Population and Housing
In the 1950s, Kingston had mostly ran out of flat space for housing developments, hence the relatively unused land areas of South-east St. Catherine became attractive to developers. By the late 1960s, when developers started working in the area, there were under 2,000 people living in Portmore. Twenty years later there were over 70,000 people. Eventually by the turn of the twenty-first century when the latest Population and Housing Census took place in 2001, the population was measured at 156,469 (data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica).
Currently the municipality is estimated to have 184,548 residents living in 82 communities (data provided by the Portmore branch of the Social Development Commission {SDC} 2004 survey). This makes the annual growth rate of the population of Portmore almost 20% from the 1970s until now. This rapid growth would cause the Statistical Institute of Jamaica to state in 2001 that "Perhaps the most outstanding growth witnessed (in Jamaica) over the past three decades has been the development of the Portmore community in the southern part of St. Catherine."
Population Growth of Portmore Over the Last 30+ Years
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Before the main development had started, informal settlements and villages were the mainstay of residents (eg. Gregory Park, Old Braeton & Passage Fort). The first major housing scheme development was Independence City. Later, Edgewater Villas and Waterford would be developed. Then housing schemes would start to expand westerly and southerly throughout Portmore all the way to the reaches of Hellshire.
Business and Commerce
Commercial enterprises will always establish themselves wherever people are situated. The initial type of business operations must have been those around the wharfs, stores and taverns in the Passage Fort and Port Henderson region in the16th to 19th centuries. Later on, when passenger trains traversed through Portmore with a stop at Gregory Park, trading shops established in that area.
The first formal shopping plaza to be built in Portmore was at Bayside (this area is now the location of a church). A note-worthy time period for commerce in Portmore was the opening of the Portmore Mall in February 1993. Since then, every main type of business industry has become involved in some region of Portmore, especially in the area of the Portmore Town Centre. Additionally other major shopping plazas, such as the Greater Portmore Shopping Centre and the Portmore Pines Plaza became established.
Go to==> THE STORY OF PORTMORE <== for even more information
on the population and the activities of people in Portmore.
Education
Formal schooling in Portmore were most likely started by the Baptist and Methodist missionaries after the abolition of slavery in the mid-19th century. When larger housing developments began in the 1970s, the majority of children still attended schools outside Portmore. However, with increasing pressure on Government authorities, many other schools became established in Portmore. This was especially so with the construction of the Greater Portmore community in the mid-1990s.
In 1985, the Portmore Human Employment and Resource Training (HEART) Academy was completed. This was apart of the Government's plan to equip Jamaica's young with the skills and knowledge for entering the work-force. The HEART institution offered training in many trade skills from carpentry to eletrical installation. The Heart Academy became a success and proved there was a demand for higher (tertiary level) education. In the early 1990s, a community college would also become established called the Portmore Community College, offering mainly academic courses and sharing campus with the Portmore HEART Academy.
Community Activity
Aside from school and work-related activities, Portmore has become a hot-bed for social activities and events. This is due partly because of its large population but the natural topography and location also lend to various avenues for entertainment and even tourism. Most Jamaicans will know of the public Hellshire beach but there are also many other beaches including Fort Clarence and Port Henderson. Another not-so-well known place is the Two Sister's Cave which is deep in history and intrigue.
Many stage shows and live events are kept weekly at different bars and clubs. Since 1995, during the first week of April, an annual celebration called Portmore Week is also held. Each day of the week long affair is usually focused on a different aspect of life within the Portmore community.
The earliest form of transportation centered around ships at Passage Fort, then later Port Henderson. In the 1840s, when the railway service came into operation, trains became the major means of transport. Nowadays, the more modern methods of bus and taxi service have made getting around the municipality that much easier. With the influx of more residents, traffic became a major problem during the peak hours. The introduction of the four-laned Highway 2000 road in June 2006 within Portmore, eased that issue a little.
Please see below for a directory of essential services, important places and community leaders in Portmore found within our mini-directory.
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