Morant Point Lighthouse

The Morant Point Lighthouse is the oldest on the island and the first cast iron lighthouse to be erected in the Americas. Designed by English civil engineer, Alexander Gordon, in 1841, it was considered “an engineering wonder of the time” (Johnston, 1956). Faced with the dilemma of limited funds and the site at Jamaica being on coral at the eastern end of an extensive morass area, Gordon thought it prudent to recommend a cast iron tower for the area. In March 1841, the Commissioners in Jamaica adopted his recommendation and directed Gordon to proceed with the construction of the lighthouse (Gordon, 1846). The work of casting the tower commenced at the iron foundry and engineering works of Messrs. Bramah and Sons in London (Johnston, 1956). By October 1841, the lighthouse was completed and was erected and tried in London. It was then dismantled and shipped to Jamaica. In December 1841, the disassembled lighthouse arrived at Port Morant, Jamaica (Gordon, 1846). George Grove, Gordon’s assistant, arrived from England to supervise its construction. Kru men, who were among the indentured Africans brought to the island during the post-emancipation period, were among the labourers who constructed the lighthouse (Senior, 2003: 332). According to Mary Thomas, 7,500 workers came to Jamaica from Africa during the period 1840 to 1865 under various schemes. The principle was that the African who wanted to come could not pay for his passage and, accordingly, agreed to be indentured in return for a free passage. As early as 1842, there were 500 Africans in St. Thomas. Among them were the Kru men who supplied almost all the labour in constructing the lighthouse. Thomas further stated that all these early Kru immigrants were entitled to a return passage to Africa. It is not known if they ever returned (Jacobs, 1974:32-34). On July 26, 1842, the lighthouse was completed and ready for lighting. It was permanently lit on November 1, 1842. The cost to erect the Morant Point lighthouse amounted to £3,800 (Gordon, 1846).

The lighthouse stands in a fair state of preservation; however it is in need of repainting. The design features have not been depreciated by the alterations to the lighting mechanism. Access to the lighthouse is somewhat challenging. The original road from Golden Grove to the lighthouse has been impassable since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. As a result, to get to the site, one has to endure a rough 20 minute drive through cane fields.