Grand Life Winter 2024 2025 (DIGITAL) - Flipbook - Page 54
GRAND L I FE DI RECTORY
BY: HI STORI AN H. RUDY SAWYER
In October of 1492, when Columbus saw land for the first time on his voyage from Spain to reach the Orient
by going in the opposite direction, he and his crew realized for the first time that there was another part of
the world they did not know existed. They set foot for the first time in this "New World" on the island of
Guanahani, as it was called by its inhabitants, the Lucayans. Columbus renamed it San Salvador and
claimed it for his patrons and sponsors of his adventure: the monarchs of Spain and the Catholic Church. It
was estimated that some 40,000 to 80,000 Lucayans inhabited The Bahamas at that time.
What must have been striking to Columbus and his men were the white sandy beaches and the clear, shallow
waters that surrounded the island of Guanahani. And no doubt, after seeing other islands in this country with
a similar make-up, it is easy to deduce how the description "Baja Mar"—Spanish for "Shallow Sea Islands"—
came to be. Over time, "Baja Mar" eventually morphed into one word: Bahama.
Besides Guanahani, all the other islands had Lucayan names. For example, there was Guanima, which was
renamed Cat Island; Ciguateo, which became Eleuthera; Bimini, which maintained its Lucayan name; and
Abaco, which retained its Lucayan name with a slight adjustment in spelling. Then there was an island the
Lucayans called Bahama, which meant "Upper or Greater Middle Land." This is the island we know today as
Grand Bahama, one of the islands that maintained its original Lucayan name, with the addition of "Grand"
attached to it.
THE PURPOSE OF THE CITY OF FREEPORT: HAWKSBILL CREEK AGREEMENT
Tourism was not a focus of the initial agreement; however, five years later, in 1960, an amendment to the
agreement was made for the Grand Bahama Port Authority Limited to build a first-class deluxe resort hotel
with no fewer than 200 rooms in Freeport, and to take other actions toward the promotion of tourism on the
island of Grand Bahama. (Read the entire history of Grand Bahama in Grand Bahama Treasure & Tour Guide
by H. Rudy Sawyer)
