Grace Bay, Provodenciales
Providenciales - Sapodilla Hill

Sapodilla Bay, Providenciales

Sapodilla Hill is at the southernmost tip of Providenciales, adjacent to the anchorage at Sapodilla Bay. Since at least 1760, visiting mariners have been making inscriptions on the rocky face of the hill to mark their visits. In 1999 the National Museum sponsored the making of plaster casts of the site to ensure preservation of the inscriptions which are on display at the airport.

Oldest Inscriptions

Palestine Inscription

The Palestine was a ship that was wrecked in a hurricane in 1866. Apparently a sailor from this ship (R.N. Baker?) visited Sapodilla Bay in 1847 and possibly again in 1857 (the four in the inscription appears to have been overwritten with a five).

Building Inscriptions

There are several inscriptions representing tents, houses or other structures on Sapodilla Hill. One of the most elaborate is this multi-storied building with a steeple on the roof and either elaborate wings or balconies on the side. It is unclear whether the design around the names D. Harriott and C.L.P. Taylor is simply a frame or a representation of a large house. These visitors came to Sapodilla Hill in 1844. The Harriott family ran a large salt raking business on Salt Cay and the Taylor name is common on both Salt Cay and Grand Turk.

Schooner Inscriptions

Two of the inscriptions on Sapodilla Hill depict twin-masted schooners with sharp-angled stern counters. The date of the images and whether or not they represent actual vessels that visited the bay is not clear.



Bibliography

Smithers, Amelia and Anthony Taylor. The Turks and Caicos Islands.
  Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2003.


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