Arouca (originally San Agustín de Arouca) is a town in the

East–West Corridor The East–West Corridor is the built-up area of north Trinidad stretching from the capital, Port of Spain, east to Arima. The term was coined by economist and political philosopher Lloyd Best, after gleaning the works of a technocrat named ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

located east of Port of Spain, along the

Eastern Main Road The Eastern Main Road is a major road in Trinidad and Tobago running from Port of Spain in the west to Manzanilla in the east. The towns of the East–West Corridor are strung along its route. Until the construction of the Churchill–Roosevel ...

. It is located west of

Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of th ...

, east of

Tunapuna Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. Town Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an importa ...

and

Tacarigua Tacarigua (originally San Pablo de Tacarigua) is a town in the East–West Corridor of Trinidad and Tobago, located east of Tunapuna, north of Trincity and west of Arouca. It is on the banks of the Tacarigua River. The city is governed by the T ...

, south of

Lopinot Lopinot is a village in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the foothills of the Northern Range, just north of Arouca. It is governed by the Tunapuna–Piarco Regional Corporation. Lopinot, the area which was named after (1738–1819) is loc ...

, and north of

Piarco Piarco is a town in northern Trinidad and is the site of Piarco International Airport . Geography Piarco is the site of one of the few natural savannas in Trinidad and Tobago, the ''Piarco Savanna''. Most of this savanna land has been incorporate ...

. It is governed by the

Tunapuna–Piarco Regional Corporation Tunapuna–Piarco is one of the 9 regions of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the most populous region in the country by total population and the fifth-largest by total land area. Geographically located in Northern Trinidad, Tunapuna–Piarco shares its ...

. Arouca may be a corruption of ''Arauca'', an

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

tribe. During most of the Spanish rule, Arouca was a settlement reserved for Amerindians. However, when the French arrived in 1783 under Governor

José María Chacón Don José María Chacón (1 January 1749 – 1 January 1833) was the last Spanish Governor of Trinidad, serving from 1783 to 1797. He was responsible for signing the Cedula of Population in 1783, leading to extensive French immigration to Trini ...

's ''Cedula de Repoblación'' the Amerindians were restricted to Arima. Most of the land in Arouca was split between the Tablau and Chaumet families. Arouca steadily grew into a major agricultural center, but the extension of the railroad to

Sangre Grande Sangre Grande is the largest town in northeastern Trinidad and Tobago. It is located east of Arima and southwest of the village of Toco. It is the seat of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation and capital of the region. Overview and history ...

in 1898 lured many people in Arouca to relocate to the more prosperous Sangre Grande valley. Today, it mainly comprises residential housing. There are several schools located in Arouca including the Bon Air Primary School, Arouca Anglican Primary School, Arouca Girls R.C., Arouca Boys R.C., Arouca Government Primary Schools and Bon Air High School. Arouca is home to four prisons and one correctional facility. These include the Golden Grove Prison, Remand Prison, Women's Prison and Youth Training and Rehabilitation Centre.

Prominent people from Arouca

George Padmore George Padmore (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, and author. He left his native Trinidad in 1924 to study medicine in the United States, where he also joined the Com ...

Henry Sylvester Williams Henry Sylvester-Williams (24 March 1867 or 15 February 186926 March 1911) was a Trinidadian lawyer, activist, councillor and writer who was among the founders of the Pan-African movement. As a young man, Williams travelled to the United States ...

* Jaswick Taylor *

Learie Constantine Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, (21 September 19011 July 1971) was a West Indian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black pee ...

* Pundit Teeluckdharry Upadayya

Gallery

File:TnT Arouca Holy Trinity Church.jpg, Holy Trinity Church File:TnT Arouca 1.jpg, Eastern Main Road File:TnT Arouca 2.jpg, Arouca File:TnT Arouca 3.jpg, Arouca

References

*{{cite book, author=Anthony, Michael, author-link=Michael Anthony (author), title=Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago, publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. , location=Lanham, Maryland, and London , year=2001 , isbn=0-8108-3173-2

External links

Arouca Community Mailing list

Arouca's Main Website
Populated places in Trinidad and Tobago