A Brief History of Port of Spain, Trinidad compiled from online sources.

The area now known as the Port of Port of Spain was originally an area of coastal
wetlands and mangrove forest where the original Amerindian inhabitants would
have anchored their canoes after their journeys into the island from other
neighboring Caribbean islands.

Because of its natural harbor, and relatively neutral weather conditions, the
natives would settle in the area, which they dubbed Cumucurapo or place of the
Silk Cotton Trees, until the advent of the Spanish to the island, which was
stumbled-upon by Columbus in the late 1490s.

By 1757 Trinidad was a colony ruled by Spain. The capital of Trinidad was at the
time located in the Northern Range at "San Jose de Oruna" or St. Joseph as we
call it today. Port of Spain was a small seaside port that was called "Puerto
d'Espana".

It was the arrival of Governor Pedro de La Moneda that caused the move of the
capital to where it is today. He was appalled at the dilapidated state of St. Joseph
and preferred to run the affairs of the colony from "Puerto d'Espana." He had
almost no support for this move, since, at the time, Port of Spain was little more
than two streets and a swamp.

Things have changed tremendously since those early days; the landscape of the
city has undergone sweeping changes due to land reclamation and several fires,
which have caused parts of the town to be re-built. Because the city is laid out on
a grid with streets running North-South and East-West, it is easy to learn your
way around and incredibly difficult to get lost

Port of Spain is now a sprawling city that has grown to encompass its former
suburbs of Woodbrook, St. Clair and Belmont. Ringed by the hills of the Northern
Range and fronted by the Gulf of Paria, it is a buzzing city where you can find some
of the best shopping in the Caribbean, several historic buildings worth visiting and
lots of great food. But perhaps what is most interesting about Port of Spain is the
diversity of our people - a true representation of Trinidad and Tobago.