Yankee Town Ruins

The ruins of Yankee Town sit at the north end of West Caicos, a short walk inland from the beach. What remains is mostly the brick base of the sisal mill, the rusted iron skeleton of its machinery, fragments of the rail line, and a few stone foundations of houses now hidden in scrub. The old railway-cut path is still walkable for a kilometre or so toward the salt pans.

It is not a curated site — no signs, no guide, no path maintenance — but for anyone interested in the boom-and-bust history of the British Caribbean, it is one of the more atmospheric ruins in the islands. Bring sturdy shoes and water.

things to do sight
A story
In the 1890s an American consortium set up a sisal plantation on West Caicos with workers brought in from the Bahamas. The settlement of Yankee Town had a steam-powered decorticating mill, a narrow-gauge rail line to the salt pans, a school, a church and a small port. The sisal trade collapsed after a couple of decades; the workers left, and the bush moved back in.