The Secret Buried Under Jamaica's Main Airport
One Love Jamaica
57,478 views
A stone pillar on the Palisadoes strip in Kingston, Jamaica claims to mark the "first coconut tree" ever planted on the island — but that claim doesn't hold up. In this video, we uncover the real story behind the monument: a 19th-century coconut plantation built with prison labor under the man who ran Jamaica's General Penitentiary, and how that same stretch of land eventually became Norman Manley International Airport.
From Spanish-era coconut cultivation in the 1500s, to a failed 1869 plantation run on convict labor, to a WWII naval air station, to the international airport millions of travelers land at today — this is a piece of Jamaican history hiding in plain sight, buried under one small roadside stone most people drive past without a second look.
🌴 What you'll learn in this video:
The true origin of coconuts in Jamaica — and why the monument's claim is misleading
Who John Horton was, and his role running Jamaica's General Penitentiary
How the Palisadoes coconut plantation collapsed by the 1880s
The land's transformation from plantation to WWII naval base (HMS Buzzard) to Norman Manley International Airport
Why this stone pillar still stands on the Palisadoes road today
This is part of the One Love Jamaica series uncovering suppressed, overlooked, and erased Jamaican history — stories that are erased, but not gone.
📍 Filmed on location at Palisadoes, Kingston, Jamaica
#JamaicaHistory #Palisadoes #NormanManleyAirport #JamaicanHeritage #KingstonJamaica #CoconutIndustry #GeneralPenitentiary #ErasedButNotGone #JamaicaTravel #CaribbeanHistory
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One Love Jamaica
20 Comments
May God continue to guide you and keep you safe 🙏🏽
Brings back many memories. Early 1990s, while attending the then "Jamaica Maritime Institute", we used to do early morning runs from the college to Port Royal.
I wondered, why did you walk a little over a mile to find this monument, when you could have driven slowly with your flashers on along the roadway.🇯🇲
The Secret Buried Under Jamaica's Main Airport
One Love Jamaica
57,478 views
A stone pillar on the Palisadoes strip in Kingston, Jamaica claims to mark the "first coconut tree" ever planted on the island — but that claim doesn't hold up. In this video, we uncover the real story behind the monument: a 19th-century coconut plantation built with prison labor under the man who ran Jamaica's General Penitentiary, and how that same stretch of land eventually became Norman Manley International Airport.
From Spanish-era coconut cultivation in the 1500s, to a failed 1869 plantation run on convict labor, to a WWII naval air station, to the international airport millions of travelers land at today — this is a piece of Jamaican history hiding in plain sight, buried under one small roadside stone most people drive past without a second look.
🌴 What you'll learn in this video:
The true origin of coconuts in Jamaica — and why the monument's claim is misleading
Who John Horton was, and his role running Jamaica's General Penitentiary
How the Palisadoes coconut plantation collapsed by the 1880s
The land's transformation from plantation to WWII naval base (HMS Buzzard) to Norman Manley International Airport
Why this stone pillar still stands on the Palisadoes road today
This is part of the One Love Jamaica series uncovering suppressed, overlooked, and erased Jamaican history — stories that are erased, but not gone.
📍 Filmed on location at Palisadoes, Kingston, Jamaica
#JamaicaHistory #Palisadoes #NormanManleyAirport #JamaicanHeritage #KingstonJamaica #CoconutIndustry #GeneralPenitentiary #ErasedButNotGone #JamaicaTravel #CaribbeanHistory
Thank you for watching this video. Please like, share and subscribe for more video on all things Jamaican. Please also turn on post notification so you don't miss out when we post.
==========================
Share and Subscribe
@oneloveja
Follow us on Instagram:
Instagram: onelovejamaica_
Follow and like us on FaceBook
Facebook: onelovejamaica1
One Love Jamaica