Columbus Park Museum- Great Jamaican Attraction

   The town now known as Discovery Bay was originally named Puerto Seco ("Dry Harbour") by Christopher Columbus in 1494. It was named as such because Columbus could not find a source of fresh water close to this natural harbour. Columbus later found the fresh water he was looking for 5 miles to the west and named the area "Rio Bueno". In 1947 the town was renamed "Discovery Bay" to refer to the town's history as it was believed that this was the spot that Christopher Columbus first set foot on Jamaican soil. However, this claim hotly contested and two other towns also claim to be Columbus's first landing point, Rio Bueno and Seville.(Jis)

Columbus Park is an open-air historical and archaeological museum, set on 3 acres of Discovery Bay, overlooking the ocean. The museum features a wide range of artefacts which were excavated when the Kaiser Bauxite processing plant was developed. Artefacts include:

• A section of aqueduct from a sugar estate

•  A water wheel

• •      The engine carriage from a train which was used to transport sugar

•                                 Cannons

• •      An Arawak canoe

• •      A "tally" (the tool used to count bananas, made famous by the song "come Mr Tally-Man"

 
 

The museum has recently been remodeled and now includes a bar and a branch of the popular jerk restaurant "Scotchies". There are also ambitious plans to further develop the museum in the future.