Spanish Wells is a settlement on the island of St. George’s Cay located off the northern tip of Eleuthera island.
Historically, the island was used as a last stop for the Spanish treasure fleet returning to Europe and Iberian Peninsula. Spanish galleons and Spain’s medieval ships refilled their water supply from wells created for this purpose – thus the English name of the settlement: Spanish Wells.
The first British colonists were the Eleutheran adventurers from Bermuda (intending to be some of the first settlers of Eleuthera), who suffered shipwreck on a reef, known as the “Devil’s Backbone” off Eleuthera in 1647. After living in a cave known as “Preacher’s Cave” on Eleuthera, they ended up at Spanish Wells. Among other, later, groups of settlers were Crown loyalists, who left the United States after the American Revolutionary War.
In the late 1970s, Spanish Wells served as a trans-shipment point for illicit recreational drugs being shipped from Latin America to North America as part of the transoceanic illegal drug trade.
Postcards
1964 – Dexter Press (DT-92300-B Series – Type F)
