Grand Bahama

P.J.H.Barratt

Published by David & Charles. hardcover with dustjacket, illustrated

GRAND BAHAMA
This is the first comprehensive book about a strategically placed island which is unique in having only very recently achieved prominence after its sparse population had enjoyed a quiet, untrammelled existence for hundreds of years.

Grand Bahama is the most northerly of the chain of islands that almost form a land bridge between Florida and Venezuela. It is already the second most important island of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. At the nearest point ,it is less than sixty miles from Florida. Aboriginal Indians occupied the island until its discovery by the Spaniards in 1512 when it was depopulated, to be resettled only after 300 years. The tourist potential was first exploited as recently as 1948. Although development was initially slow, between 1961 and 1969 the volume of visitors grew from 40,000 to half a million and tourism is now one of the mainstays of the economy.

Today, Grand Bahama is one of the most magnificent playgrounds of the world. Although low-lying (the highest point is only 60 feet above sea level), large areas have been cultivated and reclaimed on an ambitious scale and the present facilities for golf, sailing and swimming are exceptional by any standards.

This development has been sensational. In the once barren, pine-covered land the new city of Freeport has been built (which has land valued at up to $80,000 an acre). Freeport itself is the most important industrial city in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, with the added interest of being the only new town in the region financed by private enterprise—a social and economic experiment of great significance that has raised many questions in the process, such as the importance of private sector investment.

.......................................
............................................