From Cedar to Stone: Urban Life in Transition in Early Modern Bermuda

Author(s): Brent Fortenberry

Year: 2013

Summary

The town of St. George's served as Bermuda's colonial capital from 1612 to 1815. Over nearly three hundred years, the town flourished as Bermuda transitioned from a restrictive agriculture economy under the Somers Island Company to a powerful maritime economy under the Crown during the Free Holding period. In this paper I explore the changing urban landscape of St. George's from 1684 to 1730 as the town underwent a dramatic rebuilding when the Somers Island Company was dissolved and the town transitioned from a staid timber-framed ceremonial landscape to a patchwork of limestone mansions and storehouses as the island's maritime trade economy accelerated. I chart the dynamic physical nature and arrangement of the town, the  changing experiences of its residents and visitors, and the evolving meanings of St. George's as Bermuda gained prominence in the English Atlantic world.

Cite this Record

From Cedar to Stone: Urban Life in Transition in Early Modern Bermuda. Brent Fortenberry. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428439)

Keywords

Temporal Keywords
Early Modern Period

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 368