Para · sugar, bananas, coffee
Accaribo: founded in 1671, 139 people freed in 1863
Accaribo, on the left bank of the Suriname River in Para district, was founded in 1671 by the second governor of Suriname, Philip Julius Lichtenbergh; 139 people were freed here in 1863 under 35 family names, and 268 Hindustani and 162 Javanese indentured labourers worked there afterwards.
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Philip Julius Lichtenbergh, the second governor of Suriname, laid Accaribo out in 1671 together with Adriaan Hoogenkamp, which makes it one of the oldest estates in the country. In 1680 it was attacked and burned by Indigenous people. In Sranan the place was called Gran Pranasie, the great plantation; in 1770 and 1795 it covered 2,380 akkers. Ownership ran through the Chevallier family, the Amsterdam Luden en Speciaal fund and the widow A.J. Winkler to Bixby, Smith and Fennelly in 1889.
Sugar was grown, recorded in 1793. From 1889 bananas were planted, and in the early twentieth century coffee.
At the emancipation of 1863, 139 people were registered here, with 35 documented family names. That put Accaribo seventy-sixth of the two hundred and sixteen known plantations. For earlier years we have found no figures.
After emancipation the estate employed 268 Hindustani and 162 Javanese indentured labourers. That makes Accaribo one of the few plantations with a concrete figure for both the post-1873 and the post-1890 stream, and therefore a good way into the immigration registers. The Rijksmuseum holds a photograph titled Plantation owner with indentured labourers at the Accaribo estate in Suriname.
By 2001 an intake sluice was all that remained of the plantation infrastructure. Nearby lies the Klaverblad mine, a Suralco bauxite operation; when a dam wall there broke in 2017, a flood wave hit the village and eroded the bank. The area is now known mainly for leisure, with White Beach and the Caribo Beach Resort on a stretch of white sand nearly 400 metres long.
Frequently asked questions
How old is the Accaribo plantation?
Accaribo was founded in 1671 by Philip Julius Lichtenbergh, the second governor of Suriname, together with Adriaan Hoogenkamp. In 1680 the estate was attacked and burned by Indigenous people.
How many people were freed at Accaribo in 1863?
One hundred and thirty-nine, with 35 documented family names. That put Accaribo seventy-sixth of the two hundred and sixteen known plantations. For the years before that we have found no figures.
Does Accaribo appear in the immigration registers?
Yes. After emancipation the estate employed 268 Hindustani and 162 Javanese indentured labourers, so the plantation name appears in both the Hindustani register from 1873 and the Javanese one from 1890. Both are searchable at the Nationaal Archief.