Above Rocks is a town in the parish

Parishes of Jamaica

Administratively, Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes. They are grouped into three historic counties, which have no administrative relevance :...

 of Saint Catherine in Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

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Above Rocks was populated in the early 19th century by (Roman Catholic) refugees from the Haitian revolution

Haïtian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...

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Not really urban in character, Above Rocks is dominated by St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church and its many institutions: the health clinic, St. Mary's All-Age School, St. Mary's College, Jamaica

St. Mary's College, Jamaica

Saint Mary's College is a secondary school in Saint Catherine, Jamaica. It is located in the town of Above Rocks. The school is a product of the Catholic St. Mary's Mission and was founded by Father Edmund Cheaney S.J in 1955...

, the School for the Handicapped, and the Trade Training Centre which has recently become a HEART Academy. The post office is located on the church grounds. The area also has a police station.

There are no shops other than small corner shops with few commodities.

Because of good bus transportation, the area is really a dormitory area for Kingston, with residents travelling the 10 miles (16.1 km) out to work each day and students coming in to school.

In 1970, Above Rocks was the ninth largest town in St. Catherine, with a population of 2,084; in 1991 it was still ninth, with 3,262 residents.