San Juan del Norte
Encyclopedia
San Juan de Nicaragua, formerly known as San Juan del Norte and known in English as Greytown, is a town and municipality
in the Río San Juan
department
of Nicaragua
.
coast just to the south of the Mosquito Coast
near the border with Costa Rica
. It is located at the mouth of the San Juan River
which flows east from Lake Nicaragua
and is along the route of various proposals for a Nicaragua Canal
to the Pacific Ocean
.
The town's geography is influenced by the San Juan River delta
with volcanic sediment deposits from Costa Rican volcanoes interacting with ocean currents and winds. This action fills the town's harbor with shifting sandbar
s and spit
s.
and was a small fort and customs
station. Spanish explorers first reached the bay at the mouth of the San Juan River on 24 June (feast day of Saint John the Baptist
) 1539 and named it San Juan del Norte (St. John of the North). A garrison
was first established in 1541 as San Juan de la Cruz by Nicaraguan governor Rodrigo Contreras.
In 1707 and again in 1762, the area was captured by an alliance of Miskito
s, Zambo
s (Afro
-Indian
s), and English
. After 1762, settlement of the area began and a 1778 commercial treaty permitted residency of Spaniards. The eastern coast of Nicaragua had long fallen under British
influence with the Mosquito Coast being a protectorate from 1740 but the Spanish asserted control over San Juan del Norte. In 1796, the town was declared a free port
by the Spanish but the Spanish were ousted in 1821 with the independence of Central America
.
In 1841, the town was occupied by the Miskitos with British
assistance and, in 1848, the town was occupied directly by the British. It was rechristened Greytown after the then Jamaica
n Governor
Charles Edward Grey
and nominally ceded to the Miskito Kingdom, a British protectorate
to the north..
A year later, the town began rapid growth as the eastern terminus of a transport operation owned by American
Cornelius Vanderbilt
's Accessory Transit Company
that carried thousands of travelers each month from the Atlantic
to the Pacific side of Central America
on their way to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush
. Sail and steam-ships traveled from New York City
and New Orleans in the United States
to Greytown. From there, small boats transported passengers up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua. Then, mules, horses, or stagecoach
es carried them over the small isthmus
between the lake and San Juan del Sur
, Rivas on the Pacific where they would embark on ships traveling the coast between Panama
and Nicaragua and California
.
However, the town's prosperity was cut short when, on 13 July 1854, the United States Navy
sloop
USS Cyane
bombarded
and totally burned the town, supposedly in retaliation for local actions against American citizens. The action was a culmination of a confrontation between Americans and the townspeople over tariffs and control of transit routes. The destruction was reported around the world, including an illustration in the Illustrated London News
.http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/warmup/greytown/greytown_f.html Soon after, the San Juan River changed course and the town was again destroyed.
Greytown was rebuilt after its destruction and, in 1855, the American filibuster
William Walker installed himself as President of Nicaragua
and took control of the Accessory Transit Company's assets and revoked its charter. He himself was ousted in 1857 by elements backed by Vanderbilt. Walker and his followers attempted to retake Nicaragua in November 1857, when they entered Greytown harbor and camped at nearby Puntas Arenas. However, U.S. Marines
soon surrounded the forces and captured Walker.
Vanderbilt then ceased operation of the transit service in exchange for a stipend from the rival Pacific Mail Steamship Company
and the United States Mail Steamship Company
, which operated similar routes across Panama. As a result, Greytown reverted to backwater status and remained a small settlement into the 20th century.
The town was legally placed under the sovereignty of Nicaragua and removed from Miskito control in 1860 but remained de facto under British protection through much of the remainder of the century. In 1894, Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya
fully incorporated the region into the state, at which time Greytown had 1482 inhabitants.
In 1984, Greytown was bombarded and destroyed again in a Sandinista
–Contra
conflict in which the United States, while supporting the Contras, attacked the town on 9 April 1984.
A new town was built a few kilometers to the northwest and is called both New Greytown and Nuevo San Juan del Norte.
In 2002, the municipality of San Juan del Norte was officially renamed San Juan de Nicaragua and its capital renamed Graytown [sic] by the National Assembly of Nicaragua
.
to the north, Greytown has a large population of speakers of English-based Mosquito Coast Creole who are of Africa
n descent.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Río San Juan
Río San Juan (department)
Río San Juan is a department in Nicaragua. It was formed in 1957 from parts of Chontales and Zelaya departments. It covers an area of 7,473 km² and has a population of 95,500 . The capital is San Carlos. The Department also includes the Solentiname Islands archipelago and the San Juan River,...
department
Departments of Nicaragua
Nicaragua is a unitary republic, and for administrative purposes, it is divided into 15 departments and two self-governing regions based on the Spanish model:-Zelaya Department:...
of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
.
Geography
Greytown lies on Nicaragua's CaribbeanCaribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
coast just to the south of the Mosquito Coast
Mosquito Coast
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests...
near the border with Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. It is located at the mouth of the San Juan River
San Juan River (Nicaragua)
The San Juan River , also known as El Desaguadero , is a 192.06 km river that flows east out of Lake Nicaragua into the Caribbean Sea. A large section of the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica runs on the right bank of the river...
which flows east from Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada or is a vast freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic origin. With an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world and the 9th largest in the Americas. It is slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation...
and is along the route of various proposals for a Nicaragua Canal
Nicaragua Canal
The Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal was a proposed waterway through Nicaragua to connect the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean...
to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
The town's geography is influenced by the San Juan River delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
with volcanic sediment deposits from Costa Rican volcanoes interacting with ocean currents and winds. This action fills the town's harbor with shifting sandbar
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
s and spit
Spit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
s.
History
San Juan del Norte was founded by the SpanishSpanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
and was a small fort and customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
station. Spanish explorers first reached the bay at the mouth of the San Juan River on 24 June (feast day of Saint John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
) 1539 and named it San Juan del Norte (St. John of the North). A garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
was first established in 1541 as San Juan de la Cruz by Nicaraguan governor Rodrigo Contreras.
In 1707 and again in 1762, the area was captured by an alliance of Miskito
Miskito
The Miskitos are a Native American ethnic group in Central America. A substantial number of them are mixed race, especially those in the northern end of their territory, where an African-Indigenous mixture was predominant. Their territory extends from Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Rio Grande,...
s, Zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
s (Afro
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
-Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s), and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
. After 1762, settlement of the area began and a 1778 commercial treaty permitted residency of Spaniards. The eastern coast of Nicaragua had long fallen under British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
influence with the Mosquito Coast being a protectorate from 1740 but the Spanish asserted control over San Juan del Norte. In 1796, the town was declared a free port
Free port
A free port or free zone , sometimes also called a bonded area is a port, port area or other area with relaxed jurisdiction with respect to the country of location...
by the Spanish but the Spanish were ousted in 1821 with the independence of Central America
Federal Republic of Central America
The Federal Republic of Central America, known as the United Provinces of Central America in its first year of creation, was a sovereign state in Central America, which consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala of New Spain...
.
In 1841, the town was occupied by the Miskitos with British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
assistance and, in 1848, the town was occupied directly by the British. It was rechristened Greytown after the then Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Governor
Governors of Jamaica
This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys in Jamaica after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica....
Charles Edward Grey
Charles Edward Grey
Sir Charles Edward Grey GCH was a British politician.He was a younger son of Ralph William Grey of Backworth. Grey was educated at University College, Oxford, graduating in 1806, and elected a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford in 1808. He was called to the bar in 1811, and appointed a commissioner...
and nominally ceded to the Miskito Kingdom, a British protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
to the north..
A year later, the town began rapid growth as the eastern terminus of a transport operation owned by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
's Accessory Transit Company
Accessory Transit Company
The Accessory Transit Company was a company set up by Cornelius Vanderbilt and others during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, to transport would-be prospectors from the east coast of the United States to the west coast....
that carried thousands of travelers each month from the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to the Pacific side of Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
on their way to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. Sail and steam-ships traveled from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and New Orleans in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to Greytown. From there, small boats transported passengers up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua. Then, mules, horses, or stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
es carried them over the small isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
between the lake and San Juan del Sur
San Juan del Sur
San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in south-west Nicaragua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan families and foreign tourists....
, Rivas on the Pacific where they would embark on ships traveling the coast between Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and Nicaragua and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
However, the town's prosperity was cut short when, on 13 July 1854, the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
USS Cyane
USS Cyane (1837)
The second USS Cyane was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Cyane was launched 2 December 1837 by Boston Navy Yard. She was commissioned in May 1838, Commander John Percival in command....
bombarded
Bombardment of San Juan del Norte
The Bombardment of San Juan del Norte or the Bombardment of Greytown was a naval engagement initiated by the United States sloop-of-war USS Cyane against the town of San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua...
and totally burned the town, supposedly in retaliation for local actions against American citizens. The action was a culmination of a confrontation between Americans and the townspeople over tariffs and control of transit routes. The destruction was reported around the world, including an illustration in the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
.http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/warmup/greytown/greytown_f.html Soon after, the San Juan River changed course and the town was again destroyed.
Greytown was rebuilt after its destruction and, in 1855, the American filibuster
Filibuster (military)
A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...
William Walker installed himself as President of Nicaragua
President of Nicaragua
The position of President of Nicaragua was created in the Constitution of 1854. From 1825 until the Constitution of 1838 the title of the position was known as Head of State and from 1838 to 1854 as Supreme Director .-Heads of State of Nicaragua within the Federal Republic of Central America...
and took control of the Accessory Transit Company's assets and revoked its charter. He himself was ousted in 1857 by elements backed by Vanderbilt. Walker and his followers attempted to retake Nicaragua in November 1857, when they entered Greytown harbor and camped at nearby Puntas Arenas. However, U.S. Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
soon surrounded the forces and captured Walker.
Vanderbilt then ceased operation of the transit service in exchange for a stipend from the rival Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...
and the United States Mail Steamship Company
United States Mail Steamship Company
The United States Mail Steamship Company – also called the United States Mail Line, or the U.S. Mail Line – was a passenger steamship line formed in 1920 by the United States Shipping Board to run the USSB's fleet of ex-German ocean liners that had been seized by the United States during World War...
, which operated similar routes across Panama. As a result, Greytown reverted to backwater status and remained a small settlement into the 20th century.
The town was legally placed under the sovereignty of Nicaragua and removed from Miskito control in 1860 but remained de facto under British protection through much of the remainder of the century. In 1894, Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya
José Santos Zelaya
José Santos Zelaya López was the President of Nicaragua from 25 July 1893 to 21 December 1909.-Early life:He was a son of José María Zelaya Irigoyen, born in Nicaragua, and mistress Juana López Ramírez...
fully incorporated the region into the state, at which time Greytown had 1482 inhabitants.
In 1984, Greytown was bombarded and destroyed again in a Sandinista
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
–Contra
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
conflict in which the United States, while supporting the Contras, attacked the town on 9 April 1984.
A new town was built a few kilometers to the northwest and is called both New Greytown and Nuevo San Juan del Norte.
In 2002, the municipality of San Juan del Norte was officially renamed San Juan de Nicaragua and its capital renamed Graytown [sic] by the National Assembly of Nicaragua
National Assembly of Nicaragua
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of Nicaragua.-Composition:The Nicaraguan legislature is a unicameral body....
.
Population
As with the Mosquito CoastMosquito Coast
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests...
to the north, Greytown has a large population of speakers of English-based Mosquito Coast Creole who are of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n descent.
External links
- Plan map and Panoramic Views of Greytown from the 19th century including the burning of Greytown in 1854