More than 300 years ago, English Adventurers in search of religious freedom founded the Western World first true seat of democracy and named it Eleuthera, the Greek word for freedom. Its settlers, fleeing persecution in Bermuda and England, called themselves "The Eleutheran Adventurers and time and circumstances would prove that tag more accurate than they ever expected.
Led by Captain William Sayle, the 70-member band of adventurers first went ashore near Governor Harbour. Disputes rose among the group and Sayle and his faction headed off toward the northern part of the island by boat. Their boat floundered on the treacherous reefs and their supplies were lost. Many of them nearly starved, but they made do, living and worshipping in a cavern that is now known as Preacher Cave.
Sayle journeyed to the US to find help to support his fledgling colony. A much needed shipment of supplies was sent by the hard-pressed colonists in Virginia. As time progressed, many, if not most, of the original adventurers drifted away, but a commited group remained. This hilly, verdant isle became the birthplace of the Bahamas, and eventually one of the most developed of the Out Islands of The Bahamas.
Eleuthera is located at latitude 25 degrees North and Longitude 76 degrees West, near the edge of the Caribbean Sea. It is about 60 miles from Nassau at its nearest point, Current Island, and approximately 200 miles from Florida.
This sickle-shaped island, with a hump-back ridge, is 110 miles long, an average of 6 miles wide and its highest elevation is 168 feet. It is an island of coral and wind-impacted sands formed by winds and waves. Sand dunes were blown into heaps on the eastern shore of the island, eventually consolidating into powder and forming natural cement. The sand has been described as pink-white and peach on Harbour Island and certain parts of the mainland.
Serene colonial villages and rolling acres of pineapple plantations make Eleuthera an island of the most casual sophistication. The cool laziness of Eleutheran life and dusty-yet-drenched colours of the island give it the feel of a giant illusion. Much of the island architecture and way of life were influenced by Loyalist settlers in the late 1700s.
The island is divided into two regions, North Eleuthera and South Eleuthera. The North encompasses Harbour Island, Spanish Wells, Upper & Lower Bogue, The Bluff, The Current & Current Island, Gregory Town, Hatchet Bay and James Cistern. The South encompasses Governor Harbour, Palmetto Point, Savannah Sound, Tarpum Bay, Rock Sound, Green Castle, Deep Creek, Waterford, Wemyss Bight and Bannerman Town.
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