Looking Back: St. Maarten/St. Martin's Colorful History

By Alita Singh

1737: A Dutch soldier stationed on the newly christened Fort Amsterdam looks out from the bastion behind the cannon mount and sees them sailing into Great Bay. Sails swollen with the balmy, Atlantic wind, the Dutch fleet's mission is to collect more of the very important merchandise that makes St. Maarten valuable to the Dutch kingdom: fresh, coarse salt.

Salt was harvested by the Arawaks and Caribs, who inhabited this 37-square-mile island thousands of years before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Since that time, salt has been a key player in the events that have shaped St. Maarten/St. Martin's history.

In 1631, salt was one of many reasons why the Dutch chose to settle here. The kingdom needed a strategically positioned provisioning station between its colony of New Netherlands (New York) and New Holland (Brazil).

The settlers arrived with 80 ships, which they filled with salt, and departed for Europe, leaving behind 30 men and four cannons to build a settlement. Chosen as the perfect defensive position for a fort was the peninsula jutting out into Great Bay. Work on Fort Amsterdam began.

Meanwhile, the French, unbeknownst to the Dutch, were already settled in Quartier d'Orleans (French Quarter) with some 1,400 families who were busy setting up sugar, cotton and coffee plantations.

The hive of activity associated with the building of Fort Amsterdam and the increased calls from Dutch ships to collect salt aroused the interest of the island's "owner" — the Spanish. Columbus sighted the island on November 11, 1493, and claimed it for the Spanish, who paid little attention to it until this time. An attack to regain the island from the Dutch was launched by the Spanish in 1633, as a spillover of their Eighty Years' War in Europe. The Spanish recaptured the island, reinforced Fort Amsterdam and built a second fort, the Old Spanish Fort in Pointe Blanche. This fort, on the eastern side of the bay, looks out on the modern day shipping activities of Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities.

Not willing to lose this well-positioned island and its abundance of salt, the Dutch made a counterattack in 1644, under the leadership of Peter Stuyvesant, director of the Dutch West Indies Trading Company. Island lore states that Stuyvesant — who was the last governor of New Netherlands (now New York) — managed to lose only his leg in the battle.

In 1648, the Spanish left the island for good, preferring to focus their attention on their stronghold of Puerto Rico.

Regaining their piece of salt-wealthy paradise, the Dutch and French formalized their cohabitation with the Treaty of Concordia, signed atop Mount Concordia on March 23, 1648. Despite the existence of the treaty, there are still some minor disputes between the two sides, and in 1817 the border currently in place was formalized. This made the island the smallest piece of land in the world divided between two sovereign powers: the Netherlands and France, a distinction that still holds true today.

The 16-square-mile Dutch side is administratively part of the Netherlands Antilles, while the 21-square-mile French side, as of February 2007, gained the position of "overseas collectivity" of France.

Folk legend offers a more colorful take on the division that involves the drinking habits of the Dutch and the French. According to the story, two men stood back-to-back and started to walk around the island with the agreement that where they met would determine the border.

Legend has it that the Frenchman took a flask of wine for refreshment while the Dutchman carried a bottle of potent Dutch gin. The weighty gin slowed the advance of the Dutchman. The invigorating wine kept the Frenchman on course, enabling him to cover more ground and to claim 21 square miles of the island.

Life and progress continued after the partition. Salt harvesting and cash crop cultivation thrived with the establishment of plantations on both sides of the island. Slaves from West Africa were brought in to harvest salt and cultivate sugarcane, cotton, coffee and cocoa.

The plantation system prospered until slavery was abolished in 1848 on the French side and 1863 on the Dutch side. However, salt production continued well into the 20th century. This once-lucrative industry exported salt harvested from the various natural salt ponds, such as Great Salt Pond in Philipsburg, to the neighboring islands like St. Eustatius, and New England in the United States.

By the early 20th century, because of declining demand from the United States coupled with salt harvesters leaving the island to seek better economic opportunities on other islands and South America, the industry went into a sharp decline. The salt industry, the island's main economic activity, ground to a halt in 1949 on the Dutch side, and in 1967 the same happened on the French side.

A minor depression ensued, but the island quickly bounced back with the building of Princess Juliana International Airport in 1943 and several small hotels. This gave rise to the vibrant and progressive tourism industry that is now the island's main economic pillar.

Economic progress attracted the attention of St. Maarteners/St. Martiners, who packed their traveling trunks and headed back home to cater to the influx of tourists coming from the United States and Europe to enjoy the new hotels, casinos and duty-free shops. Cruise tourism also began to boom with the arrival of the first cruise ship 40 years ago.

With the tourists came people from around the world who settled here and added their potpourri of cultures. Their input helped the island earn the nickname "The Culinary Capital of the Caribbean" because of the world-class cuisine and variety. The Village of Grand Case on the French side has more restaurants along its picturesque winding main street than anywhere else in the region.

Today, the island's airport, which boasts a state-of-the-art terminal building opened by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands in 2006, is the second-busiest in the Caribbean. It is a hub for all neighboring islands. The cruise and cargo facilities, slated for expansion in 2008 to cater to the Genesis-class cruise ship, rank in the Caribbean top three.

Aside from the island's rolling emerald hills, powdery white beaches and friendly people, another charming fact is that the island is one of the only remaining duty-free islands in the Caribbean. It's a treasure trove with designer jewelry, fine wines, the latest electronics and much more.

The Country Road

St. Maarten, the Dutch side, is at a unique juncture of its political history. The island is preparing to become "a country in the Dutch kingdom."

Country St. Maarten, voted for by the population on June 23, 2000, has long been fought for. The island will not become independent, but it will have more autonomy and control over its internal affairs with its own parliament.

The status of country will move the island from under the administrative wing of Curaçao, the capital of the five-island Netherlands Antilles — a non-independent country. The target date for the status change is tentatively set for December 2008.

Talks are ongoing to dissolve the more than 50-year-old grouping, which also includes Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire, as all islands have opted for different ties with the Netherlands.

By voting for separation from the Netherlands Antilles within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, St. Maarten will receive the status of "Koninkrijkseiland" ("Kingdoms' Island") within the Kingdom and the Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist. Curaçao will become the same type of associated state. Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire will become special municipalities.

St. Maarten's local government and people are keen to make more of their own decisions by cutting out a lot of the bureaucracy associated with the present grouping, and eventually become part of the EEC (European Economic Community).

Country status can only be achieved with the agreement of all partners in the Dutch kingdom, which includes Aruba, a nation that already has the status of country in the Dutch kingdom.

It's often asked why the island didn't opt for full independence. The answer to this is not simple. The population is currently very focused and eager to strike out on its own. Some sections of the island consider achieving country status a stepping-stone to becoming fully independent later on, while others see it as a way to have their individual needs taken into greater consideration.

Top Hits in History

By Alita Singh

There is much more to St. Maarten/St. Martin than its sandy beaches and rolling green hills. A trip into the island's past as illustrated by its historical sites reveals a seriousness and purpose.

Fort Louis
Built as part of Sun King Louis XIV of France's vision to better defend his Caribbean holdings, Fort Louis has been guarding Baie de l'Embouchure since 1766. The fort, accessible by foot, gives a spectacular view of the French side capital, Marigot, as well as surrounding areas and the neighboring island, Anguilla. The location was chosen in 1666 by a French Naval Officer of the Engineering Corps, François Blondel, who was given the task of finding a suitable defensive position. The hill, close to the developing town, was selected as the ideal place to provide protection and fend off any English attacks.

Mount Vernon Plantation
Sitting on two acres of a lush, green valley, Mount Vernon Plantation takes visitors back to the sugar-making days of 1786. It is the only site on the island that has been restored to most of its authentic state. Guided tours recreate the processes of making sugar, coffee and rum. Surrounded by tropical fruit trees is the "Maison de Maître" (master's house), a stone and wooden structure of the rarest kind. Rounding off the plantation are gardens of spices. The plantation, a short distance from Orient Bay, is a place to see living history and discover the secrets of rum making and aromatic coffee brewing.

Fort Amsterdam
Christened Fort Amsterdam more than 270 years ago, the fort walls and sentry house are testimony to the strength of ancient building techniques. However, the "guardian" of Great Bay had one major flaw — its cannons and guns could not span the 1,600-meter-wide bay to adequately defend it. The site is accessible through Divi Little Bay Resort and is crisscrossed by hiking paths curling along the massive walls that lead to breathtaking vistas.

Emilio Wilson Estate
Emilio Wilson Estate, circa 1750, ties the past and present together like no other site on the island. Spanning from the valley to the top of Sentry Hill on the Dutch side, this former sugar plantation was the home of the island's first governor, John Philips, after whom Philipsburg is named. Plantation Industry, as Philips called it, was later acquired by the von Romandts, one of the first families to settle here. The oldest descendant of the family's Caribbean branch, Douglas Sinclair Cannegieter, still lives on Front Street and celebrated his 99th birthday in 2007. The estate was later sold to Emilio Wilson.

Saving Island History Through Postcards

The pristine yet to be developed hillsides, the serene Great Salt Pond, a quiet Princess Juliana International Airport, a busy market day on Marigot Waterfront. Those days were captured by photographers and are preserved on postcards — the staple souvenir of travelers.

Over 300 postcards spanning from the 1930s to present day are in the permanent collection of the St. Maarten Museum in Speetjens Arcade, located off Front Street in Philipsburg. The collection, including an acquisition of old photographs from the Royal Institute of the Tropics, is curated by Museum Director Elsje Bosch.

Bosch, a former schoolteacher, has always been a collector. The museum's establishment in which she played the lead role enhanced her ardent interest in island history and heritage further. "Postcards, maps and photographs chart history. Collecting and preserving them make sense. Every year, the National Museum asks the public to donate these items as they are a visible part of history," Bosch said.

Bosch acquired the postcards and photographs cataloguing "the island's fast and drastic changes" for the museum through donations, gifts and auctions, especially in the Netherlands.

Saving records of the island's ever changing landscape through postcards dating from the beginning of the tourism boom years has also become a passion for island resident Barbara Cannegieter.

What started as a record of her husband Diederick's postcards has now grown into collection of St. Maarten/St. Martin's past in photographs. "Sometimes, Diederick and I would go through the collection and recall some of the places that have really changed. Life on St. Maarten was very simple and uncomplicated. Although there were cars, as seen in some of the postcards, there were no traffic jams."

The printing of postcards for sale to tourists began in the 1960s with entrepreneur Guy Hodge taking photographs of points of interest, such as Front Street, Great Bay Beach, the now Cyrus Wathey Square and the Courthouse, which were by far the most popular and continue to be today.

Following Hodge's lead and sensing a niche in the market with the growing number of cruise passengers to the island, looking to take a piece of the island with them, Diederick also began taking photographs of Fort Amsterdam, at the cock fighting pit, in Marigot and in Philipsburg, amongst other locations. The photographs were sent to a Boston-based company, which designed the postcards and shipped them back to the island for Diederick. To date, Cannegieter Liquor Store on Front Street still does business with the company and sells postcards.

The collection of over 100 postcards started when Diederick began keeping a record of his work and postcards he sold in the store. Barbara later took up the collection and turned her attention to gathering as many "memories of old St. Maarten" as possible.

Venturing into cyberspace, Barbara sought these pieces of island photographic record by registering at websites like eBay.com. Over time, several postcards have come up for sale and were whisked away into Barbara's collection.

The Philipsburg Courthouse

Completed in 1793 at the order of Commander Willem Hendrik Rink, the Philipsburg Courthouse is one of the island's oldest monuments. Located on Front Street in the heart of the city's famed shopping and dining district, this charming two-story structure was severely damaged by a hurricane in 1819, and it wasn't until 1826 before it was fully rebuilt, this time sans the upper floor but with the addition of the familiar bell tower. In 1964, then Lt. Governor Beaujon ordered the second floor rebuilt, and in 1994-95, the courthouse underwent its most recent restoration and received its pineapple on tower as a symbol of St. Maarten/Martin's hospitality.

The Man Behind the Name

As you travel around the island, you may see the name Claude Wathey quite a bit: for instance, the pier in Pointe Blanche is named after him, as well as the Legislative Hall of the Government Administration Building.

The reason for this is his legacy as one of the most patriotic citizens and influential political figures in Sint Maarten/St. Martin's history.

Born Albert Claudius Wathey in Philipsburg, St. Maarten on July 24, 1926, he attended St. Joseph's School, which is still located on Front Street. His formal educational training was in business and hotel management. Wathey began his active political career in1950, winning his first Island Council Elections in 1951. He later went on to form the prominent Democratic Party of St. Maarten with Clem Labega in July of 1954. Wathey enjoyed an illustrious political career, becoming a senator in the Netherlands Antillean Parliament in 1962 and later holding other prominent posts, among them Commissioner of Tourism. His vision of tourism being the driving force behind the island's economy is one of his most important legacies, and to that end he helped engineer deals that brought major hotels to the island.

In addition, his pride as a Sint Maartener led him to help create a national holiday for the island. Thanks to his efforts and those of other prominent island residents like Labega and Dr. Hubert Petit, on November 11, 1962, St. Maarten Day was born, a holiday islanders celebrate with pride to this day.

Remembering When

When visiting St. Maarten/St. Martin, one of the most cosmopolitan and bustling islands in the Caribbean, it's easy to think that it was always like this. But if a time machine were handy and you set the dial to go back 40 years, you may not think you were on the same island.

"In the 1960s," says Mathias Voges, a historian and Acting Lieutenant Governor of Sint Maarten, "there were only a few stores on [Philipsburg's] Front Street." In addition to the stores, he says, there were "two small hotels, two churches, two schools and the rest were family homes." Instead of the cars and taxis you see today, explains Voges, "people got around by foot or donkey."

Cars were rare back then: according to Voges, there were only 400 in St. Maarten back in 1961. Of course, there also weren't that many inhabitants, either: Voges says that there were only about 1,500 people in Dutch St. Maarten in the 1960s. Today, of course, the numbers are dramatically different: 35,000 people on the Dutch side and 30,000 on the French side.

Back then, Sint Maarteners worked in the agriculture industry, government jobs or had small shops. For fun, they swam at the beach, fished and even played cricket.

But then the island's economy-and lifestyle-shifted dramatically with the advent of tourism. According to Voges, by the 1970s, among island residents "the trend to move out of town grew stronger." As such, the homes on Front Street gave way to businesses. For instance, Voges' own home-his birthplace, in fact-is now L'Escargot restaurant.

And more changes are on the way. According to Voges, the government is continuing its plans to improve Front Street with a $5.4 million facelift that includes expanded sidewalks, lush greenery and better access for the physically challenged, among other improvements. The end result? A better Sint Maarten for both residents and visitors to enjoy.

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