J F Coonley photo of Shirley Street looking West. Published in Ronald G. Lightbourn’s Reminiscing II with permission of Syndics of Cambridge University Library. The roof and weather vane of the Nassau Public Library can be seen in the background on the right.
uring the 1920s, a pleasant, laid-back neighborhood lay east of the capital city of Nassau, Bahamas. Island-style homes were built on the eastern portion of Shirley Street to provide a rustic feel to folks eager to leave Nassau’s city bustle. As locals headed east from Nassau by foot, bicycle or horse n’ buggy, historic landmarks adorned the trail, including the Nassau Public Library, the Royal Victoria Hotel, the three-storey R. H. Curry house (pictured below), St Matthew’s Anglican Church and Ebenezer Methodist Church. At the eastern end of the road that joins East Bay Street, the Montague Beach Hotel on the shoreline overlooked the sheltered bay. Read more >>