Why go
The contrast between port-side Nassau, the southern districts of Grants Town and Bain Town, and later suburbs explains why the city extends well beyond a short Bay Street walk. It also puts Nassau's colonial buildings beside the histories of Loyalist settlement, enslaved labour and freed Africans.
The full story
Nassau grew directly behind its harbour on New Providence. The older town occupied only a few blocks near the waterfront and Government House. Expansion inland and across the island came in stages, particularly after the Second World War. Paradise Island is nearby, but it is distinct from the city on New Providence. After the American Revolutionary War, thousands of Loyalists and enslaved people moved to The Bahamas. Some settled on New Providence and established plantations, including Clifton and Tusculum. In the nineteenth century, Africans freed from slave ships by the Royal Navy were resettled at places including Adelaide Village and Gambier Village. People freed from American ships also made homes here. Grants Town and Bain Town, south of central Nassau, became important Black residential districts. Keeping those places in view prevents the waterfront's administrative and commercial history from becoming the whole account of the city.