About Hopetown
Hope Town is located on a small island,
Elbow Cay which is part of the Abaco Islands in the Northwest Bahamas.
Hope Town was settled by British Loyalists
who were seeking safe refuge after the American Revolution. Many of
the settlers came from the Carolinas by way of East Florida after that
area was turned over to Spain in the Peace of Paris in 1783. The same
treaty called for the evacuation of New York by the Loyalists and many
moved back to England or into Canada or down to the British Caribbean.
The initial settlements were at Carleton, near the current Treasure
Cay, and Marsh's Harbour. Marsh Harbour is now the capital of Abaco
and third largest town in the Bahamas; whereas, the settlement at Carleton
has disappeared. By 1785 there were over 1000 refugees in Abaco distributed
in five or six settlements. The settlement at Hope Town was founded
in 1785, in part, by a widow from South Carolina named Wyannie Malone.
Wyannie along with her four children started a dynasty in Hope Town
that spread the Malone name through the Bahamas over to Key West and
other parts of Florida and outwards from there. Hence the choice of
the name of: THE WYANNIE MALONE MUSEUM
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