Kingstown

About Kingstown

Kingstown is the capital and largest city of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The city, located on the main island of Saint Vincent, has the main port and the biggest commercial center of the islands. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre and a port of entry for tourists. The city lies within the parish of Saint George in the south-west corner of Saint Vincent.

The modern capital, Kingstown, was founded by French settlers shortly after 1722, although Saint Vincent was under British rule for 196 years before its independence.

The botanical garden, conceived in 1765, is one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. William Bligh, made famous from the Mutiny on the Bounty, brought seed of the breadfruit tree here for planting, c. 1793.

During the Second Carib War the fort at Dorsetshire Hill, just outside the city, was taken by rebels on 12 March 1795.

In 1841, three militia men fired their guns into the air to celebrate the end of their duty. They were arrested for riotous behaviour, but a crowd of people protested their arrest. A riot involving 200 to 300 people broke...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.