Chaguanas

Chaguanas was given its name by Spanish settlers in the 18th century when the community was inhabited by an Amerindian tribe of the same name. Situated in the western part of central Trinidad in the center of Caroni County, it is 35 km south of Port-of-Spain and 57 km north of San Fernando with the Caparo River running through it. Historically, it has been considered prime agricultural land where sugar cane and cocoa flourished. The sugar cane was once processed at the Woodford Lodge Estate Factory which was owned by H.E. Robinson but was later sold to Caroni Limited.

In the 1960s, the Princess Margaret Highway was contructed to connect Chaguanas to other commercial centers in north-west Trinidad. In October 1990, Chaguanas was made a borough. In 2000, the population of Chaguanas was estimated to be approximately 19,000 people, and about 75% of the area was being used for agriculture, primarily sugar cane. Bounded by Monroe Road and Cunupia on the north, Longdenville and Montrose on the east, Edinburgh and Chandernagore on the south, and Felicity on the west, Chaguanas and its surrounding communities contained a population of over 90,000 residents in 2000. However, with the declining demand for sugar, the economy of the area began to change from rural to urban-based. Once a village at the end of the Princess Margaret Highway, in 2002 Chaguanas had: a burgeoning retail center with large shopping stores, such as Pricesmart and Food Basket; the largest and most popular outdoor flea market in Trinidad; and the north-south Uriah Butler/Solomon Hochoy Highway running through it. Chaguanas is the home of the Divali Nagar site where thousands of Hindus converge annually to celebate the festival of Divali. The town of Chaguanas includes the villages of Chandernagore, Charlieville, Chase, Edinburgh, Felicity, Montrose, and St. Thomas.

Entertainment

Cinemas: In 2002, Chaguanas had two operating cinemas: Globe on Market Street; and Jubilee on Main Road. The Jubilee was rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire in the 1970s.

Steelbands: The following is a listing of the steelbands that functioned in Chaguanas, broken down by type: traditional (pans supported around the neck); and conventional (pans supported mechanically).

STEELBAND	TYPE	LOCATION IN 2002	HISTORY
Claytones	Conventional	Depot Road
Trinidad Crescendoes	Conventional	Old Southern Main Road
Street Pan Gem	Conventional	Enterprise Street
Tropical Angel Harps	Conventional	Southern Main Road

Mas(querade) Bands: Mas' bands that functioned in Chaguanas included:

MAS' BAND	LOCATION IN 2002	HISTORY
Tagalie and Associates	Parker Street

Sports

Cricket: Dinanath Ramnarine was born in Chaguanas and went on to represent the West Indies in Test Cricket.

Academic Institutions

SCHOOL	LEVEL	ADDRESS	RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION	HISTORY
Anjuman Sunnat-Ul-Jamat Association Boys' College	Secondary	John Peters Extension Road, Charlieville	Muslim	Founded in 2000.
Anjuman Sunnat-Ul-Jamat Association Girls' College	Secondary	ASJA Boulevard, Charlieville	Muslim
Chaguanas Government Primary School	Primary		Non-Denominational
Chaguanas Junior Secondary School	Secondary		Non-Denominational
Chaguanas RC School	Primary	Main Road	Roman Catholic	730 pupils in 2002.
Chaguanas Senior Comprehensive	Secondary	Helen Street	Non-Denominational
Chandernagore Presbyterian School	Primary	Edinburgh Village	Presbyterian
Charlieville Primary School	Primary	Caroni Savannah Road	Roman Catholic	730 pupils in 2002.
Felicity Hindu School		Cancadee Main Road	Hindu
Montrose APS Vedic
Montrose Government		La Clave Street	Non-Denominational
Presentation College	Secondary	Cor. of Yves and Rene Streets	Roman Catholic
Ragoonanan Road Government School		Ragoonanan Road	Non-Denominational