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| 2431 Grand Turk - Barrelling salt for export |
The Turks Islands were not fully colonised until 1681, when salt collectors from Bermuda built the first permanent settlement on Grand Turk Island. They were drawn by the shallow waters around the islands that made salt mining a much easier process than in Bermuda. Since then, the salt industry sustained the Turks and Caicos Islands until in the 1960s. During the 250 years, the infrastructure and methods were gradually improved.
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| 2432 Turks Islands - Sponges and Crowl |
At the height of production in the early 1900s, about 92 hectares of salina was being utilized on Grand Turk. The average annual export of salt during the period from 1888 to 1907 was 1,630,314 bushels, of which 77,6% went to the United States, and 16,1% to Canada. In 1916 the export of salt was valued at about 100,000 USD, forming nearly three quarters of the total exports. In those times were also exported, in much smaller quantities, sponges, that grew in the shallow waters
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| 2433 Turks Islands - Cocoanuts and Guinea Corn |
In the 18th century, huge numbers of trees were felled by the Bermudians to discourage rainfall that would adversely affect the salt mining operation. This deforestation has yet to be repaired. In essence, the modern landscape is the product of human activities going back thousands of years. Among the plants introduced on the islands is Guinea grass, introduced from Africa as cattle fodder. Anyway, on early20th century, Grand Turk was one of the bleakest and barrenest islands imaginable.
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| 2434 Grand Turk - Front Street in Cockburn Town in 1900s |
Before the WWI, TCI had 5,615 inhabitants. Almost 1,700 of them lived in Grand Turk, of whom not less than 1,400 were of African descendents. The only settlement on Grand Turk was Cockburn Town, situated on the western coast and containing practically the entire population. There was no harbor, and visiting vessels were obliged to anchor in an open roadstead. As any low-lying tropical coastal settlement, the Cockburn Town was often devastated by hurricanes.
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| 2435 Grand Turk - Saint Thomas's Anglican Church |
The majority of the population of the Turks and Caicos Islands were and are Christian of different confessions. The Grand Turk's oldest church is Saint Thomas's Anglican Church, located on the edge of Town Salina in Cockburn Town, and dedicated in 1823. Built by Bermudan settlers, it was considered too far to walk to the centre of the island and Saint Mary's Anglican Church was built in 1899 on Front Street, known also as Duke Street.
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