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Downtown Kingston Heritage

KING STREET
As its name suggests, this street is Kingston’s main thoroughfare and is the busiest street in the city’s central business district. Walking along King Street provides you with a generous helping of Jamaica’s eclectic urban life.

Walk past the shops, vendors’ stalls, fast food restaurants and banks. Between Tower and Barry streets, you will see a two-storey building, fronted by a small park. This is Jamaica’s Supreme Court.

THE SUPREME COURT
The focal point of the island’s judicial system, the Supreme Court is a symbol of Jamaica’s quest for justice, freedom and equality for all its citizens. The mural on the outside wall is a true example of the freedom of expression afforded to all Jamaicans under our constitution.

Turn left by the Supreme Court onto Tower Street. Cross over five (5) intersections until you return to East Street. The elegant red brick building facing you is the Institute of Jamaica.

THE INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA/NATIONAL LIBRARY OF JAMAICA
Established in 1879, the Institute boasts Jamaica’s oldest museum. Its exhibitions offer unparalleled insights into our colourful past, culture, and flora and fauna. The Institute’s Natural History Museum has an interactive, kid-friendly display of Jamaica’s rare plants and animals. In between the Discovery room and the gallery, look out for the Shark’s Papers, framed and hanging on the wall. These documents are part of an interesting tale. In 1799, the British Navy seized a ship on the grounds of illegal trading. The ship’s captain claimed he was innocent, but during the trial a British merchant ship arrived at Port Royal with documents that proved the captain’s guilt. The British crew had recovered the papers from inside a shark that they had caught while at sea. Apparently, the captain had thrown the incriminating papers overboard when he was being captured.

As well as the National History Museum, the Institute houses a herbarium, which is the largest in the English speaking Caribbean, and thought to be one of the finest in the world. Below the herbarium, you’ll fine the Zoology department, boasting an extensive catalogue of spiders and insects. The Institute also has a Science Library with over 10,000 scientific publications, including a collection of 18th century science journals.

Adjoining the Institute is The National Library of Jamaica, which houses one of the most important collections of books, documents, and prints in the West Indies. In the microfilm section, you may peruse Jamaican newspapers and other documents from the 18th century.

After you have spent some time at the Institute, continue southward along East Street, crossing Water Lane, Harbour Street and Port Royal Street. Take note of the Air Jamaica and Scotia Bank buildings on your right. At the intersection of East Street and Nethersole Place, make a right to the:

BANK OF JAMAICA
Downtown’s tallest building, the Central Bank houses the National Coin and Currency Museum, which has an interesting exhibit of Jamaican tokens, coins and paper money, collected over the passage of time. The Museum also displays a gold artefact, belonging to the Taino Indians (Jamaica’s first inhabitants), and the remnants of a 17th century well, recovered from beneath the surface of Kingston Harbour in Port Royal’s sunken city. In 1692, a massive earthquake sent two thirds of Port Royal into the Caribbean Sea. Over the years, marine archaeologists have discovered thousands of valuable artefacts and ancient structures, submerged in the harbour.

Beside the Bank of Jamaica building, the Jamaican Coat of Arms adorns the Jamaica Conference Centre, a fully modern facility serving as the headquarters of the International Seabed Authority. Passing the Conference Centre, continue south to Ocean Boulevard, a scenic roadway fronting Kingston Harbour, the seventh largest natural harbour in the world. Make a right on Ocean Boulevard and walk in a westerly direction. At the seaward end of the intersection with King Street, you will see an interesting statue, called “Negro Aroused.”

‘NEGRO AROUSED’ STATUE
An enlargement of the wooden original that sits proudly inside the National Gallery, this bronze sculpture by Edna Manley is a monument to the workers involved in the 1938 labour riots.

Continue walking west along Ocean Boulevard and turn after King Street onto Orange Street. There you will find the foremost repository of Jamaican Art – the National Gallery of Jamaica, and the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF JAMAICA
The gallery’s breathtaking collection takes you on a magical journey through the development of Jamaican art, from its birth in the 1920s to the present. The works of Carl Abrahams, Cecil Baugh, John Dunkley, Edna Manley, Mallica ‘Kapo’ Reynolds, Barrington Watson and other giants of Jamaican art are carefully displayed here. Spend some time exploring the gallery’s fascinating rooms.

The entrance to the ACIJ lies on the north side of the National Gallery building.

THE AFRICAN CARIBBEAN INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
Founded in 1972, the African Caribbean Institute is a part of the Institute of Jamaica. The ACIJ started with the goal to “deepen the awareness of the contribution of African cultural retention”. In addition to a research centre, the ACIJ also has a museum of Jamaica’s African heritage, and offers artefacts and audiovisual displays for your perusal.

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