Cockburn Town

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This article is about the capital of Turks and Caicos Islands. There is also a Cockburn Town in the Bahamas.

Cockburn Town is the capital city of the Turks and Caicos Islands, located on the largest island in the Turks Islands (not the Caicos) archipelago, Grand Turk Island.

The seat of government ever since 1766, Cockburn Town was the first permanent settlement on any of the islands, founded in 1681 by salt collectors who arrived in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The city supposedly lies on the place where Juan Ponce de León first landed on the island.

The oldest known shipwreck in the Western Hemisphere, the Molasses Reef Wreck, dated 1505, is exhibited in the Turks & Caicos National Museum, Grand Turk.

The closest anchorage to Cockburn Town is Hawk's Nest Anchorage, which, though sheltered, should only be entered in good light due to reefs near the entrance.