Situated at the western end of the Palisadoes sand spit that protects Kingston, Port Royal was well-positioned as a harbour.
Its first visitors were the Taino Indians. They used the area, which they called Caguay or Caguaya, during their fishing expeditions. Although it is not known whether they ever settled at the spit they did inhabit other parts of Jamaica.
Spanish
The Spanish first landed in Jamaica under the leadership of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Permanent settlement occurred when Juan de Esquevil brought a group of settlers in 1509. They came in search of gold and silver but found none. Instead they began what they saw as a viable alternative: enslaving Taino to farm the sugar cane that Esquevil had transported from England with him. Much like the Taino before them, the Spanish did not appear to have much use for the Port Royal area. They did, however, retain its Taino name.
Spain kept control of Jamaica mostly so that it could prevent other countries from accessing the island so strategically placed within the trade routes of the Caribbean. Spain maintained control over the island for 146 years, until the English invasion of 1655.
English
The town was captured by England in 1655 during the invasion of Jamaica. By 1659 two hundred houses, shops and warehouses surrounded the fort; by 1692 five forts defended the port.
The English initially called the place Cagway but quickly replaced this with the name that survives to this day: Port Royal.
For much of the period between the English conquest and the 1692 earthquake, Port Royal served as the capital of Jamaica; after the earthquake, Spanish Town took over this role, later followed by Kingston, whose development was spurred through resettlement of earthquake survivors. A final devastating earthquake on January 14, 1907, again liquefied the sand spit, destroying nearly all of the rebuilt city and submerging additional
