History
The Amerindians called the area Anaparima, which has been translated as either "single hill" or "without water". A single hill, San Fernando Hill, rises from the centre of the city. A town named San Fernando de Naparima was established by Spanish Governor Don José Maria Chacón in 1784, in honour of the heir to Spanish crown. With time, the "de Naparima" was dropped.
Following the 1783 Cedula of Population, many sugar plantations were established in the Naparima Plains surrounding San Fernando. The town grew as this part of the country came to dominate sugar production. This growth continued throughout the nineteenth century as consolidation in the sugar industry led to the construction of what was then the largest sugar refinery in the world, the Usine, Ste. Madeline factory a few miles east of the town. The development of cacao cultivation and the petroleum industry helped San Fernando grow since the town served as the gateway to these areas.
The growth of the town placed severe strains on the supply of water, especially during the dry season. Complaints by the burgesses of the town resulted in numerous reports by geologists and hydrologists throughout the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but the problem was not solved until the Navet Dam was constructed in the 1930s.
The nearby oil refinery at Pointe-à-Pierre played an important role in San Fernando's development between World War II and the 1980s. The refinery was constructed by Trinidad Leaseholds Limited during World War II, and constituted one of the largest contributions to the war effort by a private company. The "oil boom" of the 1970s and '80s led to the growth of the suburbs of San Fernando, especially Marabella (to the north) and Gasparillo (to the east) of the Pointe-à-Pierre refinery. In 1991 the boundaries of the city were extended, bringing the refinery (the largest in the Caribbean) immediately adjacent to the City's northern boundary.
The extended City now includes the suburbs of Marabella, Bel Air, Gulf View and Cocoyea.
It is unfortunate that, due to extremely quick and often reckless development, San Fernando has lost much of its history; most of its old and interesting buildings have been demolished, and perhaps the only section of the city that reminds one of its past is in the vicinity of the San Fernando Wharf and Harris Promenade.
Read more about this topic: San Fernando, Trinidad And Tobago
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