Hanover Parish: History
The region was initially under Spanish control as a colony until 1655, when Spain relinquished control to the English. Over time, parishes were formed to govern the island. The parish would go unnamed for many decades even though many of the towns existed.
Hanover was established on 12 November 1723. It is the second smallest parish in Jamaica and was established from parts of Westmoreland and St James parishes. It was named in honor of the British monarch George I, who was a member of the German House of Hanover. There had been a governmental proposal to name parish St. Sophia, after the King's mother; however, the assembly did not approve the proposal. The parish's capital town, on the other hand, has name variations: St Lusia, St. Lucia, St. Lucea and, today, Lucea. In the early colonial days, Lucea, the main town and port, was even busier than Montego Bay. By the mid-18th century, Lucea was the hub of an important sugar-growing region, and the town was prosperous as a sugar port and market centre. European Jews settled in the parish as merchants, store keepers, haberdashery, shoe makers and goldsmiths. It became a free port.
After the abolition of slavery in 1834, the free people prospered, developing a variety of crops, and supplying produce to much of the rest of Jamaica. The harbor was used to export bananas until after the 1960s. A deep-water pier was built, but this has been restricted to the shipping of molasses, an important sugar product. The port was closed in 1983. The historic Fort Charlotte stands at one side of the entrance to the harbour, but was never garrisoned.