This City is strategically located on the eastern bank of the Demerara River at its mouth. This is the country’s hub of commerce and business, and population center comprising over 200,000 people. It is very overcrowded since it was originally built to accommodate only about 50,000 persons.

The City had an inauspicious beginning. When the Dutch settled up the Demerara River, they built a watch-house on the site now occupied by Stabroek Market. If enemy ships were observed on the Atlantic or on the Demerara River, the warning was quickly relayed to all the settlements upriver. Later, a small village was developed in close proximity to the watch-house.

During the French occupation of the colony of Demerara, the City was established as a township in 1782 when the name was changed to La Nouvelle (Long Camps). The Dutch regained control of Demerara and renamed their City Stabroek in 1784. In 1789, Stabroek consisted of 88 houses and a hefty population of 780 souls. When the British colonized this country, Stabroek was renamed Georgetown in honour of the reigning King, George IV.

Streets

The origin of the streets in the capital is quite interesting. The City, which was originally a swamp, had to be drained and protected from the high tides of the Demerara River. High Street was so named because it used to be a high sea-dam built for protection against the Demerara River. Water Street, parallel to High Street and closer to the river than High Street, was flooded very often and the land on Water Street came to be called “mud lots.” After high and permanent concrete seawalls were constructed, these two streets became extremely important in the commercial life of the City and the country. During those early days, the streets were muddy during rain and high tide and Brickdam was the first street in Georgetown to be covered with the “brick” so as to make traveling by animal-drawn carts easier. It was along Brickdam that the earliest city extended – from the Demerara River to what is now known as the Palms. Some other streets, such as Carmichael and Murray, were named after governors of British Guiana. In the late 1980s, Murray Street has been renamed Quamina Street, after one of the leaders of the East Coast Slave Rebellion.

Contemporary Georgetown is comprised of several wards or sections, each with its own distinct history. These wards include Kingston (named after a governor of the colony of British Guiana), Stabroek, Wortmanville, Werk-en-Rust, Newtown, Robbstown, Lacytown and Cummingsburg.

As the country’s largest port, Port Georgetown is sheltered from the persistent northeast trade winds, which generate waves approaching the shoreline. The port experiences semi-diurnal tides. The bar at the mouth of the Demerara River, which was formed by sand deposited by offshore currents, inhibits shipping but has been dredged to a depth of 6.9 meters. Port Georgetown has 45 wharves, many of which are privately owned. These include those by John Fernandes Limited, Muneshwar Limited, and Guyana Fertilizer Limited and sawmilling enterprises. Less than fifty percent are state owned including Guyana Sugar Terminals Ltd., the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force and Transport and Harbours Department. Others, such as those owned by the Guyana Forestry Commission, Customs Boat House, Fire Station, and Sussex stelling are in ruins and cannot be used. Also, The Mayor and City Council has quite a few water frontiers, which can be developed into wharves. Containers can be handled at these wharves, and there are ore and bulk cargo facilities and storage for handling several products such as wheat, flour, sugar, timber, and alcohol.

As was indicated earlier, Georgetown is also the country’s largest commercial, industrial, cultural and educational center. The country’s major transport routes converge at Georgetown. Products are transported from the Corentyne and Berbice, ferried across the Berbice River and then taken to Georgetownvia the East Coast highway. Settlements upriver, such as Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary are indirectly linked to Georgetown. Bulk sugar trucks, which haul sugar from the factories on the coastal areas, deposit their cargo at shipping facilities at Ruimveldt near Georgetown. The East Bank highway connects settlements between Linden and Georgetown. Georgetown is accessible to areas on the West Coast and West Bank of Demerara and Essequibo either directly by using the Demerara Bridge or by ferry across the Demerara River. Ferries (for example, the Pomeroon and Bartica ferries) ply regularly between Georgetown and other areas of the country. Prior to the completion of the Linden Highway (Linden-Timehri-Georgetown road) in 1968, a ferry was operated regularly between Mackenzie and Georgetown but this service has been discontinued. Smaller river craft such as launches, outboard vessels and boats, however, still link Georgetown to Linden by water. Many launches laden with produce such as plantains, bananas, and ground provisions may be observed either unloading passengers or their cargo or loading such things as foodstuff and household goods for their return journeys.

Ocean-going vessels arrive at Port Georgetown often to engage in international trade. Guyanese exports such as sugar, rum, rice, timber and shrimp are shipped overseas while imported commodities such as foodstuff, clothing, machinery and petroleum are unloaded at the docks and wharves. The imports are then distributed to all parts of the country by vehicles and carts, ships and airplanes. During periods of emigration to Europe and North America in the 1940s and 1950s, British Guianese embarked on ocean-going vessels at Port Georgetown on their way to these places. Emigrating Guyanese nowadays catch the plane at Timehri, instead. Also, many relatively small boats, locally called “launches” bring passengers and local produce such as plantains, cassava, eddoes, pineapples, and other types of vegetables and fruits from different parts of the country to Georgetown.

Georgetown is the administrative center of the country. Parliament Buildings, where the country’s laws are made, are situated here. This City also contains numerous Government buildings, agencies and offices, which perform a variety of functions. Additionally, the Supreme Court and other courts, embassies of other countries, the Presidential home and homes of most of the country’s rulers and foreign dignitaries, hospitals, and other allied services and facilities are located in this capital city.

Most of the country’s major business such as stores, banks, corporations, utility companies such as the Electric Company and Phone Company, road termini, restaurants, the country’s radio and TV stations are headquartered in Georgetown. It is the country’s biggest shopping and entertainment center. Stabroek and Bourda markets are located here while La Penitence market is situated on the southern periphery of Georgetown. As an entertainment center, Georgetown provides a wide variety of things that amuse and entertain people. Several cinemas, (Astor, Globe, Metropole and Plaza, for example) theatres (for theatrical productions), many nightclubs and hotels are found there.

Georgetown is also a religious center. The three major religious groups in Guyana (Hindus, Muslims and Christians) have their headquarters here

with their many beautiful churches, temples and mosques. St George’s Cathedral, whose spire is about 143 feet high, is the second-tallest wooden building in the world. Only the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji in Japan with a height of 161 feet surpasses St George’s. A Raj Yoga center has been opened in Kingston in the northern part of the city.

Georgetown is also Guyana’s most important cultural and educational center. The National Cultural Centre was constructed on the junction of Mandela Avenue (western boundary of the city) and Homestretch Avenue. Music, clothes, fashion, jewelry, movies, literature and other trends of consumer behaviour, which are imported by Guyanese returning from abroad are prevalent in Georgetown but then eventually spread to other parts of the country. Movies made in the United States and Bombay, now called Mumbai ( India) are favourites among Guyanese, some of whom spend almost a whole day traveling to and from the city’s cinemas just to see the latest “picture.”“Chinese” movies, including those from Asia and the “Jackie Chan and Jet Li type” movies from the USA, also attract huge audiences from around the country. This cultural diffusion process makes it possible for the country’s inhabitants to be very aware of what is going on in other parts of the world, especially North America, and Europe.

The country’s most prestigious secondary schools are located here. The names of these schools, including Queen’s College, Bishops High School, St Josephs, St Stanislaus and St Roses suggest a strong British and Christian legacy. Stella Maris, a preparatory school for those wishing to enter the country’s most prestigious high schools, is also here. Many parents enroll their children at Stella Maris long before they (the children) are born. However, some other high schools have changed their names. For example, Richard Ishmael Secondary School, named after a Guyanese educator and trade unionist, was formerly known as Indian Educational Trust College. Some other high schools in the city have become defunct, a situation largely attributable to the government nationalization of all private schools. One such school was Guyana Oriental College, which was owned and operated by an Indian national named Shruti Kant. Several libraries (National Public Free Library, for example) are available to the public. The British Council used to operate a library in Georgetown. For a long time, the John F. Kennedy Library, located very close to the Electricity Corporation, used to serve the Guyanese public. That library was subsequently housed in the USIS Center near St George’s Cathedral. The country’s largest museum, the Botanical and Promenade Gardens and other cultural sites are also found in Georgetown. The University of Guyana, established in 1963, is located at Turkeyen on the East Coast Demerara, about four (4) miles from Georgetown. The largest branch of the national Teachers’ Training College now the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) is located in very close proximity to the University of Guyana.

As the industrial centre of the country, Georgetown and its environs (just a few miles from the city), serve as the headquarters of many of Guyana’s light manufacturing industries including beer and soft drinks (soda) factories, furniture factories, a milk plant, chicken feed processing plant, flour mill, curry powder plant and other products which are assembled. Other products, which are manufactured or assembled a few miles from Georgetown, include pharmaceuticals, shorts, radios, refrigerators and plastic products.

There are several parks, botanical gardens, playgrounds and cricket fields in Georgetown which cater not only to residents of that city, but also to Guyanese from other parts of the country. The National Park with an area of 174,000 square metres is the largest open-space facility in the city. However, most of it is no longer “green” since spectators’ stands have been erected and much of the surface has been asphalted to accommodate such events as national fairs and concerts. Durban Park, covering 140,400 square metres is the second largest park in the city. It was the site of horse racing and used to attract large crowds. Other parks and playgrounds in Georgetown include Merriman’s Mall, Independence Park, Le Repentir Playfield and Farnum Playground.

The Botanical Gardens is very beautiful and extensive with a wide array of local flora and fauna. The Guyana Zoo within the Botanical Gardens is located close to downtown Georgetown. The Gardens is a very popular site for visitors from around Guyana, as well as foreigners and tourists.

There are several cricket grounds in the city with Bourda being the internationally famous one, where test matches are played. Some cricket experts consider it to be the most majestic and beautiful ground in the world. Bourda is one of the few sporting venues in Guyana, which is fenced with seating facilities available for sports fans attending cricket and soccer matches and other events. Bourda also has the largest capacity (about 15,000 spectators) of all the grounds in the city. Bourda, like many other grounds in Georgetown, is privately owned and operated. There are several cricket and other grounds in north Georgetown, extending from the Guyana Defence Force Headquarters (near Vlissengen Road) to Everest Cricket Club and Queens College, which are adjacent to Camp Road. Several of the city’s prestigious high schools have their grounds there.

Spatially, the city has grown to its limits. With the Atlantic Ocean on its north, the Demerara River on its west, Vlissengen Road and Kitty on its east, and La Penitence on its south, Georgetown can only grow vertically. There are, however, very few tall buildings in the city. Le Meridien Pegasus (formerly the Pegasus Hotel) and the Bank of Guyana building are the tallest concrete structures in the city. The “Greater Georgetown” has been given to the area encompassing the city and its suburbs and extends up to Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara and to Agricola on the East Bank.

The country’s major hospitals are found in Georgetown. G.P.H.C ( Georgetown Public Hospital, Corporation Georgetown), (Medical Arts Centre (formerly known as Prashad’s Hospital), St Joseph’s Mercy and Woodlands are the most well known ones. St Joseph’s and Medical Arts were formerly known respectively as Romiti and Prashad’s who were their founding doctors. Services at G.P.H.C are free while the others are private, fee-paying hospitals. Other small hospitals and health services have recently sprung up in Georgetown. Of course, there are numerous private physicians and other practitioners such as dentists and optometrists/ophthalmologists who provide all kinds of health care for people from all over the country. Hence, everybody, including those needing pediatric and dental care consult doctors in Georgetown.

Most Guyanese who require legal services must travel to Georgetown where lawyers, barristers, solicitors, paralegals (locally called “touts”), clerks and justices of the peace have their offices. Recently, fax services and photocopying seem to have sprung up at every street corner in the city. Georgetown was meticulously planned and intersecting streets are at right angles with each other. With its gardens, parks, canals and tree-lined boulevards such as Main Street, the city is known as the “Garden City of the Caribbean.”