Redonda – Sighted by Columbus in 1493, later a guano-mining island
In 1493, on his second voyage, Christopher Columbus and his crew became the first known Europeans to see Redonda. He named it Santa María la Redonda – "Saint Mary the Round" – after its shape, but never landed. For centuries the tiny rock was of little interest to colonial powers and served as a refuge for pirates. In the 1860s phosphate deposits from seabird guano were discovered, and workers from Montserrat came to mine them; the island was annexed to Antigua in 1869, formalised in 1872. Up to 7,000 tons were mined a year, and 120 people lived there in 1901, until mining ended in 1914. Today Redonda is uninhabited. Do you know more stories about Redonda? Share them here in Local History!