News of the healing fountain spread and soon the spring (then named "The Bath of St Thomas the Apostle") attracted visitors from all over Jamaica.
[2] In 1699 Colonel Stanton (the owner of the land on which the spring stood) sold the 1,130 acre estate to the Government of Jamaica.
[3] The Government developed the fountain and built a hospital on the site offering free treatment using the magical waters.
Guest houses sprang up nearby and many wealthy merchants built homes here, establishing Bath as a fashionable spa town.
It is believed that Jamaica's first breadfruit trees were brought to Bath by Captain Bligh in 1793 and that several other exotic species were introduced in 1782 following the capture of a French vessel by Admiral Rodney.