Point Fortin, the smallest Borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

 in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

, is located in southwestern Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

, about 32 km (19.9 mi) southwest of San Fernando

San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago

The City of San Fernando with a population of 55,419 according to the 2000 census, is the larger of Trinidad and Tobago's two cities and the second largest municipality after Chaguanas. It occupies 18 km² and is located in the southwestern part of the island of Trinidad...

. After the discovery of petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 in the area in 1906 the town grew into a major oil-producing centre. The town grew with the oil industry between the 1940s and 1980s, culminating in its elevation to borough status in 1980. After the end of the oil boom

Oil boom

An oil boom is a boom in the oil producing sector of an economy. Generally, this short period initially brings economical benefits, in term of increased GDP growth, but might later lead to a resource curse.-Consequences:...

 Point Fortin was hit hard by economic recession in the 1980s and the closure of its oil refinery

Oil refinery

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

. Construction of a Liquified Natural Gas plant by Atlantic LNG

Atlantic LNG

The Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago is a liquefied natural gas producing company operating a liquefied natural gas plant in Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago. Atlantic LNG operates four liquefaction units...

 boosted the economy.

At the beginning of the 20th century, (before the discovery of oil) Point Fortin was an agricultural community with three distinct and separately owned cocoa and coconut estates.

These estates were sparsely populated. Employment was provided for a small number of workers who depended on the estates for their living accommodation as well as their food and other supplies. Travel in and out of Point Fortin was by coastal steamers as there was no road into or out of the area. The inhabited area was located along the seacoast.

In 1907, the Trinidad Oilfields moved into Point Fortin on an expedition for the exploration of oil and sank its first oil well on the La Fortunee Estates. That company turned out to be the only one that survived successfully, although there had been several similar expeditions by other oil companies.

The company later changed its name to the United British Oilfields of Trinidad then became Shell Trinidad Limited. In 1974 it was acquired by the Government and named TRINTOC or the Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company, today known as Petrotrin.

The change from an agricultural to an oil based economy made a significant impact in Point Fortin. There was rapid development in the construction of dwelling houses, plant, pipelines and oil tanks in the area. Point Fortin was booming and labour, particularly skilled labour for the new technology, was scarce and posed a major problem. Trinidadians did not seem to be attracted to the area.

Although people migrated from all over the country, the population in 1931 was less than 500. There were very few houses, no schools, and recreational and other facilities. As a result Trinidadians who went to work in Point Fortin never took their families with them.

However, this changed when the company realised that in order to attract and retain workers, they needed to develop the area. This encouraged families to settle in the area, and coupled with a growth in the commercial sector, brought about such facilities as a post office, police station as well as other governmental agencies and banks.

In the 1960s the town began to see a decline due to massive retrenchment. The Government tried to revive the economic activity and eventually succeeded in establishing the Dunlop Tyre Factory. However the economic revival was only achieved in the early 1970s as a result of the Oil boom and the acquisition of Shell Trinidad Limited by the government.

Notable natives

Culture

• Fay-Ann Lyons
  Fay-Ann Lyons
  Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez is a Trinidadian soca songwriter, recording artist and performer. She is also known by such titles as the Lyon Empress, Mane the Matriach and the Silver Surfer, a nickname which she claimed during her performance at the 2008 International Soca Monarch. She is married to...
  
  -Alvarez
• Barnet Henry (The Preacher) - Calypsonian
• Wayne T - Soca Artiste / Calypsonian
• Iwer George - Soca Artiste / Calypsonian
• Austin Lyons (Superblue
  Superblue
  Austin Lyons , better known as Superblue, Super Blue, and Blueboy, is a Trinidad and Tobago calypsonian, soca musician, ICON and lyricist.-Person:...
  
  ) - Calypsonian / Soca Artist
• Kelvin Pope (The Mighty Duke
  The Mighty Duke
  Kelvin Pope, better known as The Mighty Duke was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He was born in Point Fortin.Pope left a career working at Shell Oil to perform calypso music. In the 1950s, he played locally in his hometown, then began playing in San Fernando at the Southern Brigade Calypso Tent...
  
  ) - Calypsonian
• Morel Peters (Luta) - Calypsonian

Sports

Trinidad and Tobago National Football

• Reynold Carrington
• Atiba Charles
• Avery John
  Avery John
  Avery John is a Trinidadian soccer player.-Youth and College:John attended Vessigny [Antilles] Government Secondary School and then Presentation College, and played college soccer for Yavapai College in Arizona and American University in Washington, DC...
  
  
• Kenwyne Jones
  Kenwyne Jones
  Kenwyne Joel Jones is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Stoke City and the Trinidad and Tobago national team. He previously played for Sunderland, Southampton, Stoke City, Sheffield Wednesday, W Connection and Joe Public.He began his football...
  
  
• Sherwin Julien
• Keyeno Thomas

• Warren Archibald
• Leo Brewster
• Wilfred Cave
• Steve David
• Leroy de Leon
• Anthony Douglas
• Watty Douglas

• Randy Samuel
  Randy Samuel
  Randolph FitzGerald "Randy" Samuel is a Canadian former soccer player turned manager, who is currently head coach at Lobbans FC.As a player he picked up a record 82 caps for the Canadian national team.-Early life:...
  
   - Canadian footballer

Trinidad and Tobago Cricket

• Lionel Mc Cree

Trinidad and Tobago Basketball

• Victor "Voot" O'Garro
• Gerard Joseph

Public Service

• Lionel Blake - First Mayor
• Victor Chin Kit - Past Mayor
• Arthur Joseph - Deal or No Deal (US game show)
  Deal or No Deal (US game show)
  Deal or No Deal is the American version of the international game show of Dutch origin of the same name. The show was hosted by Howie Mandel, and premiered on December 19, 2005, on National Broadcasting Company . The hour-long show typically aired at least twice a week during its run, and included...
  
  Winner