Whitehaven
Although
there had been a Roman fort about 1 mile to the north, Whitehaven port was largely created in the 17th century. It played a part in the unfortunate slave trade to the Americas, with cotton, sugar, spices and rum being the return cargoes. It grew into a major coal mining town in the 18th and 19th centuries and became a substantial port for the export of coal to the rest of the UK and Ireland. Whitehaven is the most complete example of planned Georgian architecture in Europe. Due to its layout with streets in a right angled grid, many historians believe that Whitehaven was the blueprint for the New York city street grid system.
The old industries disappeared and the town fell into decline. In recent years major redevelopement of the port and marina have revived the town's fortune and its is now a major tourist and sailing destination.
The town has many links with famous people, notably William Wordsworth, the poet, whose family lived in the town. Mildred Gale, the grandmother of George Washington, is buried in St.Nicholas' churchyard in the town. John Paul Jones led a naval raid upon the town in 1778 during the American War of Independence, but due to poor tide and weather conditions and the fact that some of his crew got drunk in local taverns, the raid was dispelled. This was the last time a hostile foreign force has set foot on English soil.