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African-Caribbean Heritage Centre
Presided over by the Institute of Jamaica, the Heritage Centre houses a library and a small yet informative gallery that is dedicated to the history of the Middle Passage and a sociocultural exploration of the African diaspora. It is also home to the Memory Bank, an engrossing oral-history archive created to preserve Jamaica's rich folkloric traditions. The center also stages cultural events from lectures and symposia to readings and dance performance.
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Bank of Jamaica
The Bank of Jamaica, the national mint and treasury at the east end of Ocean Blvd, is fronted by a tall concrete statue of Noel 'Crab' Nethersole (Minister of Finance from 1955 to 1969).
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Bob Marley Museum
For many, Jamaica means reggae, and reggae means Bob Marley. If this sounds like you, a visit to Kingston definitely means a visit to the Bob Marley Museum, the reggae superstar's former home and studio. The creaky wooden house on Hope Rd where Marley once lived and recorded is the city's most-visited site. Today it functions as a tourist attraction, museum and shrine, but much remains as it was during Marley's day.
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Bob Marley's Former Home
Bob Marley's Former Home is in a depressing slum 'yard' near the Trench Town museum, but only visit with a guide from the TTDA.
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Bramwell Booth Memorial Hall
At the northwest corner of William Grant Park - where public hangings took place in colonial days - the structure with a pink, turreted facade is Bramwell Booth Memorial Hall, the headquarters of the Salvation Army, built in 1933.
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Bustamante's House
Although you can't go inside and there's no plaque to mark it, hardcore fans of Jamaica's first president can pay tribute to Alexander Bustamante's House , at the southern end of Duke St near the corner of Water Lane. This is the site of the national hero's former office.
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Coke Memorial Hall
Coke Memorial Hall faces the eastern side of William Grant Park. This crenellated building has an austere redbrick facade in the dour Methodist tradition. The structure dates from 1840, but was remodeled in 1907 after sustaining severe damage in the earthquake.
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Devon House
The restored Devon House nestles in landscaped grounds on the northwest side of Hope Rd at its junction with Waterloo Rd. A beautiful ochre-and-white house, it was built in 1881 by George Stiebel, a Jamaican wheelwright who hit paydirt in the gold mines of Venezuela. The millionaire rose to become the first Black custos of St Andrew. The government bought and restored the building in 1967 to house the National Gallery of Jamaica, which has since moved to its present location downtown.
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Emancipation Park
Finally unveiled in 2002 after decades of planning, the spacious Emancipation Park has become the pride of New Kingston. This wide open space, carved from the dense urban jungle, has a jogging track, stately fountains and, winningly, reggae music emanating from tiny speakers hidden in the grass. It's a grand place for a promenade, particularly at sunset when the walkways fill with cheerful Kingstonians just liberated from their workplaces.
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Gordon House
Jamaica's parliament meets at Gordon House, immediately north of Headquarters House. The rather plain brick-and-concrete building was constructed in 1960 and named after national hero the Right Excellent George William Gordon (1820-65).
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Headquarters House
The trim little Headquarters House is a townhouse-turned-museum one block north and two east of North Pde. The brick-and-timber house was originally known as Hibbert House, named after Thomas Hibbert, reportedly one of four members of the Assembly who in 1755 engaged in a bet to build the finest house and thereby win the attention of a much-sought-after beauty.
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Hope Gardens
The 45-acre Hope Gardens, replete with manicured grounds, exotic plants and beautiful flowers, date back to 1881 when the government established an experimental garden on the site of the former Hope Estate. Part of the Hope Aqueduct, built in 1758 to supply the estate, is still in use.
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Hope Zoo
The frankly pathetic, ironically named Hope Zoo is home to a motley crew of disenchanted monkeys, lions, tropical birds and other unhappy creatures. Visitors are apt to marvel more at the sad state of the surroundings than at the wonders of the animal kingdom.
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Institute of Jamaica
Toward the south end of East St, the Institute of Jamaica is the nation's small-scale equivalent of the British Museum or Smithsonian. The institute hosts permanent and visiting exhibitions, and features a lecture hall, plus the National Library with Jamaican newspapers and texts dating back more than two centuries.
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Jamaica Conference Centre
The Jamaica Conference Centre was built in 1982 as the venue for meetings of the UN International Seabed Authority. It's worth popping inside for a free guided tour, not least to admire the intriguing wicker-basket and bamboo ceilings and walls.
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Jamaica House
About half a kilometer further up Hope Rd from Devon House on the left, Jamaica House is faced by a columned portico and fronted by expansive lawns. Initially built in 1960 as the residence of the prime minister, the building today houses the prime minister's office. Visitors are restricted to peering through the fence.
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Jewish Synagogue
Jamaica's only Jewish Synagogue, home to the United Congregation of the Israelites, is an attractive building dating from 1912 (its predecessor was toppled by the 1907 earthquake). The place is worth a visit for its fine mahogany staircase and gallery. Sand muffles your footsteps as you roam - a symbolic memorial to the days of the Inquisition, when Jews fleeing persecution in Spain were forced to practice their faith in Jamaica in secret.
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King's House
King's House was initially the home of the Lord Bishop of Jamaica. The original house was badly damaged in the 1907 earthquake. Today's visitors explore the remake, built in 1909 to a new design in reinforced concrete. The dining room contains two particularly impressive full-length portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
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Kingston Parish Church
The gleaming white edifice facing William Grant Park's southeast corner is Kingston Parish Church, today serving a much reduced congregation of true Kingstonians - those 'born under the clock' (within earshot of its bell). The original church was destroyed in the 1907 earthquake and was replaced (in concrete) by the existing building.
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Mico Teachers College
The impressive wooden colonial structures north of Wolmer's School house one of the oldest teacher-training colleges in the world, Mico Teachers College.
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Museum of Coins and Notes
Inside the Bank of Jamaica building you'll find a small Museum of Coins and Notes displaying Jamaican currency through the centuries.
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National Commercial Bank Building
King St retains many of its beautiful old buildings, with wide sidewalks shaded by colonnades. Note the decorative carvings and long Corinthian columns at the National Commercial Bank building.
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National Gallery of Jamaica
The superlative collection of Jamaican art housed by the National Gallery of Jamaica is quite simply the finest on the island and should on no account be missed. In addition to offering an intrinsically Jamaican take on international artistic trends, the collection attests to the vitality of the country's artistic heritage as well as its present.
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National Heroes Park
The 74-acre oval-shaped National Heroes Park was formerly the Kingston Racecourse. Today its north end is a forlorn, barren wasteland grazed by goats.
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National Stadium
The National Stadium, built in 1962 when Jamaica hosted the Commonwealth Games, is the venue for most of Jamaica's sporting events of importance. There's a so-called Celebrity Park on the north side of the stadium, although the only statue at present is the famous one of Bob Marley holding his guitar.
