The capital of Saint Elizabeth is Black River, a historic port town at the mouth of the river of the same name, the longest and mightiest in Jamaica. In the 19th century, thanks to the trade in logwood to produce a blue dye much prized in Europe, Black River was one of the most prosperous towns on the island.
That wealth left a surprising technological mark: in 1893, thanks to the Leyden brothers, Black River became the first town in Jamaica to have electricity, generated precisely by burning logwood. It preserves a notable heritage of Georgian wooden houses and is famous above all for its boat safaris on the river, among mangroves and crocodiles, the gateway to the nature of the south coast and to the Great Morass, one of the largest wetlands in the country.
Saint Elizabeth embodies the most authentic, rustic and community-minded face of Jamaica. In Treasure Beach, a series of fishing communities on a semi-arid coast of golden sand, a model of community and sustainable tourism flourished from the 1990s, very different from the big resorts of the north.
The area is famous for the warmth of its people —many with fair features and light eyes, attributed to historic mixings, including the tradition of shipwrecked Scottish sailors— and for its leisurely pace, ideal to truly disconnect. Off its coast is the iconic Floyd's Pelican Bar, a rustic bar of driftwood and palm raised on stilts in the middle of the sea, about a kilometer from the shore, reachable only by boat: one of the most photographed and singular places in the Caribbean.
The interior of Saint Elizabeth holds one of the island's natural treasures: YS Falls, a series of seven tiered waterfalls surrounded by jungle, on the grounds of the historic YS Estate, a former cattle and cane estate. With its natural pools and its well-kept setting, it's for many the most beautiful waterfall in Jamaica, quieter and more family-friendly than the crowded ones of the north.
Toward the south, the cliff of Lovers' Leap drops more than 500 meters over the Caribbean Sea, one of the most spectacular lookouts on the island, wrapped in a tragic love legend between two slaves. This arid and mountainous landscape, with the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Nassau Mountains, distinguishes Saint Elizabeth from the lush green of the rest of the island and makes it its 'breadbasket', with crops of tomato, onion, watermelon and cattle.
In the foothills of the Cockpit Country, within Saint Elizabeth, is Accompong, one of the most important Maroon towns in Jamaica, founded by the Leeward Maroons led by Cudjoe and his brother Accompong. After the 1739 treaty, the community kept its autonomy and its lands, and even today it preserves a special status, its traditions and its own government.
Every January 6, Accompong celebrates the anniversary of the treaty with abeng (horn) music, drums and dances, in a festival that brings together descendants of the Maroons and visitors. It's a living testimony to African resistance in Jamaica and a perfect historical complement to the nature and calm of the south coast.