History of the municipality of GRAND RIVIERE
It all began in the late 17th century.
The Jesuits decide to install a chapel.
Father Labat, who resided at that time at Macouba at the Potiche Habitation, declared: “We went to attend Mass at a small chapel which is on the other side of the Grand’Rivière. The Jesuit Father of the Preacher comes to say Mass two or three times a year.”
Following the colonial decree of June 12, 1837, Grand’Rivière, Macouba and Basse-Pointe will form the “Commune du nord”.
This latter will be dissolved in 1945 when Macouba will be erected into a commune.
From then on, Grand’Rivière will depend on this latter until 1888, the date on which it will become an independent commune.
His departure will still require the creation of a gendarmerie post in 1852 by Rear-Admiral Vaillant, who was at the time the Governor of Martinique.
The first mayor of the commune was Théophile-Anatole Rémilien, designated on May 20, 1888.
June 25, 1940, marked the history of Grand’Rivière and of all of Martinique, as it passed under the administration of Admiral Robert !
The municipality will become one of the hubs of Martinique resistance.
In 1942, a representative of Admiral Robert and Archbishop Mgr Varin de la Brunelière arrive in Grand’Rivière with the aim of changing the republican flags with crosses.
The Riverains, however, are not at all of this opinion !
This situation triggers many confrontations between Admiral Robert’s supporters and the rest of the population.
The municipality Grand Riviere Martinique will be considered a “resistance community” throughout this period.
It will be used as a hub by the Martinicans for all kinds of trafficking, whether to join the allies, for commerce or the black market.
The altercations between smugglers and customs officers were becoming more and more numerous, to the point that Admiral Robert decided to create a customs post charged with regulating the shipments and receptions of goods.
