Eleuthera

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Eleuthera

See also: Eleutherae
Eleutherae

Eleutherae is a city in the northern part of Attica, bordering the territory of Boeotia. One of the best preserved fortresses of the Ancient Greece stands now on the spot of Ancient Eleutherae with walls of very fine masonry that average 2.6m thick....

Eleuthera is an island in the Bahamas, lying 50 miles (80 km) east of Nassau

Nassau, Bahamas

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Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau is the Capital , largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 260,000 , nearly 80 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas ....
. It is very long and thin—110 miles (180 km) long and in places little more than a mile wide. According to the 2000 Census, the population of Eleuthera is approximately 8,000. The name "Eleuthera" is derived from the feminine form of the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
word e?e??e??? (eleutheros), "free".

The topography of the island varies from wide rolling pink sand beaches to large outcrops of ancient coral reefs. The eastern side of the island faces the Atlantic Ocean while the western side faces the Great Bahama Bank, one of the two Bahama Banks

Bahama Banks

The Bahama Banks are the submerged carbonate platforms that make up much of the Bahamas Archipelago. The term is usually applied in referring to either the Great Bahama Bank around Andros Island, or the Little Bahama Bank of Grand Bahama Island and Great Abaco, which are the largest of the platforms, and the Cay Sal Bank north of Cuba....
.

History

The original population of Taino

Taíno

The Ta?nos were Indigenous peoples of the Americas of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is believed that the seafaring Ta?nos were relatives of the Arawakan people of South America....
, or Arawaks, was mostly deported by the Spanish to work in the mines of Hispaniola

Hispaniola

Hispaniola is the second-largest and most populous island of the Antilles, lying between the islands of Cuba to the west, and Puerto Rico to the east....
, where they died out by 1550. The island is believed to have been unoccupied until the first Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an settlers—puritan

Puritan

A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group pietism....
pilgrims

Pilgrims

Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts....
—arrived in 1648 from Bermuda. These settlers, known as the "Eleutherian Adventurers", gave the island its current name—eleutheria means "freedom" in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, while eleuthera means "free". Some people think that Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
may have come to Eleuthera before any other islands in the West Indies.

The settlements include (north to south) The Bluff, Upper and Lower Bogue, The Current, Gregory Town, Alice Town, James Cistern, Governor's Harbour, North and South Palmetto Point, Savannah Sound, Winding Bay, Tarpum Bay, Rock Sound, Greencastle, Deep Creek, Delancy Town, Waterford, Wemyss Bight, John Millars, Millar's and Bannerman Town. Airports with regularly scheduled flights are available at North Eleuthera, Governor's Harbour

Governor's Harbour

Governor's Harbour is a former Districts of the Bahamas. It corresponds roughly to the current district of Central Eleuthera....
and Rock Sound.

The island was quite prosperous in the period from 1950 to 1980, attracting several prominent American industrialists such as Arthur Vining Davis

Arthur Vining Davis

Arthur Vining Davis , United States industrialist and philanthropist, was born in Sharon, Massachusetts, the son of Perley B. Davis, a Congregationalist polity minister, and Mary Frances....
, Henry J. Kaiser

Henry J. Kaiser

Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding....
, and Juan Trippe

Juan Trippe

Juan Terry Trippe was a USA airline entrepreneur and pioneer, and the founder of Pan American World Airways. Born in Sea Bright, New Jersey, Trippe graduated from The Hill School in 1917, and then Yale University in 1921....
. Frequent visitors included movie stars like Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Robert Mario De Niro, Jr. is a two-time Academy Award-winning United States actor, director and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time....
as well as the Prince of Wales

Charles, Prince of Wales

The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, making him heir apparent, equally and separately, to the thrones of Commonwealth realm....
and a pregnant Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes Prince William of Wales and Prince Henry of Wales , are second and third Line of succession to the British throne of the British monarchy and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms....
.

Due to changes in foreign-ownership policy, with the Bahamas becoming independent in 1973, all of the large resorts and agricultural businesses were abandoned or compelled to be sold to government-favored Bahamian interests. Because of the strain of a newly forming country, and unfavorable changes in US tax law, some businesses failed during the period from 1980 to 1985.

While offshore Harbour Island and Spanish Wells

Spanish Wells

Spanish Wells is one of the districts of the Bahamas of the Bahamas.Spanish Wells is a settlement on the small island of St. Georges Cay located approximately one mile off the northern tip of Eleuthera island....
offer unique experiences, the main island is a destination for those interested in history and nature. Natural attractions include the Glass Window Bridge, Hatchet Bay caves and Surfer's Beach in the north, and Ocean Hole and Lighthouse Beach at the south end. Preacher's Cave on the north end was home to the Eleutherian Adventurers in the mid-17th century, and recent excavations have uncovered Arawak

Arawak

The term Arawak , was used to designate some of the peoples encountered by the Spain in the West Indies in 1492 and thereafter. These include the Ta?no, who occupied the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas and Bimini Florida, the Nepoya and Suppoyo of Trinidad and the Igneri, who were supposed to have preceded the Caribs in the Lesser Anti...
remains at the site.

The principal settlements are Governor's Harbour (the administrative capital), Rock Sound, Tarpum Bay

Tarpum Bay

Tarpum Bay is a small settlement on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. A settlement is what a small town or village on the Family Islands in the Bahamas....
(the last remaining fishing village), Harbour Island with its unusual pink sandy beaches, and Spanish Wells

Spanish Wells

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for an edible tropical plant and also its fruit. It is native to the southern part of Brazil, and Paraguay. This herbaceous plant perennial plant grows to tall with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves long, surrounding a thick plant stem....
s and holds an annual Pineapple Festival in Gregory Town.

Transportation

Three airports serve the island: North Eleuthera Airport

North Eleuthera Airport

North Eleuthera Airport is an airport in North Eleuthera on Eleuthera in the Bahamas . It serves the outlying islands of Harbour Island and Spanish Wells as well as the northernmost third of Eleuthera Island....
, Governor's Harbour Airport

Governor's Harbour Airport

Governor's Harbour Airport is an airport in Governor's Harbour on Eleuthera in the Bahamas . It is the most active of the three airports on Eleuthera, and is about 8 miles north of the city....
and Rock Sound Airport.

NAVFAC Eleuthera

Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Eleuthera, Bahamas was commissioned on 1 September 1957, with a complement of 150 officers and enlisted men. Approximately twenty Pan-American Airway, RCA and Western Electric personnel and 45 Bahamian employees also supported the base. Eleuthera made history June 30, 1970; it was the first facility to employ women in oceanographic research. As for recreation, Eleuthera is surrounded by warm, crystal clear water filled with fresh fish, making water sports a most popular pursuit. Other entertainment included golfing, spelunking, beach combing, nightly movies, and the "OAR HOUSE CLUB." NAVFAC Eleuthera was decommissioned 31 March 1980 after 23 years of dedicated service.

Eleuthera AAFB

The US Air Force Eastern Test Range (ETR) Range Tracking Station #4 was sited at Eleuthera AAFB (ELU AUXILIARY AIR FORCE BASE), supported by contractor employees of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) or Pan American Airways (PAA) in the 1960s and 1970s. This was used by the MISTRAM

MISTRAM

MISTRAM was a high-resolution tracking system used by the United States Air Force to provide highly detailed trajectory analysis of rocket launches....
system.

Eleuthera

History

Transportation

NAVFAC Eleuthera

Eleuthera AAFB

External links