Pedro St. James is a place I visited before, but had not blogged about. So here it is! Pedro St. James or Pedro Castle as it is also called, is the birthplace of the Cayman Islands democracy. Pedro St. James is in the district to Savannah, east of George Town. Here is the sign when we arrive onsite.
As you may have noted from the sign, Pedro St.James is a National Historic Site. It is know as the birthplace of democracy. It took place a good while ago, in 1831. Before that, management was via Jamaica. Also, in 1835 slavery was abolished at this same location.
Here is a picture of this historic building. Only the stone part is original. The stone in in fact a combination of ironshore, coral and Caymanite (see my previous post about Caymanite).
On the second floor we have this room. It is where it was agreed that the Cayman Islands would become it’s own democracy. Note, almost all furniture is made of mahogany. The Cayman Islands used to be full of mahogany trees. Many were cut down. They are now protected and a person who cuts down a mahogany tree can face a very steep fine or even imprisonment. When Pedro was restored by the government in the 90’s, the mahogany needed to be imported due to the protected status of the tree here in Cayman.
The visit of Pedro St.James includes a guided tour. Very worth while. Here we are being explained that the national tree, the Silver Thatch, is used to make extremely solid rope (the leafs)
Onsite there are many, many chickens. I saw them being fed by one of the staff members, so no surprise.
This donkey is also a resident. I found him to be very friendly and happy to have someone pet him. I was told by the staff member that takes care of him that he came from the USA 30 years ago and is now 35 years old. Who knew that donkeys live so long!
From this 1911 picture, we can see all that remains of Pedro ; the stone part. All the rest is gone. Note the next picture; the dual staircase is easily recognizable.
Today’s view, but partially hidden by trees.
I very much enjoyed my visit to Pedro St. James. It was a gorgeous day and there was a nice breeze due to the proximity of the ocean. I also found the tour to be very informative and interesting.
Their Website: http://pedrostjames.ky/