Saint George, Antigua and Barbuda: History
=== Archaic age and ceramic age in Winthrope's Bay ===
From the earliest days of colonization, pre-Columbian peoples made extensive use of Winthorpe's Bay. There are patches of Archaic Age flakes and lithic debitage scattered over many kilometers of the waterfront, together with deposits of shellfish, which are the leftovers of prehistoric meals. In 1997, a shoreline archaeological survey was carried out. Three sites from the Ceramic Age were identified and examined during this search. One meter below the surface, Saladoid pottery was found in GE-06 (Winthorpe's West). But the site is essentially a post-Saladoid site. The second and biggest site is GE-01, a sizable post-Saladoid and Archaic munti-component site (Winthorpe's East). Here was found a lithic workshop, or flint processing facility. There were two archeological excavations in 1997 and 2002. Barnacle Point, and the Archaic sites, GE-9 and 10, were destroyed by land development in the summer of 2003. Studies in this field are ongoing.
The parish of Saint George was created on 22 January 1725 after An Act for dividing the Parish of Saint Peter in the said Island; and for erecting a new Parish, to be called the Parish of Saint George passed the Assembly on 10 January 1725, and the Council on the same day. The parish was created due to the parish of Saint Peter being too large to support the parish of Saint George. The parish was governed by twelve vestry-men.
During the times of slavery, Saint George was divided into twenty-two slave plantations.
The United States sought to establish an Army Air Base at Coolidge, Saint George, and a Naval Air Station at Crabbs, Saint Peter. The U.S. flag was hoisted on 21 March 1941, even though the Antigua agreement was not signed until 28 May and the entire lease agreement not until 27 March 1941. Even earlier, on 4 February, work had started building the Naval Air Station, and on 17 March, a detachment of fifty Marines, the first American military personnel, arrived. On 13 May, construction on the bigger Army Air Base started. The settlement of Winthorpes and the MacDonalds' estate house at High Point were included in the borders of the region selected for the Army base, which was primarily made up of canefield, scrub, and mango swamp.
Construction on the base did not conclude until the spring of 1942, in part due to the lengthy process of relocating the village and its residents. However, both bases had started up immediately using makeshift facilities, with the first plane landing at Coolidge on 6 June 1941, and the first seaplane arriving at Crabbs, Saint Peter on 25 June. When the air bases diminished in importance, the army air base was converted into the Coolidge Airport, later renamed the V.C. Bird International Airport.