West End (also referred to as "Settlement Point") is the oldest town and westernmost settlement on the Bahamian island of

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is ...

. It is the current capital of

, contrary to the popular belief that

Freeport City Freeport is a List of cities in the Bahamas, city, Local government in the Bahamas, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand ...

is the capital of the island. It is also the third largest settlement in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. There is one airport in West End, West End Airport, which serves mostly private aircraft. Since the 1950s, the settlement of West End has fluctuated with the rise and fall of the adjacent resort developments.

Early history

The Bahamas were first inhabited by the

Lucayan people The Lucayan people ( ) were the original residents of the Bahamas before the European conquest of the Americas. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Ame ...

in 500-800 AD. It is unknown if the Lucayan people inhabited West End specifically. However, after the arrival of Columbus and Spanish explorers, the Lucayan people became extinct by 1520. Records from West End show that the population in 1836 was only about 370 people, many of whom later abandoned the island for greater opportunities in Nassau. But in 1861 people flocked back to Grand Bahama because of an unexpected economic opportunity—the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. At the outbreak of the war, with the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

under a strict Union embargo, smugglers operating out of West End were able to command hefty prices from the South for goods such as cotton, sugar, and weapons. As soon as the war ended, the economic boom ended as well, but it established strong ties between the Bahamas and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that still exist. A second smuggling boom came a few decades later when the 18th Amendment prohibited alcohol in the United States. West End achieved notoriety as a

rum-running Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ter ...

port during this prohibition. Warehouses, distilleries, bars, and supply stores sprang up all over West End. Eventually prohibition ended, the economy contracted and people started fishing again. Fishing and tourism remain the two major industries of the West End economy.

Fishing

West End is known for its fishing. The location allows sport fishing enthusiasts to easily access shallow or deep-water options within a few nautical miles. The north side of the island is part of the

Bahama Banks The Bahama Banks are the submerged carbonate platforms that make up much of the Bahama Archipelago. The term is usually applied in referring to either the Great Bahama Bank around Andros Island, or the Little Bahama Bank of Grand Bahama Island ...

and has very shallow water, making it a popular destination for bonefishing. Legendary bonefish guide Israel Rolle, known as "Bonefish Folley", died in July 2012. He guided bonefishing clients like

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Local fishermen also catch mutton snapper, groupers,

spiny lobster Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

and

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

. Northwest of West End is Memory Rock. Memory Rock is a large rock that is sticking out of the water in around 7-8 feet of water. Memory Rock is home to great spearfishing and yellowtail snapper fishing. The depth around Memory Rock goes form 2,000 feet to 8 feet in under a mile. This makes for great wahoo trolling as well. In 100-40 feet has great grouper fishing. The shallower you get you can spearfish for mutton snapper, hogfish, spiny lobster (crawfish) and smaller groupers. In these shallow waters also sometimes hold conch. Conch is a shellfish that has a great taste when prepared correctly. The West End Settlement is known for its conch salad. Around the tip of West End, the water on the south side of the island drops to a deep trench not far from the shoreline. The

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...

runs through this trench, attracting big game fish to the smaller prey that are carried along. Offshore sport fishermen are drawn to the blue

marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...

, white marlin, yellow-fin and blue-fin

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

sailfish The sailfish is one or two species of marine fish in the genus ''Istiophorus'', which belong to the family Istiophoridae (marlins). They are predominantly blue to gray in colour and have a characteristically large dorsal fin known as the sa ...

wahoo Wahoo (''Acanthocybium solandri'') is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh makes it a prized and valued game fish. In Hawaii, the wahoo is kno ...

and dolphin (

Mahi Mahi The mahi-mahi () or common dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus'') is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with ''Salminus brasil ...

Tourism

West End is only 55 nautical miles from the Florida coast and has a long history as a resort destination because of its accessibility. For most boaters entering Bahamian waters from the United States, it is the first port of call. West End is also serviced by the local West End Airport and

Grand Bahama International Airport Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA) is an international airport in Freeport, Bahamas. It was privately owned until the government of the Bahamas purchased it in April 2021. The airport was a joint venture between Hutchison Port Holding ...

in Freeport. Tourism and foreign investment have been attracted by the natural beauty of the beaches and water, the warm climate, British

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

and a stable financial system (the currency is pegged to the US dollar).

Jack Tar Village

Tourism first started on Grand Bahama Island in 1949 when an Englishman built a small holiday camp for his vacationing countrymen. The camp did not succeed, but by the late 1950s development in West End started to create the Jack Tar Village resort, which opened in 1960. This predates resorts in Freeport and Lucaya. The large 356-room resort had three 9-hole golf courses, 16 tennis courts, a half-million gallon salt water swimming pool (the Bahamas' largest), a huge auditorium for live shows, a shopping arcade, several restaurants, a 100-slip marina and an airport. The 10,000-foot runway received charter flights from as far away as the Midwest and, at its peak, several flights from Canada each week. Jack Tar closed in the early 1990s and was partially demolished thereafter.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Grand Bahama Populated places in the Bahamas