Brown's Town is one of the principal towns in

St. Ann Parish Saint Ann () is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called "the Garden Parish of Jamaica" on ...

, Jamaica.Brown's Town
In 1991, its population was 6,762.

The town is a market and road center in an agricultural region.

Geography

Brown's Town is located in northwest St Ann in the

Dry Harbour Mountains The Dry Harbour Mountains are a range of mountains in north central Jamaica. More accurately described as a plateau than a true mountain range, they form the eastern boundary of the Cockpit Country. This is also the mountain that people used to ...

.Brown's Town
The town is about 12.87 km (8 mi) from the island's north coast. The

ugli fruit The Jamaican tangelo, also known by proprietary names ugli fruit (pronounced "ugly"), and uniq fruit (pronounced "unique"),Implied by See also is a citrus fruit that arose on the island of Jamaica through the natural hybridization of a tangerin ...

was first discovered in 1914 growing wild near the town. One notable region is called Tobolski, which was once the site of

bauxite mining Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

History

The town was founded by Hamilton Brown (died 1843) who is buried in the local Anglican church. He owned much of the land in the area including Minard Estate. Surrounding estates were Huntley, New Hope, Orange Valley, Belleair, and Retreat. Brown's Town became significant as a market centre in the mid-19th century following the abolition of slavery. Several

free villages Free Village is the term used for Caribbean settlements, particularly in Jamaica, founded in the 1830s and 1840s with land for freedmen with independence of the control of plantation owners and other major estates. The concept was initiated by Eng ...

had been established around the town including Aberdeen, Buxton, Egypt, Goshen, Liberty Valley, Sturge Town, and Trysee. The market provided an outlet for the villagers' produce, which attracted buyers from other areas of the island. The influx of customers to the Friday and Saturday markets led to expansive commercial development. The Grand Market held on Christmas Eve was particularly well-supported. Missing notable historical content 1660_1818 Dr James Johnston who had been born in Scotland in 1851 arrived in Jamaica in 1874. He started his Jamaican Evangelical Mission in 1876. Johnston created nine churches but the base of his medical mission and his religious assemblies were in Brown's Town. Johnston became the political representative for St Ann's Parish before he left to explore Africa. In the 1890s he took a team of Afro-Caribbean Jamaicans to England where they were equipped themselves to complete a 20-month journey of 4,500 miles through south central Africa. Their journey was photographed and described by a book published in 1893. Many of the photographs became postcards which have since become collectors' items.

Education, health, and recreation

Brown's Town is considered the educational capital of St. Ann. Brown's Town Community College, located in the town, offers pre-tertiary and tertiary courses from the

University of Technology, Jamaica The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Ja.), formerly the College of Arts, Science and Technology, is a public university in Jamaica. History The university was founded as the Jamaica Institute of Technology in 1958. The following y ...

and the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

. It was formerly the site of the Huntley Hotel, followed by the Servite Convent of the Assumption which operated a preparatory school and a high school for girls. There are three secondary schools in Brown's Town: Brown's Town High School, St. Hilda's Diocesan High School for Girls, and York Castle High School. It also features St. Christopher School for the Deaf, the only institution for the hearing impaired outside of Kingston. In Brown's Town, there is a health centre and a public health service, as well as private medical services. The St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital and the Alexandria Hospital also serve the town. Popular sports in Brown's Town include football, cricket, netball, track and field, cycling, and lawn tennis, many events being held at Addison Park.

Notable people

* D.K. Duncan, dental surgeon and former government minister *

Gloria Escoffery Gloria Escoffery OD (22 December 1923 – 24 April 2002) was a Jamaican painter, poet and art critic that contributed to post-colonial arts and culture during the mid-to-late 20th century. Biography Born in Gayle, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, ...

, painter, poet and art critic active in the 1940s and 1950s. * Donald J. Harris, economist and father of

U.S. Vice President The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. Th ...

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

References

External links

Aerial view
{{Authority control Year of establishment missing Populated places in Saint Ann Parish