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
History of the Caribbean two-thirds of Hispaniola were conquered by Haitian forces in 1821. In 1844, the newly formed Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti. The nations bordering the Caribbean in Central America gained independence with the 1821 establishment of the First Mexican Empire—which at that time included the modern states of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The nations bordering the Caribbean in South America also gained independence from Spain in 1821 with the establishment of Gran Colombia—which comprised the modern states of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Cuba and Puerto Rico remained as Spanish colonies until the Spanish–American