The Accompong Maroon settlement in St. Elizabeth was named after the founder of the town, Accompong, brother of the great Maroon leader Kojo.

The name is derived from Acheampong, a personal name among the Akan-speaking people who were brought to Jamaica in large numbers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Accompong was officially founded in 1739 when land was ceded to the Maroons as one of the terms of the peace treaties with the English which ended the maroon wars. The village was built on the site of the camp chosen by Accompong from which he had raided the surrounding countryside. As at other Maroon villages, the leader at Accompong is called the Colonel. Traditional ceremonies are held here every 6 January to celebrate the signing of the treaty and the founding of the town.

Bamboo Avenue is a 4.2 km (21/2 mile) scenic drive through an archway of living bamboo, on the main south coast highway between middle quarters and Lacovia in St. Elizabeth.

The Black River is Jamaica’s longest River and was originally named Rio Caobana (Mahagony River) by the Spaniards. The river begins near to Coleyville (Manchester) as the Hector’s River and travels westerly for about twelve miles, forming the boundary between Manchester and Trelawny. Shortly after passing Troy, Trelawny, the river sinks in wild cockpit country to reappear again in Oxford, Manchester where it becomes known as the One Eye River. After this it sinks underground again, passing through a ridge to the north of Bogue Hill.

When the river re-emerges at Mexico. St. Elizabeth, it officially becomes the Black River. In its southward journet to the sea, the River grows to considerable size as it is joined by many tributaries, including the YS, Broad, Grass and Savanna rivers.