia and the later American colonies had ever seen were planted on Smith's Island. It was the original home in Bermuda of the first planned settlers and they even made rock ovens for their food from the local limestone until they moved to St. George's Island and the Town of St. George in the summer and autumn of 1612. Twenty three acres on the western one third of the island are now a recreational area for Bermuda youth, owned jointly by the Bermuda Government and the Bermuda National Trust. It comes under the National Parks Act 1986. The Bermuda National Trust bought the acreage for $850,000 and the Bermuda Government paid the Trust $200,000 for a 23.5 percent share in the acreage. Thanks to local residents Mr. and Mrs. Robert Basist, the Trust was able to reforest certain areas it owns of the island with cedar trees.
Tobacco Rock	North of Achilles Bay, near St. Catherine's Point off St. George's Island. It preserves the memory of Bermuda's earliest crop in which at one time salaries and wages were paid. It was intended that tobacco be Bermuda's staple crop and laws were passed in England to protect it as such. But Bermuda soil and conditions were never suitable.
Whaler's	Near Smith's Island, St. George's Harbor.

Kindley Field Road

A Bermuda National Park. Named after Captain Field E. Kindley, US Army Air Force, after whom this road, the former US Kindley Air Force Base in Bermuda - see Former US military bases in Bermuda - and more landmarks are named. Number 53 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. This is to the east and north of the airport with marine views of Ferry Reach.

Kindley Community Tennis Courts

Southside. Phone 293-5791. Named after Captain Field E. Kindley, US Army Air Force, after whom this road, the former US Kindley Air Force Base in Bermuda - see Former US military bases in Bermuda - and more landmarks are named. At the former Officers' Club at the former Kindley AFB/USNAS military base, now civilianized. There are 4 asphalt courts, fees. Tennis attire is mandatory.

Lover's Lake

A Bermuda National Park. number 55 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. Just off the Railway Trail and facing the North Shore, this pond is very interesting.

Longbird Bridge

Mullet Bay

A Bermuda National Park. number 57 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves, is opposite and also has fine marine views of Mullet Bay.

Naval Tanks Hill

Above Tobacco Bay and its lovely ocean view park, it takes its name from old whitewashed naval water tanks cut into the hill. They supplied naval vessels from 1798 when the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom first established itself in Bermuda. They did so until about 1880, then the Royal Navy got its water from the Royal Naval Dockyard 20 miles away. Then these tanks supplied water to the British Army garrison overlooking the Town of St. George in the parish for decades. Now the tanks are owned by the Bermuda Government.

Restaurants in the town or Parish

Rocky Hill Park

On September 5, 2003 Hurricane Fabian caused considerable damage. With a small beach. A Bermuda National Park. With fine marine views of the North Shore overlooking Mullet Bay.

St. David's Island

St. George's North

One of two parliamentary constituencies representing the Parish. This one relates to the Town of St. George and its environs. Dame Jennifer Smith of the Progressive Labour Party beat the United Bermuda Party's Kenneth Bascome in the December 2007 General Election.

St. George's South

One of two parliamentary constituencies representing the Parish. This one begins at Abbot's Cliff Road in Hamilton Parish, going down North Shore Road and into Harrington Sound ending at Tuckers Town. It continues into St. David's until Chapel of Ease Road and all of Southside. In the December 2007 General Election Attorney General Philip Perinchief for PLP was defeated by UBP newcomer Donte Hunt.

St. George's Parish Council

Appointed under the Parish Councils Act 1971. See under "Parish Councils" in Bermuda Government Boards.

St. George's Military Cemetery

This Bermuda Government-owned and Bermuda National Trust maintained facility beyond the Old Town contains a large number of 160 year old graves of officers and men of various regiments and units of the British Army who died in Bermuda. It is no longer active as a burial ground but is of great historic and military significance to Bermuda.

Stokes Point Nature Reserve

Just off Mullet Bay Road is this 2.3 acre facility. It was begun by John Tavernier Bartrum, a grandson of the English naturalist John Tavernier. Born in Lincolnshire in 1811, Bartrum came here as a member of the British Army (37th Regiment of Foot) in 1832, purchased his discharge in 1837 and resided here at Ferry Reach until his death in 1889. He became famous for his book The Cage Birds of Bermuda in 1879. There's a substantial tidal pond - Bartrum's Pond - the permanent or transient home of many resident and migratory birds. It is owned and maintained by the Bermuda Audubon Society. There's no admission and the facility is open from sunrise to sunset.

Swing Bridge

Enter and exit St. George's Island via this bridge, north of Kindley Field Road. It is the bigger of the two swing bridges, about a mile from Longbird Bridge to the west. It will be partly closed - completely so for marine traffic - for construction, resurfacing and repairs on November 1, 2002 and reopened March 15, 2003. During that time, traffic lights regulated regulate the one-way only flow of road traffic over the bridge.

Tobacco Bay

Jim & Edna Rhilinger of Plymouth, MA enjoying Tobacco Bay. Photo by the author.

A Bermuda National Park. A little further west from Achilles Bay, off Coots Pond Road. A favorite public beach, with some unique historic links.

In 1775, in Philadelphia, the American Continental Congress announced a trade embargo against all colonies remaining loyal to the Crown. When Bermuda tried to bargain with salt, the American colonies refused and requested gunpowder instead. George Washington himself wrote to Bermuda, saying the cause was just for him to obtain the supply. A copy of his letter is still available in Bermuda for interested locals and visitors. A group of Bermudians became sympathetic to the Revolution and on August 14, 1775 stole the island's supply of gunpowder from the British Army's Powder Magazine in St. George's, rolled it down the hill to Tobacco Bay and shipped it to the rebels in America. The embargo was then lifted. The infamous "Gunpowder Plot" created a sensation in Bermuda where those loyal to the Crown were outraged at the treason of certain Bermudians. However, the friendliness shown by the USA towards Bermudians did not last forever. British troops were brought in to prevent another such plot.

In 1918, watched by members of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, German prisoners-of-war interned in Bermuda since 1914 left Tobacco Bay in two large lifeboats for a ship moored at Five Fathom Hole which took them to Germany.

It is especially popular today with cruise ship visitors. It has some gorgeous views and incredible underwater coral reefs and platforms nearby, which explains its popularity with those who snorkel. There is a moongate facing the beach, also a lovely scenic and walking area behind the bay, which many visitors miss. A local entrepreneur, John Kirkpatrick (Kirk) Bartrum, with his wife Sharon, has had since 1999 the Bermuda Government concession to run the restaurant (with a full commercial kitchen), full bar with a wooden deck and gift shop. He has also installed a ramp for the disabled. On Friday evening from May 24 to Labour Day, Happy Hour is held from 6-10 pm.

Town of St. George

Tucker's Town

Neither a town nor a village. It is situated between the harbors of St. George's and Castle Harbor. It was called Tucker's Town because it was intended by a Bermuda Governor by the name of Tucker to be a port to rival St. George's. But it was far more exposed to the weather and failed to attract many early settlers. So it was never built. In 1781, 40 acres of cotton were found growing here, which led directly to the British government encouraging the planting of cotton as a commercial crop in 1788. Before the 1920's, it was a quiet, undeveloped and unfashionable area. Residents then, mostly black, sold their land for the creation of the Castle Harbor Hotel and Golf Course, Mid Ocean Club and Golf Course in Tucker's Town for the affluent, while they were relocated elsewhere, quite generously by the standards of the day. Today, much of the area is the most exclusive and expensive part of Bermuda, so exclusive that casual access is denied to people who do not live in the area, and visitors who do not stay at the Mid Ocean Club. They can go only as far as the Tucker's Town public wharf.
It is a private paradise for the rich and famous, the area most favored by American, Canadian and European millionaires. They include the Prime Minister of Italy until earlier in 2006 and current (since 2002) Mayor of New York City. Some wealthy residents so insist on their privacy - like Ross Perot and his son - worth at least US$ 3.7 billion - that they don't want strangers to go anywhere near them. The Bermuda Government allows them to deny others the right to see this beautiful part of Bermuda. They own lavish side by side Bermuda homes here in Tucker's Town. One owned by Ross Perot is Caliban, which sits on its own 2.86 acres overlooking both Waller's Bay and Surf Bays. Resplendent homes, all worth over $2 million, are the norm, not the exception, in this loveliest part of southern St. George's Parish. It includes the northern and southern side of the South Road west of the junction with Paynter's Road embracing the easternmost reaches of the Mid Ocean Golf Course and exclusive South Shore with its homes bordering the golf course.
It slices through the Mid Ocean Golf Course, to the Tucker's Town Public Wharf in one direction and the Mid Ocean Club in another. If you're not bicycling or on a moped or on a taxi tour, take the #1 bus, from St. George's or Hamilton, to the Mid Ocean Club. It is a beautiful ride. Walk to the Tucker's Town Public Wharf, about a half mile away. Begin your 'tour' here, with a stunning view of Castle Harbor. From here, it's an easy swim diagonally right to the lovely Tucker's Town beach, open to the public via the sea up to the high water mark. En route, you'll see a mysterious canal on the right, quite deep at high tide and sometimes teeming with big fish. If you're truly adventurous and a good swimmer, or can access a rubber dinghy, motorboat or sailboat, make your way directly or in stages to Castle Island. Just offshore and west of the island is one of the most outstandingly beautiful places in Bermuda for a deep water swim, or a sail, or a picnic from a boat, or all three, in Castle Harbor.

Natural Arches Beach is south of and below the Mid Ocean Club clubhouse. Off South Road. Bermuda's most famous beach. See South Shore Park beaches. On September 5, 2003 Hurricane Fabian destroyed the National Arches on this beach. Long before Tucker's Town - and this beach - became fashionable, expensive and not accessible to the average visitor or tourist, it drew many visitors, as a favorite place for an all day outing. Locals referred to it as the "ninth wonder of the world." It was an arrangement of caves and rock exquisitely rendered by Mother Nature. Two caves starting on separate sides of the headland developed backwards until they united. Then the sea broke down and washed out the intervening wall, leaving a tunnel from side to side. Parts of the wall were stacks, needles or rock pillars, standing as isolated columns of stone.

- business center	- business facilities	- Ship view	- dining
- disabled access	- fitness	- golf course	- meeting room
- pool	- public buses	- public ferries	- shopping
- walking area