The names Fifth Company and Sixth Company may sound unusual on a Trinidad road sign, but they preserve the memory of one of the country’s most remarkable migrations. More than two centuries ago, formerly enslaved African-Americans who had fought for the British during the War of 1812 arrived in Trinidad as free settlers and established communities that remain part of south Trinidad today. Known as the Merikins, a name derived from a shortened pronunciation of Americans, the settlers had joined British forces as Colonial Marines after being offered freedom. According to the National Library and Information System Authority, approximately 781 men, women and children arrived in Trinidad between May 1815 and August 1816, including 574 disbanded soldiers. The newcomers were settled principally in the Naparima and Savanna Grande area, now associated with Princes Town, Moruga and surrounding districts. Heads of families were granted land, with records describing allotments of 16 acres. The settlements were organised around the military companies in which the former Marines had served, creating the Company Villages. While several areas later acquired different names, Fifth Company and Sixth Company retained theirs, leaving the military origins of the settlements visible on Trinidad’s modern map. Their arrival was especially significant because slavery was still being practised in Trinidad. These were free Black landowners building independent communities within a wider colonial society where many other Africans remained enslaved. The settlers faced poor roads, limited equipment, a shortage of animals and building materials, and the challenge of clearing and cultivating unfamiliar land. Agriculture became central to survival. NALIS records crops including corn, cassava, bananas, potatoes and rice. Historical accounts also credit the Merikins with contributing to rice cultivation in Trinidad. They worked their own holdings while also earning income on neighbouring estates, creating communities in which land ownership became closely linked to independence and identity. Religion and community organisation were equally important. Many settlers brought Baptist traditions from the United States and established churches and local leadership structures. Over generations, their communities also preserved or developed practices associated with herbal medicine, communal labour and cultural traditions. The gayap principle, essentially neighbours joining together to complete work that would be difficult for one household alone, became associated with activities such as cultivation, building and burials. The Merikin story remained comparatively little known outside the Company Villages for generations. In 2016, communities marked the 200th anniversary of their arrival, and in 2017 seven historical signs were installed across the six Company Village areas to explain the history to residents and visitors. Today, the names on the landscape are more than unusual addresses. They mark communities founded by people who escaped slavery, served in a war thousands of kilometres away and then crossed the Caribbean to begin new lives as free settlers in Trinidad. Their descendants and institutions remain part of the cultural history of the country, making the Company Villages a living link between Trinidad, the United States, the British Empire and the wider African diaspora.