Grand Turk Comes Alive

By the mid-1800s Grand Turk was in a population boom. Government was stable and the salt business was prosperous.

Much of Grand Turk’s remarkable waterfront architectural landscape was created during this time.

East Caicos Company (on far left) and Front Street in the mid-1800s.

East Caicos Company (on far left) was one of the most successful sisal producers in the islands. Front Street looked like this by the mid- to late 1800s. Photo ca. 1900 (McKitrick collection
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Cannons line the street in front of the government building (far right); the East Caicos Company building is in the distance (far left) ca. 1900. (McKitrick collection)
Typical home of the mid-1800s with wide veranda.

Typical home built the late-1800s with wide veranda. Today it is the Turks Head Hotel; in late 1800/early 1900 it was either the doctor’s house or the US Consulate. Photo ca 1910 (Mary Jones Collection)
Prosperous

Furnishings reflect roots in Europe and the US and were the height of ‘modern’ decor (ca 1910). This is now the Turks Head Hotel. (Mary Jones Collection)

Beautiful homes for prosperous families were being built on Duke, Front, and Middle Streets. The feeling that anything was possible pervaded the islands.

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Enjoying a round of golf on Grand Turk, ca. 1910. (McKitrick Collection)

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Entrepreneurs were creating opportunities. Unidentified Grand Turk resident ca.1910 (Mary Jones Collection)

Enterprising business people were trying their hand at new industries such as sisal production, sponge harvesting, and in the Caicos Islands, guano mining. But Grand Turk was the center of all activity and the government center in the islands.It was during this Golden Age that Jeremiah Murphy and his brothers came to the islands and the iconic Grand Turk lighthouse was built to warn the increasing numbers ships of reefs and danger. The island buzzed with ideas and activity. The decline of the salt industry, among other reasons, led to the steady decline of Grand Turk after WWI.To learn more about the historic Grand Turk, visit the Museum or take a walking tour of some of the remaining historic buildings.