History

Rum Cay’s history is rich with swashbuckling tales, of pirates, treasure and discovery. Historians write that Christopher Columbus made his second stop in the New World at Rum Cay, giving it the name Santa Maria de la Concepcion. The modern name, Rum Cay, is said to be in memory of a wreck destroyed with a cargo of rum which foundered off the coral reefs which surround the Island's shore.

When Columbus reached the Bahamas they were inhabited by indigenous tribes known as the Arawaks and the Lucayans. The Spanish described them as a peaceful people. Columbus noted in his captains log “they brought us balls of cotton thread and parrots and darts and other little things which it would be tedious to list, and exchanged everything for whatever we offered them...I kept my eyes open and tried to find out if there was any gold, and I saw that some of them had a little piece hanging from a hole in their nose." In the north part of the island there is a cave, which still to this day has Lucayan drawings and carvings. The original Lucayan name for Rum Cay was “Mamana”. The indigenous people were drawn to the island for its fertile soil which they enriched with bat guano found within the island’s caves. Farmers are still discovering various artifacts on Rum Cay from the Arawak period.

In the 17th and 18th century pirates periodically called the island home and as island lore has it was once the home of buried treasure which for years had pilfered ships returning to and coming from Europe. The British Empire eventually deployed its naval forces to the Caribbean to rid the region of the “bloodthirsty barbarians and to restore order to the empire.” For years Rum Cay was settled and inhabited by British subjects who were provided land by the crown for their loyalty to the Empire.

Once settled by “Loyalist” planters during the 18th century, Rum Cay became famous for salt and pineapples. The mid to late 1800’s brought prosperity to Rum Cay. The population grew to over 5,000 citizens, founding a number of settlements throughout the island. The island people primarily worked the salt claims, shipping cargos of salt to far away, places like England and Nova Scotia. Pineapple, salt and sisal have all been important industries. Ruins dating back hundreds of years portraying Rum Cay’s colorful past still exist today and can be seen all over the island.

In 1861 the HMS Conqueror, which served in the Crimean War, sank off the coast of Rum Cay in 30 feet of water where it still sits today serving as one of the most spectacular wreck dives in the Caribbean. Historians note, “She was a 101-gun battleship, capable of throwing a prodigious weight of metal from a broadside, still very much a three-decker with the masts and full rig of a ship of the eighteenth century, but with the incongruous addition of a smokestack amidships and a vast, primitive, coal-burning engine driving one great screw.” Still virtually on her maiden voyage, she was lost on Sumner Point Reef, Rum Cay, on December 13, 1861. Her crew of 1,400 all survived.

In the early 1900s the numerous settlements were constructed to service the salt and pineapple industries on the island. On the north coast, Port Boyd, with it's church and cemetery was primarily a farming community. West, on the hills facing north, is Gin Hill, (named for the working cotton gin). Several prominent ruins are still visible from the ground and air are located on the islands west and north end. Carmichael, on the west end, was known for the pineapple plantations. Port Nelson, the island’s capital located on the south coast, and the virtual wilderness of the remainder of the island provides excellent opportunities for nature exploration. In 1973 The Bahamas became a fully independent nation from the United Kingdom but has retained membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. For the last 200 plus years The Bahamas and Rum Cay have provided a tremendously stable government for its residents and guests and have become an international investment haven as well as a Mecca of tourism for those wishing to discover paradise. Rum Cay is regarded by many as the most beautiful Bahamian island.