Harbour Island is an island and administrative district 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 ...

and is located off the northeast coast of

Eleuthera Island Eleuthera () refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the s ...

. It has a population of 1,762 (2010 census).HARBOUR ISLAND POPULATION BY SETTLEMENT AND TOTAL NUMBER OF OCCUPIED DWELLINGS: 2010 CENSUS
- Bahamas Department of Statistics The only town on the island is

Dunmore Town Dunmore Town is a town in the Bahamas. It has a population of 1,762 (2010 census). It is the only town at Harbour Island, which is located just east from North Eleuthera. Dunmore Town is one of the few settlements in the Bahamas with a predomi ...

, named after the governor of the Bahamas from 1786 to 1798,

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – 25 February 1809), known as Lord Dunmore, was a British people, British Peerage, nobleman and Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies, colonial governor in the Thirteen Colonies, American colonies ...

, who had a summer residence on Harbour Island.

Tourism

Harbour Island is famous for its pink

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es, which are found all along the east side of the island. The pink hue comes from foraminifera, a microscopic organism that actually has a reddish-pink shell. Harbour Island is a popular vacation destination for Americans. Known as Briland to the locals, Harbour Island is colourful with

English Colonial English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-style buildings and flower lined streets. Harbour Island is part of the

Out Islands The Out Islands are the islands that make up the Bahamas with the exception of New Providence Island, where the capital and largest city, Nassau, is located and Grand Bahama Island, where Freeport is located.David Hamilton-Jones, "Problems of In ...

of the Bahamas. In the middle 1960s, the American actor

Brett King Brett King (born Bertell W. King, Jr.; December 29, 1920 – January 14, 1999) was an American actor who performed in films and on television between 1949 and 1967. Early life and film career King attended the American Theatre Wing in New Yor ...

and his wife, Sharon, established the Coral Sands Hotel in Harbour Island.

Transportation

The island is accessible by airplane through

North Eleuthera Airport North Eleuthera Airport is an airport in North Eleuthera on Eleuthera in the Bahamas . It serves the outlying islands of Harbour Island and Spanish Wells Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ...

, followed by a short

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...

ride from neighbouring

North Eleuthera North Eleuthera is one of the districts of the Bahamas, on the island of Eleuthera. It has a population (2010 census) of 3,247. The Bluff, Lower Bogue, Current and Upper Bogue are the main settlements. Sweetings Pond in North Central Eleuthe ...

Gallery

File:HarbourIsland_1.png, Pink sand beach near Sip Sip's, Harbour Island, looking north File:islandhorses.jpg, Horses on Harbour Island, looking east File:beachsunsetdog.jpg, Sunset on Harbour Island, looking north File:harbourislandjunkanoo.jpg, Dunmore School kids in Junkanoo 2008, Harbour Island, looking east File:GovernmentDock.png, Sunset over Government Dock and harbour, Harbour Island, looking west from Dunmore School File:DunmoreSchool.png, Dunmore School of Harbour Island, looking east from harbour shoreline File:sunriseoct62008.png, Sunrise, October 6, 2008, from the north part of the island File:SeaGrapes.jpg, Afro Band Rehearsing at Sea Grapes Night Club on Harbour Island File:starfishwater.jpg, Starfish in the harbour on Harbour Island File:Bahamas beach.JPG, The pink beach of Harbour Island

References

Sources

*''The Harbour Island Story'', Anne & Jim Lawlor (Macmillan Caribbean, 2008) *''The Story of The Bahamas'', Paul Albury (Macmillan Caribbean, London, 1975) *''Out Island Doctor'', Evan Cottman *''Under The plop o lop Tree'', Pip Simmons, editor; 'Uncle Gundy' narrator, Barbra Young Photographs *''99-Cent Breakfast'',

Patricia Glinton-Meicholas Patricia Glinton-Meicholas (born 1950) is a Bahamian writer, cultural critic, historian and educator. Biography She was born on Cat Island, Bahamas, and was educated at the University of the West Indies and the University of Miami. She was employ ...

*''Bahamian Scene'', Susan J. Wallace *''Wind From The Carolinas'', Robert Wilder *''Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People - Volume One: From Aboriginal Times to the End of Slavery'', Michael Craton and Gail Saunders (University of Georgia Press, Athens, 1999) Districts of the Bahamas Islands of the Bahamas {{Bahamas-geo-stub