Falmouth, Jamaica

Falmouth is a town and the administrative center of the parish of Trelawny in Jamaica. It is located on the north coast of Jamaica, 18 miles east of Montego Bay.

Small yet very beautiful, Falmouth is known above all for its architecture-many houses from the late 18th to the early 19th centuries have been preserved, built in Jamaican Georgian style.

Founded in 1769, Falmouth prospered for forty years as a center of commerce and as a port during the time when Jamaica was the world’s leading producer of sugar. The town was named after Falmouth, a port city in Cornwall (Great Britain), the birthplace of Sir William Trelawny-governor of Jamaica, who played an important role in its development. From the very beginning, the town was carefully planned, with wide streets laid out in a consistent grid, with ample water supplies and public buildings. Even a water supply system was built earlier than in New York.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Falmouth was one of the busiest ports in Jamaica. It was a prosperous town in a prosperous parish. In the parish, almost one hundred plantations actively produced sugar and rum for export to the United Kingdom.

Falmouth declined in the second half of the 19th century, when slavery was abolished, and larger ships began to be used to transport cargo, requiring greater depth. The town was unable to survive this double blow and quickly lost all of its wealth.

Over the past few years, major cruise companies and the government of Jamaica have been negotiating about establishing a high-class cruise port in Falmouth. And in 2011 the port finally opened! Now magnificent cruise liners stop here, and the town’s infrastructure is designed for visiting tourists. Here there is a huge concentration of historical architectural sights; the port city offers its guests a wide choice of entertainment both on water and on land.

Jamaica is the third largest island in the group of the Greater Antilles. This island nation is part of the British Commonwealth in the West Indies. To the northwest it borders Cuba’s territorial waters; to the east with Haiti’s territorial waters; to the south with Colombia’s territorial waters.

Jamaica is located in a tropical climate zone with the dominance of northeasterly trade winds. The temperature changes only slightly throughout the year: the January averages are 24–25 °C, and July averages 26–27 °C.

Rainfall is seasonal and is especially intense in May and October, although in the summer months there are also thunderstorms with heavy downpours. The rainy season lasts from May to October, and in the winter months (from December to March) cold northern winds from the North American continent reach the island.

Jamaica is located in the Atlantic hurricane belt, which causes significant damage to the population and the economy.