Chaguanas was named for the Chaguanes Amerindian tribe. The area was settled
by the time of the British conquest of Trinidad in 1797 (see
History of Trinidad and Tobago). The
town originated on what was then H.E. Robinson's sugar estate adjacent to the
Woodford Lodge sugar refinery and the De Verteuil coconut and cocoa estate to
the north and east. Construction of the Trinidad Government Railway helped the
town grow.
The Princess Margaret Highway, built by the US military during World War II,
joined the Southern Main Road at Chaguanas. Construction of the Sir
