Port Elisabeth

Port Elisabeth is the capital and largest city of Bequia. Port Elisabeth is comprised of the neighborhoods of Hamilton, Belmont, Union Vale, Hope Estate and Pretoria, along with the old town of PE.

History
Port Elisabeth was first settled around 1623. The location was well chosen as Elisabeth Bay was then the safest natural harbour in the Eastern Caribbean during hurricane season. The pirates Blackbeard and Basque Jack were based at the bay in the period of 1715-1718

Several localities sprung up around Port Elisabeth, namely Belmont (1655), Hamilton (1810), Union Vale (1838), Pretoria (1890) and Hope Estate (1917). To streamline administration it was decided to combine all these with Port Elisabeth to make one larger town.

20th century
In 1951 a municipal government was established.

Government
A municipal government exists since 1951. Much like Mariana's municipalities, it is elected every four years and comprises a three member government council (all the others in the island are directly managed by the mayor). The current mayor is George Ebenezer of the SDP.

The municipal government is based at the Pink House, shared with the Bequian government.

List of Mayors

 * Herbert Marcels (1955-1963)
 * Eustatius Horton (1963-1967)
 * John Gordon (1967-1975)
 * Michael John (1975-1979)
 * John Gordon (1979-1983)
 * Dominique Boulton (1983-1991)
 * George Stefanus (1991-1999)
 * Lionel Randolph (1999-2007)
 * Clarisse Harrow (2007-2011)
 * George Ebenezer (2011-)