Settled in 1654 the town is named after Scarborough in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It is the 9th most populated city in Trinidad & Tobago, but with that said the population is still less than 20,000.
Scarborough became the capital of Tobago in 1769 when it replaced the then-capital of Georgetown. Under French rule it was named Port Louis from 1789 to 1814. The town of Scarborough serves as the main seat of the Tobago House of Assembly, which is responsible for local governance in Tobago.
To get to Tobago you can fly into the airport 10 miles west of Scarbourough, take a ferry from Port of Spain in Trinidad, or sail your own boat here. If you sail here, you have to check in and you can find customs and immigrations upstairs in the ferry terminal building. Two things to note about checking into Tobago are first you have to check into and out of Tobago even if you are coming or going to Trinidad even though they are the same country. Second, you do not have to take the three hour sail to Scarorough if you don’t want to. You can anchor on the west coast and take a taxi or bus into town.
Scarborough Methodist Church
I must admit I mostly found Scarborough to be the typical type town in the Caribbean. The people were quite pleasant, but most of the building just seemed jumbled together and for the most part the town gives you the feeling of getting what you need to get done and then get out to the rest of the island. With that said there are some conveniences like banks, restaurants, and wi-fi. A walk around the lower and older part of town is worth doing once and my favorite building to see were the Assembly Legislative Building. Also, I like the Methodist Church build in 1824. There is a botanical garden right in town and those are always a nice retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life.
One thing you will notice as you are walking around is that the town’s skyline is dominated by Fort King George, an 18th-century fortification named after King George III, which now hosts a historic and archaeologic museum and that is where I will take you on Sunday.
