Dunmore Town Harbour Island dates back to the 18th century and is one of the oldest settlements in The Bahamas. The town was named after the Earl of Dunmore, the former Governor of Virginia. Dunmore fled to The Bahamas when the Revolutionary War began where he was awarded the title of Lord Dunmore, Governor of the Bahamas.

Like all of the islands in the Bahamas, the locals in Dunmore Town have their own unique lingo. The local dialect is much like Cockney, in the fact that they reverse the pronunciation of ‘V’ and ‘W’. They also tend to add an ‘H’ to any word beginning with a vowel and the letter ‘H’ is often dropped in any word that begins with that letter. It is for this reason that the locals, known as ‘Brilanders’, refer to Harbour Island Bahamas as ‘Briland’. It’s how the locals quickly say Harbour Island…..’arbour H’Island’.

Dunmore town is the only city in Harbour island, it is made up of different sections:
– The historic part next to Bay Street,
– “Downtown” (steps from Bay street), where locals and visitors mingle, there are plenty of small shacks and restaurants, and small gift stores.
– Perpendicular on the Northern part of Bay Street, visitors will discover where locals live and also where they will find small grocery stores such as Piggly Wiggly.
– North of the Northern Part of Bay Street, they will find the Narrows, known also as the Millionaire Row.