Saint George

Saint George demonstrates ecological succession in Caribbean development: this smallest parish in Antigua and Barbuda transformed from twenty-two slave plantations into the nation's highest-income territory. The 2008 census classified Fitches Creek and Coolidge among only six high-income neighbourhoods nationwide—an economic outcome that emerged not from tourism but from infrastructure gravity.

The parish split from Saint Peter in 1725 to establish its own vestry, then centuries later inherited the infrastructure that makes modern Antigua function. V.C. Bird International Airport handles the 824,000 cruise passengers and visitors who fuel the nation's $6 billion economy. The 20,000-seat Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium—named for Antigua's legendary batsman—anchors sports tourism. Neither beaches nor historic sites drive Saint George's prosperity; the parish profits from processing the flows that feed other parishes.

This represents niche construction through infrastructure rather than attraction: while Saint John dominates commerce and Saint Paul claims heritage tourism, Saint George controls the choke points. Passengers must land at V.C. Bird before dispersing to beaches. The parish's transition from plantation agriculture to transportation hub shows how colonial-era boundaries persist even when their economic foundations completely transform.