Community Focus : Adelphi, a sweet history with sugar

The Adelphi community, which is less than an hourís drive from Montego Bay, St James, was once a hub of sugar production dating back to the 1700s.

However, today, the quiet locale has very few remnants of its sugar-rich past.

"I like the community because it is very quiet, and that is what we want," said Pixie Morris, an elderly resident. "We have our own police station and post office and we are not far from Montego Bay."

According to historical data, in 1786, an English Quaker named Isaac Winn purchased the land and named it after Adelphi in London. Winn gave his slaves religious instruction with the assistance of Moses Baker, a runaway slave from The Bahamas, and under Bakerís tutelage, these slaves formed the nucleus of the first Baptist Church in St James.

Adelphi later came under the government's ownership in 1887, and land was reserved for a post office, a police station and a market. At this time, 150 acres of land in the area were granted to Benjamin Lowe, a planter and landowner from Montego Bay.

A sugar estate with a great house had previously been located on the property, but by the time Lowe acquired the land, the house and the plantation factory buildings were in ruins.

Today, the major landmarks in and around Adelphi include the remnants of two cooling vats, which were used in sugar production, the ruins of the former great house located some distance from the Adelphi Primary School, and the Christ Church Marley Anglican church, which has existed since at least 1818.