History of Smugglers Cove area
Waaayyyyy...long ago!
Taken off of the http://www.bviplatinum.com forum board section on Smugglers Cove!
We now have a page with the full archaeology article on Belmont!
When Columbus arrived in 1493, the Caribbean was densely populated. The first settlers had probably reached the region before 5000BC, living as fishers and foragers... then sometime after 400BC, the local "agricultural revolution" began, with horticulture, permanent settlements and pottery. Peter for London's Institute of Archaeology and staff and students from H. Lavity Stoutt Community College have spent the last 8 yrs (soon to return in May 2007), working on a major prehistoric dig at Belmont on Long Bay.
Belmont was first settled around 2000BC by camping fishers who used canoes to get around. They probably came from south america... There is a later village site on top of the earlier settlement. tools were found. First permenant village began sometine after 400BC, when horticulture and pottery-making spread rapidly across the cribbean. this is born out by similarities of shards in different regions. Evidence of large communal round houses around 600AD, and introduction of a staple starch in Cassava. a House built on a level sandy area between an earlier sand bar and a degraded cliff line to the south. To the west is the distinct conical shape of Belmont Hill, and to the south of this is Belmont Pond, The village would have consisted of further round-houses built around an open courtyard used for ceremonies.
Agriculture and fish were the basis of the village economy. The prehistoric villages also used stone for tools. Many spindle-whorls for spinning cotton were found. One of the gifts offered to Columbus by the indigenous peoples was cotton.
What is really intersting is that with the connection between the setting sun over the apex of Belmont Hill, seasons could be calculated, when planting season was going from dry to wet and when hurricane season was coming. This observation brought great power to the village because they could predict weather and seasons. There were ceramonies in mid-summer. there are a pair of stones allined with the hill to mark spots for the sun. an arch of pots was found. the sunset over belmont hill was recorded on a pot and incised ona ceramic disc.
The village, was suplanted by a ceramonial ball and dance court possibly because the site became a place of ritual around AD1200 because of the sun set. One court is aliened dierctly with belmont hill. Sun being significant because a sun disc cut into one of the stones at the edge of the court. there are also historical records of a ball game. this was played by teams of 10-30 players, both men and women (separately). intra- village games were played and games were played before public descisions were made. This was a great meeting place and center for people to form aliances. heaps of broken pots and dumps of shells were found and evidence of great feasts. axeheads with pelican-head carvings, beads were found. the success and prestige of those who controlled the site may have lasted several hundred years.
See some of the objects at the BVI Folk ART Museum on Old Main St.
Europeans arrived with columbus in 1493.
Recent History Of Smugglers Cove
This information was taken from 
Here is the link to the original page.
There is quite a history story about Smugglers Cove that dates back to 1961, when the Clerk family acquired Smugglers Cove from the Romney family, and proceeded to cut in the road to Smugglers Cove from the Western side of the North shore and started building the main pavilion. By late 1963, the Clerk family opened Smugglers Cove for business. The Clerk family sold the property in 1968 due to an illness in the family.
Smugglers Cove was then purchased by Bob and Nell Denniston who gave up their life in the U.S., traded running several lumberyards in Iowa, to come to Smugglers Cove. Unfortunately, a couple of hurricanes took off the roofs of the original buildings built by the Clerk family, and that was just about it for the hotel business, never to be rebuilt, or finished to the thirty room hotel envisioned by the Clerk family.
One structure remains, that has withstood all of the storms that have passed over Tortola since the buildings were completed. Set in the middle of the beach, is the main building of the hotel where "Uncle Bob", would open up his "honour bar," a fridge in the backroom filled with all types of beverages, take what you want and leave the cash in a hat on the bar. Bob could be found at the bar late in the afternoon telling great stories about Smugglers Cove and the BVI in the early days.
Unfortunately Bob passed away in 2002 of natural causes, but the day before he passed, he completed one thing he had been working on for years - to get his vintage 1928 Rolls Royce running, which he did, drove it home, and passed away that night. His wife, Nell, had passed on in 2000. All that had the pleasure to meet them, and catch-up on British Virgin Islands history sorely miss them.
Another attribute that Bob brought to the BVI was the first Ham Radio Station that he set up in Smugglers Cove. Bob would communicate radio messages all over the world to other operators, who would make contact with people that needed to be reached by British Virgin Islanders. Bob also did much communication work for the government of the British Virgin Islands.
In 1976, Queen Elizabeth came to Tortola for her Silver Jubilee. At that time, Bob owned the newest automobile on the island and was asked if it could be used in the Queens motorcade in Road Town, the capital of Tortola. He agreed, and later in the day, Bob and Nell met the Queen at a reception party. The Queen told Bob she understood it was his automobile that she had been riding in. Nell chimed in, "Yes, we spent the whole of last night cleaning out the empty beer cans left in the back seat by our kids." The Queen leaned in and said, "My children do the same thing!" The old Lincoln is still on the beach, but is in dire condition.
