Adamstown

Adamstown sits at an altitude of 120 m (394 feet) above sea level, on the top of the Hill of Difficulty. All buildings are either 'upside' or 'downside' of the main road, which runs parallel to the hillside. The public square is on top of the hill and the buildings around it include the courthouse, the island magistrate's office, the community hall, church, dispensary, library and post office. The Hill of Difficulty is at the center of Pitcairn Island.

In 1790 an alliance of mutineers from the ship called Bounty and South Sea islanders from nearby Tahiti settled in Pitcairn, but soon disputes arose and the men started killing each other. Their descendants were more peaceful and turned to the one copy of the Bible that survived from the Bounty. This Bible is known as Fletcher Christian's Bounty Bible. It is kept in a glass case in Adamstown's church and it is one of the many reminders of Pitcairn's origins. The bible was taken in 1839, but returned to the island in 1949. The Bounty's anchor was salvaged by a National Geographic team. It stands outside the courthouse. A cannon from the Bounty stands further down the road. Adamstown was named after John Adams, who was the sole male adult survivor from the disputes that erupted among the original Bounty mutineers. His grave is not far from town. It is the only one of the mutineers' graves that has been preserved.