The town is one of the oldest cities in the country and was named Goâve by the Amerindians. The Spanish called it Aguava at the end of the 16th century. After French colonization through the release of the Spanish, the French divided the city into two halves; Grand-Goâve and Petit-Goâve.
Petit-Goâve became a wealthy settlement and briefly functioned as a de facto capital of the prosperous colony of Saint-Domingue. It is also very famous for its sweet candy called douce macoss.

Source: Wikipedia.org