The half inch thick telephone directory reflects this heritage, with long listings under the names Astwood, Butterfield, Forbes, Lightbourne, Stubbs, and Williams. The majority of the Turks and Caicos Islanders are black descendants from the early Bermudan, Loyalist and slave settlers and salt-rakers dating back 300 years. Then in 1984 Club Med opened their resort on Providenciales and the Turks and Caicos Islands started to boom. It was here he planned a Walden Pond-like resort, however, after his death it became the exclusive Meridian Club resort. Meanwhile, Count Ferdinand Czernin, son of the last prime minister of the Austro-Hungarian empire, scouted a tiny dot on the map called Pine Cay. At about the same time, the Islands were ‘discovered’ by seven millionaires (including Teddy Roosevelt III and a couple of the DuPonts), who leased land from the British government and built a small airstrip for their private planes and a deep-water anchorage for their yachts. The Islands’ history over the past five decades has been quiet, though there was much excitement when astronaut John Glenn landed down just off Grand Turk in 1962. In 1973 the Turks and Caicos Islands became a separate Crown Colony of Great Britain. In 1872 the Islands were annexed to Jamaica and remained tied to Jamaica until 1962, when they were again linked to the Bahamas. It became a formal part of the Bahamas in 1799, but in 1848, following a petition by the Turks and Caicos Islands’ residents, it became self-governing under the guidance of the Governor of Jamaica. The archipelago’s political fortunes continued to fluctuate. Many left their slaves behind, and eventually they too became salt-rakers. By 1820, the cotton crop had failed, and the majority of planters had moved on. The loyalists brought their slaves however, the plantation era was short-lived. The Islands remained virtually uninhabited until 1678, when a group of Berm colonial loyalists established cotton plantations. Over the next few centuries ownership of the Islands bounced between the French, Spanish and British, ending finally with Great Britain.ĭespite the colonial struggle for power, the Islands’ development slowed down as they were not on the main sailing routes, possessed no gold or decent anchorages and lacked sufficient rain to grow sugar. The arrival of Europeans spelled the end for the Taínos, who had either been forced into slavery or had succumbed to European-borne diseases by the mid-16th century. Some argue for Grand Turk, where a monument casts the claim in stone. Locals claim that the Islands were the first landfall of Columbus in 1492. The Turks and Caicos Islands is a country rich in history, it consist of eight major islands and numerous uninhabited cays located 575 miles south of Miami. History BRIEF HISTORY OF TURK AND CAICOS ISLANDS
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