Roatan History

Pre-Columbian Roatan

Archeological evidence suggests that large populations of the Paya Amerinds lived in the Bay Islands for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the European explorers in the 16th century. The Paya were a smaller and less advanced group than the Maya, whose civilization and culture dominated the mainland of Central America.

The Paya mined jade, which they brought to the mainland to trade for tools and other items. The Paya were primarily an agrarian group, cultivating manioc, corn and native fruits, and consumed fish, turtles, iguanas, agouti, land crabs and deer.

Payan artifacts, including pottery, jade and shells, are often found in Island burial and ceremonial sites, and are referred to by the locals as "yaba ding dings."

Spanish Discovery & Roatan's Disputed Ownership

On his fourth voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sailed along the coast of Central America in the summer months of 1502. He arrived at Guanaja (that he christened "Isla de Pinos") in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras on July 30. He found native merchants and a large canoe, which was described as "long as a galley" that was filled with cargo. On August 14, he landed on the American mainland at Puerto Castilla, near Trujillo, Honduras. He spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before heading for Panama. In the process, he christened the waters at the southern part of the barrier reef the "Bay of Honduras." Although Columbus did not land at Roatan, his log makes reference to a larger island to the west on his way from Guanaja.

From 1516 to 1536, the Spaniards enslaved the people of the Bay Islands. Most were subsequently shipped to Jamaica and Cuba to work in the mines and the plantations, and in the process, the Island was depopulated.

British buccaneers established themselves on the Bay Islands beginning in 1564, and used them to raid the Spanish galleons laden with gold, silver and gemstones. The pirate Henry Morgan used the harbor at Port Royal as his headquarters. The town of Coxen Hole is named after the pirate John Coxen, who used the harbor as a way station.

The first permanent English settlement on Roatan was established by the Puritans of the Providence Company in 1639, after fleeing Providence Island (now Santa Catalina) off of the coast of Nicaragua. Their settlement was located near Port Royal on 100 acres of land. The Puritans not only wanted to create a God-centered utopia, but also harass the Spanish. In 1643, the Spanish ousted the colonists.

Almost 100 years later, British military forces returned to Roatan to create a military installation at New Port Royal. In subsequent years, the British built two settlements on the island, "Augusta" and "Litchfield," and two forts. Over time, the British population on the island grew to over 5,000. In 1782, the Spanish attacked the British installations, defeating the British after a short battle. After removing the cannons and supplies, the Spanish demolished the fortifications and burned the buildings at Port Royal.

In 1797, approximately 5,000 Black Carib Indians (known as the "Garifuna") living on St. Vincent Island in the eastern Caribbean revolted against their British colonial masters. After quelling the revolt, the British rounded up the rebels and forcibly moved them to Port Royal. The Garifuna then moved to the north shore of Roatan, establishing the town of Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda remains the oldest continuously inhabited town on Roatan.

For the next 50 years, little interest was shown in the Bay Islands.

Christopher Columbus

Pirate Henry Morgan

19th Century Roatan

In 1834, the British parliament enacted legislation that emancipated all slaves in the British Empire. A number of English subjects and their newly-freed slaves who had been living on the Cayman Islands elected to emigrate to Roatan, as emancipation disrupted the economic structure that had maintained Caymanian culture.

Caymanians were largely a seafaring culture and were familiar with the area from turtle fishing ventures and other activities. Former Caymanian slave-owners were among the first to settle on the seaside locations throughout western Roatan. Former slaves continued to arrive during the 1830s and 1840s, and altogether, the former Caymanians became the largest cultural group on the island.

In 1852, the British Government once again proclaimed dominion over Roatan, creating a British Crown Colony of the Bay Islands. Additional emigration from the Cayman Islands took place. But the United States objected to this move by the British, arguing that the Monroe Doctrine forbade the British from establishing new claims in the American sphere of influence. Under U.S. pressure, Britain ceded Roatan to Honduras in 1859.

Although many British citizens elected to leave Roatan, most did not, as they enjoyed a fairly high standard of living on the island.

In the 1860s-70s, the export of fresh fruit, particularly bananas, plantains and coconuts, developed into a big business in Roatan. American and British demand for the fruit was insatiable. Roatan's fruit industry, originally established by the islanders, was purchased by the New Orleans and Bay Islands Fruit Company in 1870. However, a hurricane demolished the plantations in September, 1877, and they were never reestablished on Roatan. Instead, new, much larger plantations were created on the mainland of Honduras to meet the increasing demand for the fruit.

In the 1920s, there was a resurgence in the fruit growing industry on Roatan, but it ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Roatan in the 20th Century

After the failure of the resurgent fruit industry in the 1920s, islanders turned to the sea for their sustenance. Many locals became merchant mariners, serving on cruise ships, merchant vessels and in the local fishing industry.

So it was that fishing--and later, tourism--developed into the primary economic drivers on the island. Beginning in the 1970s, Spanish-speaking Mestizo migrants came to Roatan from the Honduran mainland in large numbers to man the fishing fleets of Roatan. The Bay Islands now support one of the finest shrimp and lobster fleets in the Caribbean, with over 150 vessels calling the Bay Islands home.

Mestizo migrants settled primarily in the urban areas of Coxen Hole and Barrio Los Fuertes (near French Harbour). In these areas Spanish is common, with English being more common to the families of original residents as well as in the other areas inhabited chiefly by islanders rather than former mainlanders.

In terms of population and economic influence, however, the mainlander influx has been dwarfed by the overwhelming tourist presence in recent years. This trend originated with American, Canadian, British, New Zealand, Australian and South African settlers and entrepreneurs emigrating to Roatan to participate in the fishing industry, and later, to create the foundation for tourist trade.

Today's Roatan

Today, nearly 100 hotels have been built to meet the tourist demand. And the cruise industry has made Roatan one of the more popular ports in the western Caribbean.

In 2009, the port of Roatan hosted over 160 cruise ship visits carrying over 475,000 passengers. The Honduran government actively supports tourism, and offers tax incentives to those who capitalize tourism-related businesses. Two new cruise ship terminals have opened in recent years: the Coxen Hole Cruise Ship Dock, partially owned by Royal Caribbean, opened in late 2008, and the Mahogany Bay Cruise Center, partially owned by the Carnival Corporation, opened in early 2010. These two terminals will allow for almost 400 ship's visits per year, bringing close to 1 million tourists to Roatan.

As tourism becomes the dominant industry, and the population surges to accommodate the increase in tourists, Roatan stands to lose some of the native charm that brings people to the island in the first place. The population of Roatan has grown to an estimated 60,000 people in 2009, from only 10,000 in 1970.