King's House

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King's House - West side of the parade, Spanish Town

Kings House was constructed in 1762 to be the official residence of the Governor of Jamaica. This was the first of the four great historic buildings to be completed around the Park. It served this purpose up until the transfer of the capital to Kingston in 1872. The greatest moment of the history of Old King's House was on 1 August 1838 when the proclamation of Emancipation was read from the steps of the building, officially ending slavery in Jamaica. The building did not survive for much longer and was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1925. The façade of the original structure remains and can still be seen to this day.

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