Isabela Island was originally named Albemarle Island for the so named duke by Ambrose Cowley, one of the first men to ever set foot on the islands, in 1684. It was named after Queen Isabella of Spain. It is the largest of all the islands, with an area of 4,670 square kilometers (1,803 sq. mi), and length of 120 kilometers (74 mi),almost four times larger than Santa Cruz, the second largest of the archipelago. Tagus Cove on the northwestern side of the island provided a sheltered anchorage for pirates, buccaneers, whalers, and others for over 400 years. Darwin visited the place in 1835. Antonio Gil, a well-known Ecuadorian from Guayaquil, arrived in Galapagos in 1893 and after visiting the other islands, colonized southern Isabela, founding the town of Puerto Villamil on the southern coast and the town of Santo Tomás in the highlands. He named Villamil after the freedom fighter from Guayaquil, José de Villamil. The town of Puerto Villamil began as a lime production center. Santa Tomás was the center for a sulfur mine in the caldera of Sierra Negra Volcano and a nearby coffee plantation. Water limitations have always been a problem for the economic growth of the place. By 1974 there were nearly 450 residents on Isabela. This number has increased in each official census. Isabela was once used as an exile for prisoners, who built the devastating Wall of Tears as part of their punishment.
