The Parish of St. Thomas Canon at Morant Bay, capital town of
St. Thomas Area: 743 Km² Name Origin: One of the oldest
parishes, St. Thomas was established in 1662 and named for
Thomas, Lord Windsor, then the governor of Jamaica. St. Thomas
is the easternmost parish of Jamaica. It borders Portland in the
north and St. Andrew in the east. The parish is extremely
mountainous, with both the Blue, Port Royal, and John Crow
Mountains Ranges within its borders. Three main rivers—the
Yallahs, Morant, and Plantain Garden—flow down through plains
used to cultivate sugarcane and bananas. In addition to sugar
and bananas, St. Thomas has an active dairy industry based at
Serge Island. The parish also exports high grade gypsum, marble,
and aggregate out of the port at Kingston. There is a sulfurous
natural spring at Bath in the mountains of the parish. Morant
Bay, the capital of St. Thomas, was the site of the largest
civil unrest in Jamaican history. The Morant Bay Rebillion of
1865, saw local workers rebel against cruel