Bahamas Philately: Grand Bahama – Freeport

Freeport was founded by an American, Wallace Groves, who formed the Grand Bahama Port Authority Ltd to negotiate the Hawksbill Creek Agreement with the Bahamas Government.

The Hawksbill Creek Agreement was an agreement signed in 1955 between the government of the Bahamas and Groves to establish a city and free trade zone on Grand Bahama Island with an aim of spurring economic development in the area through industrial and commercial area, as well as a holiday and resort area. The city of Freeport was planned and built from scratch.

Freeport, on the island of Grand Bahama, was established as a free trade zone in the 1950s and became the Bahama’s second city. In the late 1950s a deep water port was created and work started on downtown Freeport in 1959. The Lucayan Beach Hotel was opened in 1963 with its casino. This was quickly followed by the construction of a 500 room Holiday Inn, also at Lucaya, and the 800 room Kings Inn (later known as the Princess Hotel), also with a casino.

The Freeport development, complete with a first-rate airport, became very successful and created a prosperous enclave catering primarily to American tourists, including cruise ship passengers, and to expatriate Americans choosing to live in stylish comfort close to U.S. shores.