St. Ann, is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called 'the Garden Parish of Jamaica' on account of its natural beauty. Saint Ann is the birthplace of reggae singers Floyd Lloyd, Burning Spear and Bob Marley (died 1981), and The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey (died 1940), one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes. More recently, it has become known as the headquarters of the Jamaica Dogsled Team.
St. Ann is one of the oldest populated areas in the island of Jamaica tracing back to 600 - 650 A.D. It is believed to be the earliest Taino/Arawak settlement in Jamaica. When Christopher Columbus first came to Jamaica in 1494, he landed on the shores of St. Ann. The first Spanish settlement in Jamaica was also at Sevilla la Nueva, now called Seville, just to the west of St Ann's Bay. Established by Juan de Esquivel, the first Spanish Governor of Jamaica, St Ann's Bay became the third capital established by Spain in the Americas. The first sugar mills were established by the Spaniards in Sevilla la Nueva before 1526.
After 1655, when the English captured Jamaica, St Ann's Bay gradually developed as a fishing port with many warehouses and wharves. The parish of St. Ann was later named after Lady Anne Hyde the first wife of King James II of England. Ocho Ríos began to develop as a modern town and a favourite tourist destination in Jamaica. Its development commenced when Reynolds Jamaica Mines built a deep-water pier, west of the town to ship bauxite ore from the mines.
