What Is the History of New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay?

By Sail Abacos, Editorial Team

Reviewed by Captain Ronald Rolle

American Loyalists began settling Green Turtle Cay in the 1770s, but the main settlement of New Plymouth took shape after 1786 when refugees from the former colonies established permanent homes. The village grew steadily as families from the Carolinas, New York, and other former colonies sought new lives under British rule.

The early economy depended on wrecking, with Green Turtle Cay becoming the wrecking capital of the Abacos. Ships foundering on nearby reefs provided goods and income until the construction of lighthouses reduced shipwrecks in the late 1800s.

New Plymouth's architecture reflects its Loyalist origins. Narrow streets wind past pastel-painted clapboard houses with white picket fences and flowering gardens, creating a scene reminiscent of a New England fishing village transplanted to the tropics. This distinctive character earned official recognition when New Plymouth was declared a historic district in 1999.

The Albert Lowe Museum, opened in 1976, was the first historic museum in the Bahamas. Housed in an 1825 Loyalist home, it displays photographs, paintings, model ships, and artifacts documenting centuries of island history. Albert Lowe, born on the cay in 1920, dedicated his later years to preserving this heritage.

The Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden, opened in 1985, features 24 bronze busts of notable Bahamians alongside historical monuments. Created by sculptor James Mastin in collaboration with Albert Lowe, the garden commemorates the Loyalist settlers who shaped the islands.

Today, many New Plymouth residents trace their ancestry directly to the original Loyalist families, maintaining traditions passed down through more than two centuries of island life.

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