Jamaica Plain

Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of 4.4 square miles (11 km²) in Boston, Massachusetts, US. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the town of Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbury as a part of the new town of West Roxbury in 1851, and became part of Boston when West Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1874. In the 19th century, Jamaica Plain became one of the first streetcar suburbs in America and home to a significant portion of Boston's Emerald Necklace of parks, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. According to the 2010 Census, it had a population of 37,468.

History

Colonial era

Shortly after the founding of Boston and Roxbury in 1630, William Heath's family and three others settled on land just south of Parker Hill in what is now Jamaica Plain. In the next few years, William Curtis, John May and others set up farms nearby along Stony Brook, which flowed from south to north from Turtle Pond (in Hyde Park) to an outlet in the Charles River marshes in the current filled-in Fens area of Boston. John Polley followed with a farm which he purchased from Lt. Joshua Hewe in 1659 at the site of the present day Soldier's Monument at the intersection of South and Centre streets, closer to the "Great Pond", later known as Jamaica Pond. Later, for services rendered during the Pequot War, Joseph Weld received a grant of 278 acres (1.1 km²) of land between South Street and Centre Street. His son John later built a home along South Street in what is now the Arnold Arboretum, and his descendants continued to live in the area for many generations.

Jamaica

Jamaica (ⁱ/dʒəˈmeɪkə/) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, comprising the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island, 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island containing the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Jamaica is the fifth-largest island country in the Caribbean.

Previously inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Named Santiago, it remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain) conquered the island and renamed it Jamaica. Under British rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa, followed later by Chinese and Indian indentured labour. All slaves were fully emancipated in 1838, with independence from the United Kingdom achieved on 6 August 1962.

Jamaica (song)

"Jamaica" is a song by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive that appears on the 1979 album Rock n' Roll Nights. It features Jim Clench on lead vocals. It was written by well-known songwriter Jim Vallance. It was released as a single but did not chart. The song, along with "Heartaches," was played live on American Bandstand in February 1979 to support the Rock n' Roll Nights album release.

Using different lyrics, Rick Springfield remade the song under the title "Kristina" on his 1982 album Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet.

References

Jamaica (novel)

Jamaica : A Novel (2007) is a novel by Australian author Malcolm Knox. It won the Colin Roderick Award in 2007, and was shortlisted for the Fiction category of the 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

Plot summary

A group of 6 Australian friends - white, middle-aged males - combine to compete in a marathon relay swim in treacherous waters off Jamaica. But even before the race begins fractures appear in the relationships, with drug-taking, hidden secrets and personal crises coming to dominate.

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