Charlestown, Nevis – I took myself on a tour of Alexander Hamilton’s Nevis. And then I had the Hamilton! soundtrack in my head for the rest of the day. (Not a bad thing.)
Anyone who has seen the musical Hamilton! knows that the statesman Alexander Hamilton was “dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean…” That was Nevis (although it was a thriving port and not exactly a forgotten spot). Hamilton only spent a few years here before he was abandoned by his father and then moved with his mother to St Croix. (Maybe that was the forgotten spot?) In any case, Nevis proudly claims him as a native son, with the small Museum of Nevis History on the site of his supposed birthplace.
About 2.5 miles east, in the hills above Charlestown, the ruins of the Hamilton Estate include the old sugar mill, the chimney, and other crumbling structures. Alexander never lived at this property, but it remained in the family until it ceased operation in 1951.
Other locations from Alexander Hamilton’s Nevis are the once busy port, the Customs House and many churches. The St Thomas Lowland Church is the oldest on the island, dating to 1643.
