Saint Peter
Saint Peter exhibits refugia dynamics: one of five 1681 founding parishes remains agricultural while neighbors transformed to tourism, hosting Betty's Hope plantation.
Saint Peter preserves Antigua's agricultural substrate: founded in 1681 as one of five original parishes, then divided in 1725 when Saint George split off, the territory remains dominated by farming and industry while other parishes transformed toward tourism. Betty's Hope sugar plantation—one of Antigua's major historical symbols—sits here as a reminder that sugar once defined Caribbean economies.
The parish hosts scattered settlements—All Saints, Diamonds, Freemans, Pares, Parham, Vernons—with the majority of land still in agricultural use. Historic Amerindian villages predate European contact. The Mercer's Creek and Coconut Hall plantations survive as historical relics, their ruins mapping the geography of 18th-century sugar production.
This represents refugia economics: while tourism captured Saint John and heritage converted Saint Paul, Saint Peter maintained agriculture because the infrastructure for transformation didn't arrive. No deep harbor, no UNESCO designation, no airport—just arable land and the path dependence of existing use. In a nation where tourism accounts for 60% of GDP, Saint Peter's agricultural persistence isn't nostalgic preservation but economic marginalization. The parish that once fed the colony now feeds a nation that earns its living from cruise passengers.