Rare Views of Grand Cayman - History

Circa 1936

Written as a “letter” and signed (modestly) “The Whole of Cayman”, this booklet was published by the Cayman Islands Yachting and Sailing Club around 1936, with the design and printing done in Scotland by “Robert MacLehose and Co. Ltd., Glasgow”. The front cover, and each inside page of text and photos are individually reproduced (in full size — except for the centre spread) below.

A copy of this rare booklet was generously given to the Inn as a gift by guests Paula, Middy and Youjing Streeter of New York, after finding it in a bookstore back home. We scanned it for our website, convinced that it would be of interest to anyone living on or visiting Grand Cayman, and then, given the absence of any date, consulted the Cayman Islands National Archives about its origins.

In the context of contemporary Cayman, most incredible are the prices mentioned (£3, per month, for renting a furnished house — about US$14.85 at the time; and 30s, a month, for hiring a “domestic servant” — about US$7.43), as well as the photos of George Town, Pedro Castle, and a totally secluded and undeveloped Seven Mile Beach (the “Western Beach”). A plot of land could be bought at a “ridiculously reasonable” price, the “poorer people” all made rope in their “spare moments”, and the isolation of Grand Cayman (“…within reasonable reach of the busy world…”) is underlined by the fact that you could leave the island once every two weeks by regular boat service from George Town to Kingston, Jamaica!