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I am not clear when the name New Brighton was first applied to what we now know as Port Henderson, or perhaps to a part of it, as suggested by Kidd's map, which uses both names as if they applied to adjacent areas. One writer suggests that New Brighton was the original name, supplanted by Port Henderson because of the major property owner in the area. However Edward Long writes in the 1770s of Port Henderson as growing up near the older settlement of Passage Fort or The Passsage, and does not use the name New Brighton at all.
In 1879 shares were offered in a company proposing to run a steamboat service around Kingston harbour:
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It is clear that the Port Henderson area was a venue for people seeking relaxation and recreation from the later 18th century, perhaps until the 1920s, and a major attraction was the mineral spring located there. The spring is listed in 1916 among the island's less known springs; it was adversely affected by Hurricane Charlie in 1951, and no longer flowed as it had done previously.
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