Island Tales

By Alita Singh

History here is never stagnant. Every day marks a new page in the story of St. Maarten/St. Martin.

This is how St. Maarten Museum’s long-time director and curator Elsje Bosch describes the island's rich legacy. She is the custodian of the largest collection of artifacts and items of historical significance that speak volumes about this 37-square-mile island shared amicably by the Netherlands and France for more than 300 years.

The museum has a sizable display of artifacts belonging to the Arawaks, the island’s first settlers; evidence of their lives is found in small pockets, mainly close to waterways. Bits of pottery and stone tools dating back to 500-1200 AD have been recovered in archaeological digs in places such as Hope Estate and Cupecoy. The museum also has more modern Arawak pieces of clothing gathered from their lives in the Amazon Basin.

Like many other islands in the Caribbean, St. Maarten/St. Martin was not untouched by the European expansion into the New World. A Dutch ship in need of repair was brought into Great Bay in the 1600s and the crew spied the vast salt reserve in Great Salt Pond. This led to regular salt harvesting with the use of slaves captured in Africa; no permanent settlement has yet been found. A recent discovery from that era was the uncovering of three skeletons under the aptly named Zoutsteeg (Salt Street), identified as people from Africa who were buried in a crude grave at the edge of the salt pond. Emancipation Day, July 1st, was finally recognized as a holiday in 2012.

Permanent settlement of the island was first done actively by the British with Commander John Philips, Philipsburg’s namesake, encouraging planters to come to the island. “Sometimes the fact that we were once British gets lost,” says Bosch. Cotton, sugarcane and indigo were planted as cash crops and, together with salt harvesting, formed the core economy until the abolition of slavery 149 years ago.

Playing a prominent role in the defense of the Dutch side was Fort Amsterdam, as Fort Louis did for the French side. The early fortification dates to 1631, when the Dutch claimed the island for its salt reserves. The fort was taken by the Spanish two years later.  A revolving door of changing colonial powers continued until 1648, when the Dutch regained lasting control.

The partial skeleton of a solider buried at the fort was uncovered by Dutch archaeologists in 1987, and is in the museum now, together with bits of his uniform. His buttons survived several centuries, merely as a glimpse into the sturdy workmanship of the time.

The H.M.S. Proselyte display tells of the Royal British Navy ship that sank on September 2, 1801 when it hit a reef coming into Great Bay. The vessel gives its name to the island’s underwater showpiece—the Proselyte Reef, a must-see for any diver. Pieces of the ship, once a Dutch war frigate, are in the museum’s care and are displayed with a replica of the ship.

Leaving the olden days behind, other artifacts come from more recent times or “Great-Grandmother’s Day,” as Bosch describes it. “Life was simple then. They used coal pots and lamps. Things were sustainable and reusable.” Over the years, families have donated or loaned pieces to the museum to help give a more complete picture of island life. “These artifacts showed us where we have come from, and that is important,” Bosch adds.

Milestones and turning points are also marked at the museum. “Artifacts are generally things that are more than 50 years old, but there are events that change everything, too,” Bosch says. Hurricane Luis was one such event. The powerful category-five storm ravaged the island in 1995, flattening homes and businesses. Nothing was left untouched.

“We now talk about ‘before Luis’ and ‘after Luis.’ At the museum we recognize this turning point. We collected everything from newspaper clippings to T-shirts given out,” Bosch says, adding that in the storm’s wake, people took care of each other and shared the little they had left.

Echoes of the past resonate from Bosch’s childhood collection and have grown into the museum’s core exhibits. Musical instruments from Europe and Africa are displayed side by side as testimony of the island’s mixed heritage. “People get nostalgic when they come here,” she explains. “Some items make them remember their grandmother or long-ago family stories.”

Like the stories of Luis, the museum is the custodian of the last flag of the Netherlands Antilles, which was flown and lowered just before the stroke of midnight on October 10, 2010, when Sint Maarten became a country within the Dutch Kingdom. The flag was presented by St. Maarten’s last Lt. Governor to Bosch minutes before the St. Maarten flag was hoisted for the first time in front of the Courthouse on Front Street. The flag, along with images from that historical day, hangs prominently on a wall in the museum.

The history of the Dutch and French sides of the island is intertwined. It is much more than the legend of a walking race between a Dutch and Frenchman that led to the division of the island. Bosch points out that the two sides complement each other through the main economic activity: tourism.

Emilio Wilson Estate: A green monument

By Alita Singh

The Emilio Wilson Estate encompasses Sentry Hill from its slope to the top, the Dutch side’s highest point. The estate is home to the Emilio Wilson Historical and Cultural Park—an open, public green area at the center of much controversy, as environmentalists battle to preserve the entire estate as a monument and take it out of the reach of developers.

On the cards for the estate that was once the home of Commander of St. Maarten, John Philips, is a scenic chairlift project that would give users a panoramic view from the Cul de Sac basin all the way to Great Bay Harbour and even part of the French side. That project is slated to open in late 2013.

The estate is referred to by the name of its deceased last owner, the grandson of a slave who worked on Golden Rock and Industry, a slave plantation that once occupied the area. Prior to 1781, it was called Sentry Plantation.

Philips was commander from 1734 to 1746, and resided at Golden Rock for many years; the capital of Philipsburg was named in his honor. There are plans to restore his residence and other historical buildings on the estate.

Dating from the mid- to late-1600s, the plantation had around 53 slaves at any given time until slavery was abolished. Several owners held the plantation during its “working days,” including the Van Romondts, one of the first families to settle on the islands. Their descendants sold the estate to Wilson in 1954 for 25,000 guilders—about US$13,800.

In 1929, the Van Romondt-Rodenhuis family employed Wilson as the estate watchman. He had an entrepreneurial spirit and soon started to deliver milk, butter and beef to people in Philipsburg and its surrounding areas. Those activities helped him raise the money for the purchase. After buying the estate, Wilson worked as a salesman in town.

Emilio Wilson Park, which sits on a small section of the private estate, is open to the public daily and free of charge. Parking is limited.

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