The first permanent structure to be established at Bartica was a building which housed the Bartica Mission Station. This Mission was established in the 1829 by the Church Missionary Society to carry out missionary work among the Amerindians. However, in 1837 the soil around the Mission proved to be unsuitable for agriculture, the mission moved eastwards for about a mile to a place called Bartica Grove, where the Government has offer some 500 acres of land. It was this shift which brought the Mission settlement to the present day site of the town.
When Richard Schomburgh, the explorer and Materialist, visited Bartica in 1841, it had a population of about 110 persons, most of whom were black. In 1840, the first church at Bartica was opened by Governor Light While. In 1861, the first public hospital was established.
In 1887, the court of Policy took a decision to repossess the land, formally granted to the church for the purpose of surveying, with the aim of laying the foundation for a future town in the hinterlands. Under ordinance No.5 of 1887 a board of commissioners were appointed and these were given the task of effecting the layout of the future town. With this in mind several lots were laid out and sold at public auction. Yet, it was the rise of the gold industry in British Guiana in the 1880's which really give impetus to the development and growth of Bartica.
First, the settlement proved to be the ideal location since it was accessible to both the city, as well as the gold fields and the timber grants.
Secondly Bartica served as major recruitment point for laborers for the gold fields as prospective workers assembled there in search of work opportunities. Thirdly a number of service oriented businesses sprang up in town to cater for the needs of the miners and woodcutters. Some of these included: Guesthouses, shops of various kinds, entertainment, sports, transportation services and workshops.
Finally Several Government departments were also established there to impose some measure of control over the gold industry.
When Henry Kirk visited Bartica in 1891, it had an extensive market, a dispensary, and several good stores, thriving rum shops, a Ferry Stelling, a hospital and a newly erected police station.
