Parishes of Jamaica Parishes of Jamaica Administratively, Jamaica is divided into fourteen parishes. They are grouped into three historic counties, which have no administrative relevance. Every parish has a coast; none is landlocked. The traditional county towns were Savanna-la-Mar for Cornwall County, Spanish Town for Middlesex County, and Kingston for Surrey County. The parishes of Kingston and Saint Andrew together form the "Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation". Parishes have been a feature of local administration in Jamaica since the island was captured by the English in 1655. The number has varied over time and some no longer exist having either been absorbed into
Jamaica Avenue Peter Stuyvesant dubbed the area "Rustdorp" in granting the 1656 land patent. The English, who took control of the colony in 1664, renamed the little settlement "Jameco," for the Jameco (or Yamecah) Native Americans. In the early 19th century the old road through Jamaica Pass was the Brooklyn Ferry Road, and at mid-century became the Brooklyn and Jamaica Plank Road with toll booths. Late in the century the portion west of Jamaica Pass became Fulton Street, and the eastern portion Jamaica Avenue." The part of Jamaica Avenue that runs through Jamaica, Queens is an important shopping street, and is on