Woodbrook, Port of Spain Woodbrook, Port of Spain The large Woodbrook district, west of Downtown, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, formerly a sugar estate owned by the Siegert family, was sold to the Town Board in 1911 and developed into a residential neighbourhood, with many of the north–south streets named for the Siegert siblings, some of whom were Carlos, Luis, Petra and Alfredo. In the last twenty years the main east–west thoroughfares, Ariapita Avenue and Tragarete Road, have become almost entirely commercialised, and Ariapita Avenue west of Murray Street has become a relatively upscale dining and entertainment "strip". A few small parks are
Port of Spain the old capital, San José de Oruña (modern Saint Joseph), about inland, had fallen into disrepair, and Governor Don Pedro de la Moneda transferred his seat to Port of Spain, which thus became Trinidad's de facto capital. The last Spanish Governor of Trinidad, Don José Maria Chacón, devoted much of his time to developing the new capital. He compelled the island's Cabildo (governing council) to move to Port of Spain, and he limited its powers to the municipality. The 1783 Cedula of Population, which encouraged the settlement of French Catholics in the island, led to a rapid increase in the