The "Antigua 2019: The Museum Of Antigua & Barbuda" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Heading toward the capital city of Antigua, St. Johns.  Carol and myself, along with traveling friends Jere and Just Sue, are being chauffeured by taxi driver LesRay so we can spend a few hours shopping on the streets of St. John and have a cold drink before heading back to our resort.  

The Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.
Click on photos to enlarge them.

Since Jere and I don't care to visit all the jewelry stores in the city, we opted to spend our time at The Museum of Antigua and Barbuda which was founded in 1985 in the former St. John's Courthouse which is located at the corner of Market and Long Streets.  We left the taxi stand and in no time had wound our way to the building that was originally built in 1750 and is believed to be the oldest building in St. John.  The architect of the building was Peter Harrison, well known for many fine buildings in the United States as well as the West Indies.  The Court of Justice was at one time held on the ground floor of the Courthouse while the second floor was home to meeting rooms for the Legislative council and Assembly.  The museum's main floor houses a variety of exhibits relating to the history and culture of Antigua and Barbuda while offices and a library that has text, maps and photographs is found on the second floor.  

A small locomotive displayed outside the front door.

Well, Jere and I walked through the front door and paid for our visit and began to explore the first floor.  Close to the entrance was a large sculpture of  Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards who is perhaps the greatest Antiguan cricketer.  He is regarded as one of the greatest batsman of all time and was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century by a 100-member panel of experts in 2000.  

The Court House was built where a slave market once stood.
To pay for the Court House, plantation owners were accessed
a fee for each slave they owned for a period of six years.

A stadium bears his name in Antigua.  Checked out the rocks and minerals section and headed toward the metals section.  We eventually found a few metal containers that were used for measuring goods that appeared to me to be made of brass or bronze, but Jere, who was a metal shop teacher at the same high school where I taught, thought they were cast iron.  

The original Courthouse in Antigua & Barbuda.  It is
fundamentally Neo-classical in style, as can be seen
in the overall proportions and balance and in the use
of formal Classical temple architecture at the front entrance.

I went to the desk to ask if they would be able to identify something for us and when they came back with me it was obvious they knew nothing about most of the objects in the museum.  They told us the curator would be in very soon to answer any questions we may have.  The museum is very nice, but rather small and lacking in the quantity of items on display.  I realize it has only been open a little over 30 years and will grow in size as time goes on.  Just as we had finished our self-guided tour, the curator of the museum appeared and we asked a few questions of her.  Jere was right with the metal used in the measuring devices and we were both impressed with the knowledge that she knew about just about anything in the museum.  We thanked her for her time and found our way out the front door.  We both enjoyed the visit and the fact we didn't have to watch our wives try on bracelets and necklaces made the trip well worth it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This is the Courthouse as seen in 1905.  Note that the hip roof is no longer there.

This photograph is from the 1940s and shows the Governor leaving the
courthouse in full regalia.

Inside the main entrance.  Notice the high ceilings and columns
supporting the wooden ceiling.

In this photograph you can see the open second floor in the distance.
It houses offices and a library.  The door to reach the upstairs is to the left.

Even the door is a piece of history with worn door panels
and a metal overhang.

This is the statue which sits inside the front door.  It
features Sir Vivian Richards crafted by Osmond Hector
in fiberglass and oil paint.

One of the many display cases.  This one shows the minerals that can be found in the islands.

Another rock display.

The native peoples of the Caribbean Islands were a seafaring people. They
made canoes in a variety of sizes, each carved from the trunk of a single tree.
 The largest were capable of holding more than 80 persons.  With this ability,
they traveled the islands extensively and had regular contact with the
South American mainland.  The tree trunk was hallowed out using shells,
stone axes and fire.  The paddles were also carved from single pieces
of wood.  Sails were unknown until the arrival of the European explorers.

Wattle and Daub House Model.  Click to enlarge to read.

Loin cloths were made of tiny tururri seeds painstakingly strung and woven together
to produce a beautifully textured garment.  It is worn around the waist, ties in the back
and is trimmed with feather danglers.  The back is open.