After conquering the Spaniards in 1655, the British renamed Villa de la Vega, Spanish Town .  On arrival the English realized that the people had loosened their cattle and fled to the neighboring Cuba .  The soldiers in retaliation looted and destroyed the town, which would ironically inhibit later attempts at settlement.  When the English began their attempts at settlement they were unable to completely restore the structures that were previously destroyed.  To worsen their situation, they were not used to the climate and tropical diseases took an early tool on the new settlers.

They also had to contend with Maroons who were freed Negroes or slaves who had escaped from the Spaniards and had fled to the mountains.  The Maroons attacked the English quarters in the capital and the other parishes consistently slaughtering soldiers and setting fire to houses occupied by the English settlers.

It took some time for Spanish Town to recover from many unfortunate circumstances.  During this time Port Royal operated as the capital.  Even though Spanish town was not at the forefront the first King's house, the official residence of the Governor was built in Spanish Town in 1765.  During that time many distinguished visitors were welcomed to Spanish Town .  Persons such as Admiral Rodney, Horatio Nelson and William Bligh spent time in the capital.  The town gradually became the island's administrative centre housing The Parish Council, The House of Assembly and The Supreme Court.  After Port Royal was devastated by the earthquake of June 7, 1692 Spanish Town regained its supreme position and remained that way for nearly 180 years.

By 1755, serious rivalry from lobbyists caused increasing speculation about the continued suitability of Spanish Town as the capital.  By 1836, Governor Lionel Smith observed that "the capital was in ruins, with no commercial, manufacturing and agricultural concern in operation".  To worsen the situation on the heels of The Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865, Sir John Peter Grant ordered the removal of the capital to Kingston (1872) which, with its spectacular harbors and major trade links had come to be considered the natural capital of the island.  After the capital was removed Spanish Town lost much of its life and grandeur.

To date Spanish Town is considered as a town of significant historical value in this hemisphere. It boasts the oldest iron bridge of its kind in the Western Hemisphere , which was erected in 1801 at a cost of four thousand pounds.  It also had one of the first Spanish Cathedrals to be established in the new world.  This was built around 1525.  Most religious denominations have churches or meeting halls in the town.  Besides the Anglican Cathedral, there is a Roman Catholic Church; there are Wesleyan, Baptists and Seventh-Day Adventist chapels, as well as a Moslem Mosque, the only one of its kind in the island.

In the town standing untouched in character is an historic alms-house and a public hospital and a maximum penal institution built in the eighteenth century.  There is in the town itself a factory where dyes are made from logwood, (the grandfather of the author of this webpage, Rosemarie Greene, worked as the factory’s timekeeper all his life, and was the minister of the “Life Line Mission” in Spanish Town on French Street, where the store “Anderson’s Store now stands), and a rice processing plant.  In the neighborhood are five large sugar estates, a milk condensary and a large textile mill -- significant contributors to the changing social and economic patterns of the Old Capital.

In acknowledgement of this town's importance the Spanish Town Historic Foundation was created to assist in the refurbishing, renovating and to further the development of the town. Although "Old St. Jago" may not be the capital it remains a source for enlightenment of the world community and a living museum of international importance.  Pictures taken by the site reflects artifacts in the Arawak Museum .