Once known as "Mosquito Point," Fort Augusta stands as a remarkable historical site in southeastern St. Catherine, guarding the entrance to Hunts Bay. Built in 1740 on a challenging, swampy peninsula, the fort was designed to protect Kingston during its rise as a significant town. Despite its regal name and impressive construction, the fort retains its connection to its mosquito-infested origins, a legacy that continues to define this unique piece of Jamaican history.

Published Thursday, Dec 21, 1972

Jamaica places: The impressive, historic Fort Augusta

By Alex D. Hawkes

RECENTLY, in the regular Daily Gleaner section from the Jamaica Information Service, which contains that exceptionally interesting and valuable gazetteer, and many other items, I noted in the little right bottom-hand corner paragraph, entitled “Did You Know?...” the following, which is pertinent to my column today:
“Did You Know?... That Fort Augusta (in south-eastern St. Catherine) used to be known as ‘Mosquito Point’? Guarding the entrance into Hunts Bay from Kingston Harbour and now used as a penitentiary, the peninsula probably acquired the name due to its location in a swampy area infested with mosquitoes.”
Fort Augusta, as a name, has a considerable ancestry, but the word “august,” which signifies something regal, must fall behind the golden epithet of Mosquito Point. Mosquito Point is a much more appropriate name for this unique Jamaican place, in fact.
The other day, a particularly hot and sticky one, Mr. Campbell and I drove out in full broad daylight to Fort Augusta and were practically eaten alive by diminutive mosquitoes, one of some seventy-odd different kinds that occur on this island.
The trip to Fort Augusta, alias Mosquito Point, is one readily made from the Corporate Area, as we did via Three Miles to the desolate and trashy wastes surrounding bustling Newport West, with its ever-increasing array of ships specialising in containerised cargo. We then proceeded along the causeway, where several prominent signs proclaiming “Positively No Dumping!” seemed to exert little deterrent effect as we watched a van unload an immense amount of trash just along the erratically rough roadway.

We then crossed the arched bridge, where I always expect some car or truck to come into our lane since it is not marked into left and right sides. Of course, we, somewhat, enjoyed the view towards Port Henderson Hill and the big new hotel which, since it lies in the parish of St. Catherine, may have to change its name prior to officially opening.
And then we came to the bottom of the causeway bridge and saw Fort Augusta off to our left. Several men were extending their nets in the water, and a number of pelicans and other fishing birds were dipping in and out further along. Fort Augusta is situated on a peninsula, now almost connected with the fill of the causeway through small ponds and salt marshy areas where birds often abound, sticking out into Kingston Harbour.
We continued on our way, turning off towards the bathing beach, which lies at the base of the peninsula and which, despite the increasing pollution of the harbour, continues to attract large crowds, particularly on weekends and holidays.
Entry to much of Fort Augusta’s peninsula is prohibited without special advance permission from the prison authorities. However, from the causeway and from the beach at its base, one can gain some idea of its appearance, studded with coconut palms.
In the invaluable and fascinating book Historic Jamaica From The Air, with photographs by Mr. Jack Tyndale-Biscoe and text by Dr. David Buisseret, happily available in our good bookshops, we find both a reasonably contemporary aerial photo of Fort Augusta and much of its peninsula, accompanied by a reproduction of a plan dating from the year 1782, which is not at all outdated. Indeed, one can see from Mr. Tyndale-Biscoe’s superb photograph almost all of the details of Mosquito Point, alias Fort Augusta, which are to be seen in the 18th-century plan or map.

FORT AUGUSTA, according to Dr. Buisseret, was constructed, beginning in 1740, as a defensive fortification for the entrance to the inner bay when Kingston started to grow as an important town, during the British period of Jamaica’s historical sequence. The site is described as “very difficult” and a “stinking, muddy spit,” which necessitated the sinking of long palmetto logs into the mucky subsoil.
Despite all the constructional problems, by the year 1755, an impressive large fort housing some 80 guns had been built. The fort is still one of Jamaica’s most spectacular, when inspected from some distance away, and, as I can attest from a visit made as a guest (not as an inmate), it is even more so at close range. And the mosquitoes still prevail.

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