History

Le Lamentin is a municipality in the heart of Martinique. It is located between Le Robert and Le François to the east, Ducos to the south, Gros-Morne and Saint-Joseph to its north and Fort-de-France to the west.

The town owes its name to the frequent presence of manatees (lamantin in French) on the banks of the river La Lézarde which crosses the Lamentin. This animal has now disappeared from the Lesser Antilles. One day, the exact date of which is unknown, a manatee was found stranded on the banks of the river, after which the town definitely adopted this name.

A manatee statue also appears at the entrance to the town hall.

The history of Lamentin dates back to the end of the 17th century when it was built in 1837 around the Rivière La Lézarde and its 6,000 hectares.

The fertile plain produced the largest areas of sugar cane that the edge of the hills adorned with various food crops. Established at the crossroads of north-south and east-west routes, the Lamentin was the link between essential land communications on the island. The planters who had settled there left their mark in the history of the island.

In 1790, they stopped the troops from Saint-Pierre, inflicting heavy losses on the republican army of Dugommier in what was called the Battle of Acajou.

After World War II, Lamentin became a communist bastion with no less than 3 communist mayors who would mark the history of the town: Fernand Guillon, Georges Gratiant and Pierre Samot.

Economy

Thanks to its large river plain, unique on the island, the Lamentin has always been a major part of the local economy. This preponderant place was marked by the presence of the Lareinty factory, which crushed tens of thousands of tonnes of sugar cane each year.

This factory, founded in 1862 by Émile Bougenot, a young engineer from the Ecole des arts et métiers (School of Arts and Crafts) specially sent to Martinique, was the flagship of the Martinique sugar economy. This factory operated by steam with 4 generators and benefited from the most modern methods of manufacturing sugar.

At the end of the 19th century, the agricultural domain extended over more than 1900 hectares. The Lareinty factory could cook up to 25 barrels of sugar per day. At that time the sugar industry was in crisis and bananas had supplanted sugar cane in the local economy.

Despite this, Lamentin is asserting itself as the industrial and commercial lung of Martinique. With its airport, its oil refinery, the Société Anonyme de la Raffinerie des Antilles, (the only one in the Antilles and French Guiana) its many industrial zones and business zones which adjoin Fort-de-France (ZI la Lézarde, ZI de la Jambette, ZI Les Mangles Mahogany, ZI les Hauts de Californie, ZI de Places d'Armes, ZAC du Lareinty, ZAC de Manhity), the town remains one of the most active in Martinique. Now with its large shopping centers (La Galleria, Place d'Armes), it is the dynamic town par excellence.

Neighborhoods

The municipality's main districts are Acajou Est, Acajou Sud, Autoroute Césaire, Basse Gondeau, Bel Air, Bélème, Belfort, Belle Isle, Bellevue, Bellonie, Bochette, Bois Quarré, Bois Rouge, Branchet, Briere de l'Isle, Calbassier, Californie, Carrère, Croix Rivail, Daubert, Duchesne 1, Duchesne 2, Floraindre, Fond Bellemare, Fond Citron, Gondeau, Jeanne d'Arc, la Ressource, la Trompeuse, Lareinty, Long Bois, Long Pré, Mahault, Mangot Vulcin, Manzelle, Montéol, Morne Pavillon, Morne Pitault, Palmiste, Petit Bambou, Petit Manoir, Petit Morne, Petit Paradis, Petite Rivière, Place d'Armes, Plaisance, Rives Chancel, Rivière Caleçon, Rivière Roche, Roches Carrées, Sarrault, Savane Dédé, Soudon, Union and Vieux Pont.

List of places to visit in the municipality

Places to visit

La Ferme Perrine is an agricultural area that extends over several hectares. Founded in 1993, it was established in the Carrère district of Lamentin.