Who Was Duncan Taylor? His Role in Ragged Island’s Salt Industry
The name Duncan Taylor is closely connected with two islands in Bahamian history: Long Island and Ragged Island. Historical records identify Taylor as a Loyalist with connections to North Carolina who received land on Long Island in the late 18th century. Later sources associate him with the development of the salt ponds on Ragged Island, an industry that became central to the economy and identity of Duncan Town.
The connection is still visible today. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism states that Ragged Island's salt ponds were developed by Duncan Taylor and his brother Major Taylor, who came from Long Island during the 19th century. A Bahamas government historical publication similarly credits Duncan Taylor with opening the ponds and directly connects his name with Duncan Town.
However, parts of Taylor's biography are less straightforward than simplified accounts suggest. Records from Long Island provide evidence of a Loyalist named Duncan Taylor decades before the commonly cited 19th-century development of the Ragged Island salt industry. This article separates what can be documented from what should be presented cautiously.
For the island's broader history, attractions, fishing, transportation and travel planning, continue to the Ultimate Ragged Island Travel Guide.
WHO WAS DUNCAN TAYLOR?
Historical research from the Long Island Bahamas History Project identifies Duncan Taylor as a Loyalist originally associated with North Carolina. He was the brother of Archibald Taylor and held the rank of major in the British army.
Taylor's arrival belongs to the larger Loyalist migration that transformed parts of The Bahamas after the American Revolution. Loyalists from the former American colonies settled throughout the archipelago, bringing new settlement patterns, plantation agriculture and, critically, enslaved African labor.
Duncan Taylor's documented history in The Bahamas predates his association with Ragged Island.
The Long Island historical record shows that he received land at Maxwell Town, Abaco, in 1788 and then a 160-acre land grant near Clarencetown, Long Island, on December 5, 1789.
By 1800, Taylor was clearly established as a planter on Long Island.
An archival document preserved in the Loyalist Collection at the University of New Brunswick records Taylor answering questions about Bahamian cotton agriculture. In his response, he stated that he had been a planter on Long Island for more than 12 years.
This evidence provides a much stronger historical foundation for understanding the man behind the Duncan Taylor name.
DUNCAN TAYLOR AND LONG ISLAND
Before considering Ragged Island, it is important to understand Taylor's connection with Long Island.
Duncan and his brother Archibald were associated with the development of the Clarencetown area. Historical research credits the brothers with helping establish Clarencetown, which was named for the Duke of Clarence.
Duncan's 1789 land grant was bounded partly by a salina, or salt pond. That detail is particularly interesting given his later association with salt production on Ragged Island, although it should not be used by itself to claim a direct causal connection.
His surviving 1800 agricultural testimony also shows familiarity with salinas. Discussing ways of restoring exhausted agricultural soil, Taylor suggested that marl from a "Salina, or salt Pond" might be useful.
This does not prove that he was already engaged in commercial salt production. It does demonstrate that salt-pond landscapes formed part of the environment in which Taylor lived and farmed.
FROM LONG ISLAND TO RAGGED ISLAND
The strongest official connection between Duncan Taylor and Ragged Island comes from the island's historic salt ponds.
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism states that the Ragged Island Salt Ponds were developed by Duncan Taylor and his brother Major Taylor after they came from Long Island during the 19th century.
A Bahamas government historical publication provides a slightly different version, stating that:
"The salt ponds were opened on Ragged Island in the late 19th Century by Mr. Duncan Taylor"
and connects this history directly with the name Duncan Town.
These sources establish the traditional historical relationship:
Duncan Taylor → Ragged Island → salt ponds → salt industry → Duncan Town
But there is a chronology problem that deserves acknowledgment.
A HISTORICAL TIMELINE THAT REQUIRES CAUTION
The title of this article—The Loyalist Behind Ragged Island's Salt Industry—is broadly supported by sources identifying Duncan Taylor as a Loyalist and separately associating Duncan Taylor with the salt ponds.
However, the dates reported by different sources do not align neatly.
The Long Island historical record places Duncan Taylor in The Bahamas during the 1780s and around 1800, while modern official sources describe the Ragged Island salt ponds as being developed during the 19th century, with one government source specifically saying the late 19th century.
That creates uncertainty over whether all surviving references concern exactly the same individual, whether the dates attached to the Ragged Island development have shifted through retelling, or whether later members of the Taylor family were involved.
For an authoritative destination article, the safest wording is therefore:
Historical sources associate Duncan Taylor and the Taylor family with the development of Ragged Island's salt industry, while the precise chronology deserves further archival research.
This preserves the established local history without presenting uncertain dates as settled fact.
HOW THE SALT PONDS WORKED
The geography of Ragged Island made salt production possible.
The official tourism authority explains that rainwater settles in the ponds and salt forms as the water evaporates. During the traditional April-to-August harvest season, salt is gathered using wooden rakes, piled in heaps, dried on rocky areas and packaged for local sale or shipment to Nassau.
At its height, the salt industry became one of Ragged Island's defining economic activities.
Government historical information records a once-prosperous trade with Cuba before the Castro era and also notes trade with Haiti, which supplied Ragged Islanders with mangoes.
Salt therefore connected tiny Duncan Town with a wider Caribbean trading network.
The ponds were not merely an industrial site. They helped determine the economic purpose and identity of the settlement that developed beside them.
THE ENSLAVED LABOR BEHIND LOYALIST DEVELOPMENT
Duncan Taylor's story also belongs to the broader history of Loyalism, plantation agriculture and slavery in The Bahamas, and that context should not be omitted from a modern historical account.
Archival agricultural records identify Duncan Taylor among Bahamian planters questioned in 1800 about cotton production. The questions themselves repeatedly concern enslaved laborers and the operation of plantation agriculture.
Some secondary accounts specifically claim that enslaved people were used in developing Ragged Island's salt ponds. However, the official Bahamas tourism and government sources reviewed for this article do not provide enough detail to reconstruct exactly who performed the labor, when the ponds were constructed, or under what ownership arrangements.
The responsible interpretation is therefore not to romanticize Taylor simply as an entrepreneurial pioneer.
His story sits within the wider Loyalist period, when settlers established plantations and other enterprises in The Bahamas within a society heavily dependent on enslaved African labor.
Further archival research would be required to establish the labor history of the Ragged Island salt works with greater precision.
HOW DUNCAN TOWN GOT ITS NAME
Duncan Taylor's most visible legacy may be the name Duncan Town.
The Bahamas government publication on Ragged Island explicitly links the opening of the salt ponds by Duncan Taylor with the naming of Duncan Town.
Other contemporary references likewise describe Duncan Town as being named for the man associated with developing the island's salt ponds.
Today, Duncan Town remains the only settlement on Ragged Island and the only permanent settlement highlighted within the wider Jumentos and Ragged Island chain.
The official tourism authority describes the community through three defining landscape features: its lighthouse, harbour and the salt pond extending along Duncan Town.
That makes the town's name more than a historical footnote. Duncan Taylor's association with the salt industry remains embedded in the geography travelers encounter today.
THE SALT INDUSTRY AFTER DUNCAN TAYLOR
Ragged Island's salt industry eventually declined dramatically.
Government historical material states that the island once had a prosperous salt economy but that the industry later nearly ceased. Trade with Cuba had previously been significant, while population decline accelerated as residents relocated to New Providence after 1950. Hurricane Donna caused further damage in 1960.
Salt harvesting, however, has not completely disappeared.
The Ministry of Tourism says the largest salt reservoir is government-owned and managed by employed workers. Other sections remain family plots passed down to heirs, and salt continues to be harvested on a smaller scale.
This continuity gives the salt ponds unusual cultural value.
They are simultaneously:
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A physical reminder of Ragged Island's historic economy
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Part of Duncan Town's settlement history
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A surviving family heritage landscape
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A link between past and present economic practices
For travelers interested in Bahamian history, the ponds provide the clearest physical connection with the industry associated with Duncan Taylor.
VISITING DUNCAN TAYLOR'S HISTORICAL LEGACY
Travelers will not find a large museum devoted to Duncan Taylor on Ragged Island.
His legacy is better understood through the landscape itself.
The Ragged Island Salt Ponds remain the most important historical site associated with his name. Nearby, Duncan Town provides the settlement context, while Man-O-War Tower, southeast of town and on the same side as the salt ponds, offers panoramic views across much of the island.
Visitors interested specifically in this history should focus on:
Duncan Town → Ragged Island Salt Ponds → surrounding historic landscape
The ponds should be treated as a living cultural landscape rather than simply abandoned industrial ruins. Some areas remain associated with family plots and ongoing salt harvesting.
WHY DUNCAN TAYLOR MATTERS TO RAGGED ISLAND HISTORY
Duncan Taylor matters because his name connects several important strands of Bahamian history.
He connects Loyalist settlement with Long Island. He appears in archival records documenting the plantation economy around 1800. Later historical tradition connects him and his family with the development of Ragged Island's salt ponds.
Most visibly, his name became associated with Duncan Town.
His story therefore creates a geographic and historical relationship between:
North Carolina → Loyalist migration → Long Island → Clarencetown → Ragged Island → salt production → Duncan Town
It is also a reminder that seemingly remote Bahamian settlements were connected to much wider historical forces—including British imperial politics, Loyalist migration, slavery, plantation agriculture and Caribbean trade.
FAQS ABOUT DUNCAN TAYLOR
Who was Duncan Taylor?
Duncan Taylor was a Loyalist associated with North Carolina who settled in The Bahamas. Historical records place him on Long Island by the late 18th century, while Bahamian sources associate his name with the development of Ragged Island's salt industry.
Was Duncan Taylor a British Loyalist?
Yes. Long Island historical research identifies Taylor as a Loyalist and a major in the British army.
What was Duncan Taylor's connection to Long Island?
Taylor received a 160-acre land grant near Clarencetown in 1789 and later identified himself as a longtime Long Island planter in an 1800 agricultural inquiry.
What did Duncan Taylor do on Ragged Island?
Official Bahamian sources credit Duncan Taylor, and in one account his brother Major Taylor, with developing or opening Ragged Island's salt ponds.
Why is Duncan Town named after Duncan Taylor?
A Bahamas government historical publication directly connects the settlement's name with Duncan Taylor and the development of the salt ponds.
Are Ragged Island's salt ponds still used?
Yes, but on a much smaller scale. The Ministry of Tourism says salt is still harvested, with some sections maintained as family plots passed to heirs.
Can visitors see the historic salt ponds?
Yes. The Ragged Island Salt Ponds remain a recognized attraction in Duncan Town and are listed by The Bahamas' official tourism authority.
Why are some dates in Duncan Taylor's history uncertain?
Archival records establish a Duncan Taylor on Long Island in the late 1700s, while later sources date Ragged Island's salt development to the 19th or late 19th century. The available evidence does not fully resolve this chronological discrepancy.
EXPLORE MORE RAGGED ISLAND GUIDES
LOCAL & DESTINATION CONTEXT
Duncan Taylor's story connects Long Island and Ragged Island within the broader history of The Bahamas. His documented Long Island associations center on Clarencetown, while his Ragged Island legacy is associated with Duncan Town and the Ragged Island Salt Ponds. Those ponds later supported regional salt trade and remain part of the island's cultural landscape today. Duncan Town, meanwhile, sits at the southern end of the wider Jumentos Cays and Ragged Island chain, linking this historical story with the maritime geography that continues to define the destination.
CONCLUSION
Duncan Taylor occupies an important but somewhat complicated place in Ragged Island history. Archival evidence identifies him as a Loyalist and Long Island planter in the late 18th century, while Bahamian historical sources associate Duncan Taylor and the Taylor family with the development of Ragged Island's salt ponds.
That industry ultimately helped define Duncan Town and connected this remote settlement with wider Caribbean trade.
The exact chronology deserves further archival research, particularly because surviving sources differ over when the salt ponds were developed. Rather than concealing that uncertainty, acknowledging it creates a stronger historical article while preserving the well-established relationship between Duncan Taylor, the salt industry and Duncan Town.
Today, the salt ponds remain the clearest physical expression of that legacy. Travelers interested in seeing how this history fits into Ragged Island's modern community, maritime traditions and surrounding cays can continue to the Ultimate Ragged Island Travel Guide.
Duncan Taylor, Ragged Island, Duncan Town, Ragged Island Salt Ponds, The Bahamas, Long Island Bahamas, Clarencetown, North Carolina Loyalists, British Loyalists, Archibald Taylor, Major Taylor, Jumentos Cays, Man-O-War Tower, Loyalist migration, Bahamian history, salt industry, salt harvesting, salt ponds, salina, plantation agriculture, slavery in The Bahamas, Caribbean salt trade, Cuba, Haiti, New Providence, Nassau, historical tourism, cultural heritage
Updated as of August 2026.