From 1635, with the arrival of the French, and through the 17th century, the village was called Portland. The main part of the settlement stood on the present site of Autre Bord, to the east. During the 18th century the town became a stronghold of the colonial aristocracy and its centre moved to the left bank of the river Audoin, following the development of sugar cane and the search for a better position for the port on the Atlantic. Substantial construction work was carried out to protect and improve the town, including a breakwater (môle in French) that gave the town its new name, Le Moule. It became Guadeloupe's main commercial port.[citation needed]
Because of its direct trade links with France, the town was a target for the British fleet during the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century; a battle fought there in 1809 is remembered in Guadeloupe.[citation needed] On 20 September 1828, Le Moule was granted the right to export its goods to metropolitan France without passing through Pointe-à-Pitre.[citation needed]
In practice, all sugar cane, sugar and rum produced in Grande-Terre were shipped from Le Moule's port. The town's trade was further supplemented by shipments of coffee, cotton, fertilizer, coal, building material and spare parts.[citation needed]
During the first half of the 19th century, with its numerous refineries and plantations (at first about 30, then about 100), the planters farmed sugar cane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, spices and other food crops, and dominated the Guadeloupean economy during the 1850s. They subsequently suffered repeated financial collapses because of failed crops, the abolition of slavery, competition from European sugar production and the restrictive "colonial pact". Share farming and industrial modernisation followed, and steam engines replaced traditional windmills. By 1901, only four refineries survived: Duchassaing, Zévallos, Marly and Gardel. Le Moule's port lost its dominant position to Pointe-à-Pitre and the centre of commerce shifted away from the town.[citation needed]
The town was severely damaged by the cyclone of 1928. It was rebuilt under Mayor Charles Romana, with new schools, churches, roads and parks.[citation needed]
Gabrielle Louis-Carabin became mayor of Le Moule in 2002.[citation needed]
Le Moule has a tropical climate, with warm to hot daytime temperatures and cooler nights. Daytime temperatures generally range from about 27°C (81°F) to 29°C (84°F) between October and May, and from about 29°C (84°F) to 32°C (90°F) for the rest of the year. Heat and humidity are highest from July to October.[citation needed]
Climate data for Le Moule (Laureal, altitude 24m, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1994–present)
Le Moule was a sugar port in the 17th and 18th centuries. Tourism has since grown, and there are seaside resorts on nearby beaches. Two distilleries operate in the area. Agriculture around Le Moule includes banana and sugarcane cultivation and livestock rearing.[citation needed]
Education
Public preschools include:
Ecole maternelle Debibakas Albert
Ecole maternelle Laura Flessel
Ecole maternelle Château Gaillard
Ecole maternelle Soliveau Laure-Laurent
Ecole maternelle Vitalle Laurette
Ecole maternelle Dupuits Marie-Eva
Ecole maternelle Sainte Marguerite
Public primary and elementary schools include:
Ecole primaire Debibakas Albert
Ecole primaire Adélaïde Amédée
Ecole primaire Girard Aristide
Ecole primaire Boisvin
Ecole primaire Cocoyer
Ecole primaire Grands-Fonds
Ecole primaire Lacroix
Ecole élémentaire Jean Galleron
Private primary schools include:
Ecole primaire privée Externat Saint Joseph du Moule
Zévallos PlantationThe old portThe Hôtel de VilleLe Moule surf spot
The Damoiseau Distillery is at Bellevue, in the middle of a sugar cane field. It produces white rum, aged rum and punches.[citation needed]
The Gardel plant was built in 1870 under a reconstruction plan for the agricultural sector. It is the only sugar refinery remaining on the main island of Guadeloupe, and its position among the sugar cane plantations allows heavy production from March to July.[citation needed]
The Ouatibi-Tibi Archaeological Park is at Morel, on 7 hectares of beach alongside the lagoon. It comprises three sites: a memorial centre, an archaeological centre and a recreation centre.[citation needed]
The Edgar Clerc Museum, west of the town, holds pre-Columbian and Amerindian collections. It presents the cultures of the Taíno, Carib and Arawak peoples through pottery and tools recovered from the excavations at the archaeological park at Morel.
Windmills survive in sugarcane fields in the surrounding countryside. They were used to grind sugar cane before the introduction of steam engines. Some date from the 18th century and remain in good condition; a signposted route, the tour des moulins, links them.[citation needed]
The Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste was built on a Latin cross plan in a neoclassical style. It has withstood numerous cyclones since its reconstruction in 1840, and retains a pastel-toned wooden interior.[citation needed]
Beaches in the commune include L'Autre Bord, shaded by sea grape trees on the approach to Le Moule, and Plage des Baies, about 1km (0.62mi) to the north, which forms a shallow bay.[citation needed]
↑"Le Moule Gardel–Inra (971)"(PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Météo-France. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
