After the tragic deaths of native Lucayans at the hands of Spanish conquistadors , Grand Bahama remained virtually uninhabited for several hundred years. Bands of pirates and privateers often lurked at the west end to ambush ships sailing through the Florida Channel and heading to Europe loaded with gold and other treasures, and many Spanish galleons and British men-of-war wrecked on the reefs encircling the island.

During the American Civil War, the island experienced a sudden spurt of growth when the village of West End briefly became a staging ground for Confederate blockade runners smuggling guns and supplies into the southern states, just as it later became a base for rum runners during Prohibition in the 1920s.

When American businessman Wallace Groves acquired the rights to harvest timber on Grand Bahama around 1950, the island was still nearly empty and un-developed, but the tycoon set about creating a winter playground for the rich and famous, almost overnight.