The Jamaica Archives and Records Department occupies part of the former House of Assembly complex on Emancipation Square, in the buildings where the Jamaican legislature met before the capital moved to Kingston in 1872. The archive holds the most complete collection of historical documents in Jamaica, covering the full period of British colonial rule from the 17th century onward: estate records, church registers, court documents, maps, and the records of the colonial government.
Access for researchers requires advance arrangements, but the building is worth seeing from the outside as part of the square. For anyone with Caribbean ancestry or an interest in Jamaican history, the archive is a destination in its own right. It also holds records relevant to the genealogy of the enslaved population — an increasingly important area of research.