Editing Eleuthera (section)

== History ==
{{Further| Eleutheran Adventurers}}
The possible first settlers of the island were the original population of [[Taíno people|Taino]], or [[Arawaks]].<ref name="GB">{{cite web |url=http://www.gloriousbahamas.com/history-of-eleuthera-island.html|title=History of Eleuthera|publisher=Glorious Bahamas|access-date=21 February 2017}}</ref> An intact wooden ''duho'' or ritual seat that was made by the [[Taino]] people was found on the island of Eleuthera in the nineteenth century and is now in the collections of the [[British Museum]].<ref name="BM">{{cite web | author = BM Staff | date = January 6, 2017 | title=British Museum Online Collection: Stool | work=BritishMuseum.org | url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=659469&partId=1&place=9650&plaA=9650-3-2&page=1 | access-date= January 6, 2017}}</ref> The island in its early history was known as ''Cigateo'' (or ''Ciguateo''), meaning "distant rocky land", but this name changed following subsequent European settlement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ahrens |first=Wolfgang P. |date=2015 |title=Naming the Bahamas Islands: History and Folk Etymology |url=https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/oc/article/view/14910 |journal=Onomastica Canadiana |language=en |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=101 |issn=2816-7015}}</ref><ref name="GB"/>

[[File:new providence eleuthera.jpg|thumb|right|NASA satellite image, showing New Providence Island to the west, and east of it, the long, narrow island of Eleuthera running north and south (along with its associated Harbour and other small islands), as seen from space in 1997]]
The island is believed to have been largely unoccupied at the time of the arrival of the first significant number of British settlers, with [[Puritan]] colonists (who had come together the previous year in [[London]]) arriving in 1648 from [[Bermuda]].<ref name="GB"/> These settlers, known as the "[[Eleutherian Adventurers]]", under Captain [[William Sayle]] gave the island its current name which derives from the feminine form of the [[Greek language|Greek]] adjective [[wikt:ἐλεύθερος|ἐλεύθερος]], ''eleutheros'', meaning "free".<ref>{{cite book | author = Bethell, A. Talbot | title = The Early Settlers of the Bahamas and Colonists of North America | date = June 2009| page = 82 | location = Baltimore, MD  | publisher = Clearfield Co. | isbn = 978-0806350509 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0806350504 | access-date = January 6, 2017 | quote = Page number and ISBN are for the revised reprint edition from the Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009.}}</ref><ref name ="BE">{{cite web |url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/bahamas.htm |title=Caribbean: The Bahamas|publisher=British Empire |access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref> The difficulties of settlement ultimately left only a few of the settlers on the island, thwarting their aim of creating the first European "[[democracy]]" in the Western Hemisphere (almost 130 years prior to the American Revolution).<ref>{{cite book |last=Riley |first=Sandra (foreword by Thelma B. Peters) | date = 2000 | title = Homeward Bound: A History of the Bahama Islands to 1850 with a Definitive Study of Abaco in the American Loyalist Plantation Period | location = Miami, FL | publisher = Island Research| page = 28  | isbn = 0966531027 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0966531027 | access-date = January 6, 2017 }}</ref>

The island was stated to have been agriculturally prosperous in the period from 1950 to 1980.<ref name="BNT1"/> This included a large crop of pineapples for export. When the Bahamas became independent from Britain in 1973, new ownership laws changed the nature of the island economy. Since then the island has become a popular tourist destination.<ref name="BNT1"/>

In 1992 the island was severely damaged by the category 5 [[Hurricane Andrew]]; massive wind speeds hit the island and an 18-foot tidal surge inundated the coastal area.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jonathan Freedland|date=1992-09-02|title=Storm Ravaged Island in Bahamas|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|location=Nassau, Bahamas|access-date=2012-06-20|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N36/bahamas.36w.html|archive-date=2011-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005042654/http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N36/bahamas.36w.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Relief efforts helped mitigate some of the damage, including several relief tasks that were carried out by [[HMS Cardiff (D108)|HMS ''Cardiff'']] as the vessel was operating in the area.<ref name="rw">{{cite report|work=United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs|date=1992-08-26|title=Bahamas and U.S.A. &ndash; Hurricane Andrew Aug 1992 UN DHA Information Reports 1-3|publisher=[[ReliefWeb]]|location=New York City, New York|access-date=2012-06-20|url=http://reliefweb.int/node/34555}}</ref>

In early March 2019, [[Disney Cruise Line]] purchased the [[Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point|Lighthouse Point]] property on the island of Eleuthera and agreed to a development plan for the area with the Bahamian government. Disney spent between $250 million and $400 million on developing the 700-acre property and donated 190 acres – including the southernmost tip – to the government for a national park.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tribou |first=Richard |title=Disney Cruise Line completes a land purchase, enters agreement for second Bahamas destination |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-ae-disney-cruise-line-lighthouse-point-bahamas-update-20190311-story.html |access-date=March 12, 2019 |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=March 11, 2019}}</ref> Lighthouse Point opened exclusively to Disney Cruise Line guests on June 6, 2024.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ewnews.com/disney-cruise-line-to-host-final-job-fair-for-lighthouse-point-destination-with-employment-to-exceed-hoa-commitment |title=Disney Cruise Line to host final job fair for Lighthouse Point destination with employment to exceed HOA commitment |website=Eye Witness News |first=Natario |last=McKenzie |date=April 11, 2024 |access-date=April 19, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2023/03/new-disney-cruise-line-island-destination-at-lighthouse-point-in-the-bahamas-to-welcome-guests-in-summer-2024/ |title=New Disney Cruise Line Island Destination at Lighthouse Point in The Bahamas to Welcome Guests in Summer 2024 |website=disneyparks |first=Evily Giannopoulos |last=Peros |date=March 9, 2023 |access-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-date=June 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612060704/https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2023/03/new-disney-cruise-line-island-destination-at-lighthouse-point-in-the-bahamas-to-welcome-guests-in-summer-2024/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>