National Museum & Heritage Site
Buttercup Road, Grace Bay, Providenciales
The National Museum site on Providenciales hosts a small collection of indoor and outdoor historical exhibits that span hundreds of years of Turks and Caicos history. The current site and exhibits are a placeholder for a modern museum building, for which funds are currently being raised.
This heritage site on Providenciales is a counterpart to the Turks and Caicos National Museum in Cockburn Town on the island of Grand Turk, which houses important exhibits on the Molasses Reef Wreck (the oldest excavated European shipwreck in the Americas), and on the Taíno people, the first known inhabitants of the islands.
As the country’s name suggests, the archipelago is made up of two island groups: the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands. Once the Providenciales museum branch is completed, the origin of each artifact may determine which branch it's displayed in.
Subjects and items related to the Caicos Islands and Taínos, such as the Molasses Reef Wreck, may be relocated to Providenciales, while exhibits tied to the Turks Islands, such as those on the US Space Race and the HMS Endymion wreck, would remain displayed in Grand Turk.
The Providenciales Museum would also allow space for exhibits on the Loyalist Caicos plantations, the historic Trouvadore slaver shipwreck, the cave guano mining days, the sisal plantings, and the nation’s late 1900s foray into tourism.
Location
The museum grounds are located in the Village at Grace Bay on the western side of the Grace Bay region.
Look for the large roundabout near The Sands resort and take the exit with the arched entry. Once through, continue straight (through the second roundabout) for 1,400 feet (420 m) to the museum and heritage site.
Exhibits
The centerpiece of the museum site is a reproduction of a late 1800s to early 1900s home, an example of a common residence at the time in the Caicos Islands. This building is surrounded by several varieties of native plants and trees that played an important role in local living, including species used for medicinal purposes and hardwoods that were used in boat construction.
This structure was assembled from locally quarried cut limestone and plastered with stucco to prevent the decay of the soft rock, as was the most common for nearly all houses, warehouses, and cisterns.
The outer roof also follows the traditional practice, with a thatch palm (Coccothrinax inaguensis) frond covering.
Historical Anchors
Other fascinating artifacts include centuries-old ships’ anchors and a 1700s cannon.
The Caicos Sloop
Another interesting feature is on the Caicos Sloop, a small locally built vessel that served as the mainstay of trade, transport, and fishing in the Turks and Caicos for centuries.
Onsite is the hull of a small Caicos Sloop, and the half-scale framework model of another. The story of how these sailboats were made by hand is fascinating in itself.
Gift Shop
The museum is a nice place to purchase local souvenirs and locally authored books. It also carries traditional straw-work crafts produced by the Middle Caicos Co-op.
Events
This location often hosts ‘Evening with the Experts', with local and visiting experts holding talks on a variety of subjects. This typically relates specifically to the Turks and Caicos and the Caribbean. A calendar is available on the Museum’s website.