May Pen is the capital and largest town in the parish of Clarendon in Middlesex County,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. It is located on the

Rio Minho The Rio Minho is the longest river in Jamaica at . It rises close to the island's geographic centre, flows generally south-southwest and reaches the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay in the central south coast, to the west of the island's southernmo ...

river (Jamaica's longest), and is a major market centre for the Parish. The population was 61,548 at the 2011 census increasing from 59,550 in 2001, including the surrounding suburbs of Sandy Bay, Mineral Heights, Hazard, Palmers Cross, Denbigh, Race Track, and Four Paths among others. The town has a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Description

May Pen, originally May's Pen, was established as a

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

(cattle farm) settlement by the British between 1660 and 1683 on a crossing point of the Rio Minho river. It became part of an estate named after its owner, slave trader, Reverend William May, who was born in England in 1695 but in his later years resided in Jamaica. He oversaw 27 enslaved people on this estate and was rector of the Kingston Parish Church but was later transferred to Clarendon, where he served for 32 years. May Pen is well located from an

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

point of view in the centre of a largely agricultural parish, and as a midpoint on the Kingston to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

road. Boasting a large open air market and transportation centre along Main Street and Sevens Road, the town's centre is often chaotic with activities of shoppers, vendors daily and motorized traffic. May Pen also has many banks, hardware stores, pharmacies and eateries. The town also has a large post office, headquarters for local government, and court house. The clock tower in the town centre was erected in 1908 after the death of a doctor Robert Glaister Samuel Bell who drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Minho river in 1904. As well as having a memorial plaque to Bell, it has another dedicated to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914-1918). The first bridge over the Rio Minho was built by 1874 for the local railway company, and rebuilt in the 1920s, it was demolished in 1950 after floods and rebuilt downstream. May Pen is also an important

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

packing centre, including

oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...

and a hybrid citrus fruit called an

ugli The Jamaican tangelo, also known by proprietary names ugli fruit, uglifruit, and uniq fruit, is a citrus fruit that arose on the island of Jamaica through the natural hybridization of a tangerine or orange with a grapefruit (or pomelo), and is t ...

. The Denbigh Agricultural Showground is located approximately three miles west of the centre of the town. May Pen's geographical position is situated near the centre of the entire island. May Pen has long been viewed as one of Jamaica's most important agriculture towns. During its heyday of Jamaican bauxite mining, citrus and sugar production, Clarendon was among Jamaica's leading parishes in terms of economic activity. With the now defunct

Jamaica Railway Corporation Kingston railway station, closed since 1992, as seen in 2007 The Railways of Jamaica, constructed from 1845, were the second British Colony after Canada's Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad of 1836 to receive a railway system.Glenmuir High School Glenmuir High School (GHS) is a Jamaican secondary school located in May Pen, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. It is among the top performing secondary schools in the country. In 2011 it was among the top 3 preferred schools for students who sat the G ...

(Anglican), Glenmuir Preparatory School (Anglican primary),

May Pen High School May Pen High School (abbreviated M.P.H.S. or MPHS) is a privately – run Seventh-Day Adventist School in Jamaica with an estimated population of 400 students. The school is located at 18A Bryants Crescent, May Pen, Clarendon and has been there fo ...

(Adventist private), May Pen Primary School, Foundation Preparatory School, and St. Thomas Moore Preparatory School (Catholic primary).

Notable people

* Frederick "Toots" Hibbert,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

singer, and frontman for

Toots & the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

, was born in May Pen *

Andre Blake Andre Jason Blake (born 21 November 1990) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer and the Jamaica national team. College soccer Blake spent three years playing colleg ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

for

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

and

* Camaal Reid,

for

Scarborough SC Scarborough SC is a Canadian soccer team founded in 2014. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a league that is not sanctioned by a FIFA recognized body. The team plays home games out of Birchmount Stadium in the district ...

and

Suburbs

May Pen consists of 16 communities: * City Centre/Main St * City Centre/Manchester Av * Bushy Park * Buckshaven * Curatoe Hill * Denbigh * Four Paths * Glenmuir * Mineral Heights * Paisley * Palmers Cross * Oliver Gardens/Effortville * Race Track * Sevens Road/Farm Pen * Trenton/Hazard * Weston Park

References

External links

Statistical Institute of Jamaica

{{Authority control Populated places in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica