Tucker's Town Bermuda
Tucker's Town, a small peninsular land in southern part of St. George's parish has been through strange transformations over time. Once the poorest people of Bermuda lived there till the first world war, with fishing and farming as their main livelihood. Today Tucker's Town is the place only for the affluent. A house here costs well over $2 million.
So how did all this happen? Well, Tucker's town initially was an uninhabited piece of land exposed to the
Castle Harbor as you can see in the map below.
Daniel Tucker was one of the early Governors of Bermuda when the first British settlement took place. In 1616 he decided to build a new township called the Tucker's Town on this peninsular land jutting into the Castle Harbor. But he ignored the fact that the place is right on the harbor which is exposed to the harsh elements of weather.
Secondly, this land was quite far away from the
St. George's Town which was considered the center of St. George's parish. As a result he could not attract many residents from the mainland of St. George where the early settlement took place. While construction of a 12-foot wide road began and a small chapel was built, practically nobody wanted to move to Tucker's Town.
A House in Tucker's Town, Bermuda
Photo: kansasphoto / flickr
So the project eventually failed. And Tucker's Town remained as a small fishing and farming village occupied by the poorest section of Bermuda. In 1750, there were some 35 families living here occupying a land area of around 350 acres. There was also a small whaling station established for hunting whales. Subsequently the Bermuda Government tried to establish cultivation of cotton. That too failed. It appeared that wrong type of cotton were cultivated which resulted in such failure.
Finally after some 300 years following the first world war, Bermuda government sold off much part of the Tucker's Town land to private parties for building clubs and hotels. As a result the
Mid Ocean Golf Course came up here along with a hotel called
Marriott Castle Harbor Hotel.
The hotel was not financially viable and finally had to be demolished, and a fabulous 18-hole golf course was built on the grounds there known as the
Tucker's Point Golf Course. The rich members of the clubs then started settling around the club premises by buying lands and building up their own houses and properties. And gradually Tucker's Town became the place of the rich and wealthy.
Beach at Tucker's Point, Bermuda
Photo: kansasphoto / flickr
There is a small old fort called Fort Bruere located at the tip of Tucker's Town known as Frick's Point. This fort was built during the American Revolution to guard the nearby
Castle Island located in Castle Harbor. Nothing much remains of the fort though.
By Raj Bhattacharya
Raj, a seasoned travel writer and Bermuda destination expert, has extensive global travel experience. This website reflects his profound insights, garnered over nearly two decades of dedicated findings and research on the island. Raj has assisted countless Bermuda-bound visitors by providing direct, personalized responses to their queries and imparting his wealth of knowledge through this platform. This site serves as an indispensable guide for those seeking informed and reliable insights into Bermuda's treasures.
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Visitors' Reviews and Comments
TEM Darrell (June 2021)
Statements made by Thomas Mahoney 2017, are a little more accurate than the prior. My Grandparents were the caretakers for Dr. Frick 50's - 70's and maybe out of modesty it was always referred to as Castle Point by the Fricks and My family. At the point, The Fricks built what called the tower, a round lighthouse-looking building that gave you a clear view of Castle Island where the Fricks and my father went to shoot birds.
The property at that time had a 2 bedroom, Helpers Quarters, A guest House with 4 separate bedrooms with baths, the Main House which was quite elaborate for its time and quite a few outbuildings, a huge Swimming pool, A driving range, putting green, grass tennis court and a boat house. Dr. Frick always told my family to enjoy and treat the place as our own.
Jon Louis Seavitt (October 2017)
My family and I were guest at the old Castle Harbor hotel for many years from 1969 through 1980s and as we are getting on in life we were all together at a reunion having fond memories. One of the questions we all had was after a round of golf with dad we would stop for an ice cold beer at the little bar at the golf club. We cannot remember the name of that pub in what was often called the new wing of the old Castle harbor hotel.
Thomas Mahoney (March 2017)
The 'fort' at the tip of Castle or Frick's Point is not a Fort at all. It was built in the early 20th century by the Frick family and is not Fort Bruere. Fort Bruere is not located on the tip of the point, rather, further up the peninsula to the west, and there is nothing remaining of this work to be seen.
Chynna
Hello, the fact that you said that the government sold the land off is really sad. The land was stolen from the blacks who stayed there when the whites left. The land was not sold off it was forcibly taken by the government and one woman was even physically removed from her home...
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