before 1899
Daily Gleaner, October 16, 1882:
Fishing is good at Rockfort. A sporting medico of this city visited that spot on Friday, and after using up half-a-pound of shrimps bait, succeeded, by hard struggling, in landing a fish weighing nearly half an ounce.
(on a personal note - I am not a fisherman, but I believe I did catch a 'mud-fish' at Rockfort long ago!)
I am trying to get some idea of the Rockfort area in the later 19th century, but so far I only have bits and pieces of information, so for now that is all I can give you. There was, of course, the fort itself, but the story of that will have to stay for another time.
Fishing is good at Rockfort. A sporting medico of this city visited that spot on Friday, and after using up half-a-pound of shrimps bait, succeeded, by hard struggling, in landing a fish weighing nearly half an ounce.
(on a personal note - I am not a fisherman, but I believe I did catch a 'mud-fish' at Rockfort long ago!)
I am trying to get some idea of the Rockfort area in the later 19th century, but so far I only have bits and pieces of information, so for now that is all I can give you. There was, of course, the fort itself, but the story of that will have to stay for another time.
Hopes for Rock Fort in 1883
Daily Gleaner, February 6, 1883
Extract from an editorial:
'Speaking
of the Rock Fort road leads us to
a few words as to Rock Fort itself.
Jamaicans are continually complaining that they have no-where to go to, while
here is
a place within an easy distance of the
city, which might, with a little outlay,
be made a fashionable resort for pleasure
seekers. The Baths are unexcelled; the
view
along the way is pretty, and with a
few of those necessary adjuncts to the
personal comfort of the traveller, the
place, in the hands of an enterprising man
might be made to pay a handsome return on investment.'
The Rockfort site was cleaned up in 1935:
archway approached from the East the fortifications
This is a picture of Rockfort showing the Fort on
the right and the road to the east of the island
passing through an archway on the left. In the
mid-1940s a roadway to by-pass the arch was
constructed, presumably on dumped-up land,
between the Fort and the sea.
the right and the road to the east of the island
passing through an archway on the left. In the
mid-1940s a roadway to by-pass the arch was
constructed, presumably on dumped-up land,
between the Fort and the sea.
 Daily Gleaner, September 27, 1869 | ___________________________________________________  _____________________________________________ Adverts for property sales often have useful snippets of information. This advert lists properties belonging to the late Edward Vickars, the first Black member of the House of Assembly, who had campaigned in the 1849s using the slogan 'Vote for Vickars, the Black man'. He died in 1867. The 1873 advert below refers to the 'Merry Inn' suggesting that Rockfort had a 'hospitality' character. The Toll House on the Hope Road was at Matilda's Corner.  Daily Gleaner, May 29, 1876 The 'Merry Inn' again!  |
Another aspect of activities at Rockfort was the use of land in the area as a quarantine ground for livestock being imported into the island. This item from the Gleaner in 1894 indicates the problems caused by this arrangement, which continued on, it seems, into the early 1900s:
 | Daily Gleaner, September 12, 1896 Other plans for the Rock Fort road. This attempt to encourage Kingstonians to purchase lots on the so-called Windward Cliffs, on the property known as Bellevue, clearly had no success, and the whole property was being offered for sale in the early 1920s. |
