Matelot is a settlement in

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 on the north coast of Trinidad in the Sangre Grande region, the village has traditionally been seen as one of the most remote places on the island.

History

The Matelot area was inhabited by Amerindian groups until 1760 when the population was resettled at the Spanish mission at Toco. In 1783 two

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n families—Estrada and Salvary—settled in Matelot after being granted land in the Cedula of Population. By 1873 there were forty families in the village and in 1887 the population was reported to be about 280, most descended from the Estrada and Salvary families. The development of

cacao Cacao is the seed from which cocoa and chocolate are made, from Spanish cacao, an adaptation of Nahuatl cacaua, the root form of cacahuatl ("bean of the cocoa-tree"). It may also refer to: Plants *''Theobroma cacao'', a tropical evergreen tree ** ...

cultivation in the late nineteenth century lead to economic development and population growth. Driven by immigration from other West Indian islands and Venezuela, the population expanded to 605 by 1933. Falling cocoa prices in the 1920s and '30s drove the village into decline.

References

External links

* * Populated places in Trinidad and Tobago {{Trinidad-geo-stub