Little Island, Long History

By Montague Kobbe

Like many of the Lesser Antilles, St. Maarten/St. Martin was first sighted by Columbus and claimed by the Spanish in 1493, although it remained uninhabited and disused until the 17th century. It was not until 1629 that the first proper settlement was established on the island by French runaways who arrived from Saint Christophe. Roughly at the same time, however, Dutch adventurers came ashore and exploited the salt reserves found inland. Unbeknownst to all, the dynamics that would govern St. Maarten/St. Martin for the next 400 years were already in place.

Of the three super powers — Spanish, French and Dutch — the island was most important to the Dutch, and therefore, theirs was the greatest effort to claim it. But following the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648 and the withdrawal of Spanish forces from the region, local lore has it that both French and Dutch laborers were left stranded on the island. Legend claims that they agreed to suffer each other’s presence on separate sides of the island, which would be divided by sending two men walking in opposite directions along the coastline and the border would be drawn wherever they met anew.

Since then, the Dutch have claimed the Frenchman cheated by running (we all know a gentleman never runs). Meanwhile, the French have argued everything from the good health of their wine-drinking representative, to the Dutchman’s need to stop more often to evacuate the large amounts of beer he would have drunk, to the effects of gin on the northern walker, which allegedly sent him to sleep for a few hours, to account for the fact that French Saint Martin (approximately 21 square miles) is substantially larger than Dutch Sint Maarten (approximately 13 square miles). Believe what you will of this old tale, the fact remains that on March 23, 1648, Robert de Longvilliers, governor of Saint Martin, and Martin Thomas, governor of Sint Maarten, signed the Treaty of Concordia, whereby the French would “inhabit the entire coast (side) which faces Anguilla,” while the Dutch would “have the quarter of the fort, and the soil surrounding it on the south coast (side).”

However, 1648 places us right at the heart of what has come to be known as the Great Crisis, a period of armed conflict between European states that only came to a relatively long pause with the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714. During this period, the island went from French to Dutch to English control, changing hands up to six times. It was also with the War of the Spanish Succession that European warfare was seriously and officially waged in the Caribbean, rather than undertaken merely by private enterprises. To all practical effects, the age of pirating had come to its end, as sizable military convoys would now patrol the region and enforce the laws of the West in what had, until then, remained a relatively wild environment.

After a long period of peaceful coexistence between the French and Dutch, there was a curious and rather unique episode in the history of the island. A 300-man force, led by Lieutenant Governor Arthur Hodge from Anguilla, invaded and took control of French Saint Martin. The custom between French, Dutch and British at that time was to force the local population to pledge allegiance (and payment of levies) to the victorious faction. But, the French presence in Saint Martin remained substantial even after the Anguillan-British invasion, and they were able to organize a major counter-invasion the following year, which nevertheless ended in desperate failure. Hodge then made an official petition in 1747 to annex Saint Martin to Anguilla, but the expectations of the Anguillan contingent were shattered when the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) put an end to the War of Austrian Succession and returned the island to the status agreed by French and Dutch in the Treaty of Concordia 100 years earlier. Had things panned out differently, the fate of St. Maarten/St. Martin might have resembled that of St. Lucia or Trinidad … go figure the twists and turns of history!

As it was, the island remained divided between the French and the Dutch, barring short spells during the Seven Years’ War and the War of American Independence, until the French Revolution when the next curiosity arose. In May 1793, amid great uncertainty regarding the events that were taking place in Europe, including the prospect of the abolition of slavery by the revolutionaries, the Dutch, commanded by Lieutenant Abraham Heyliger, walked over to the French side and took control of the whole island, practically unopposed. The French revolutionaries sent a majestic fleet to the Caribbean in 1794, at the command of Victor Hugues, but they would not have to fight terribly fiercely for St. Maarten/St. Martin, because by January 1795 the Dutch Republic had been dissolved and its successor, the Batavian Republic had been practically annexed to France as a petty state. Local fortunes, consequently, changed hands once more.

The region would remain extremely unstable throughout the following 20 years, as the Napoleonic wars unfolded in Europe. Britain, taking advantage of Napoleon’s negative experience in Haiti, took control of many of the Caribbean colonies, including St. Maarten/St. Martin, only to be forced by the various treaties to return them to French hands. It was only after Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo, and in accordance with the Second Treaty of Paris, that the British would depart St. Maarten/St. Martin on July 25, 1816. It might have been hard to know, or even believe, at the time, but this was to be the last time the island would ever be in foreign hands.

The 19th century brought with it plenty of issues of a nonmilitary nature. First, there was the question of manumission, which finally gathered pace internationally. The first country to abolish slavery was Britain in 1834, with effect from 1838, and the French followed 10 years later. In St. Maarten/St. Martin the practicalities of keeping slavery on one side and abolishing it on the other meant that the resolution spread onto the Dutch side, which flared major riots in the neighboring Dutch island of St. Eustatius, where the captives were not so fortunate, and eventually had to wait until the Dutch joined the abolitionist wagon in 1863.

But it was the beginning of a long process toward autonomy that would eventually lead to the elections of 2003 in French Saint Martin, whereby the island voted to become a separate collectivity of France, and the referendum of 2000 in Dutch Sint Maarten, which led to the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. As of October 10, 2010, Sint Maarten, like Aruba and Curaçao, is an autonomous country, inscribed within the fold of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Dr. Haviser: A Modern-Day Indiana Jones

By Alita Singh

Archeologist Jay Haviser works quickly to extract a skull that has been buried in the earth for some two centuries. With the sides of the pit threatening to cave in, there's much bustle in the narrow alleyway just off Back Street where he and students from St. Maarten Archaeological Centre SIMARC uncovered a skeleton in an area marked as the "Jewish cemetery" on land titles. That skull is being DNA tested and may offer proof that the 18th-century Jewish community on the island was not as small as once thought.

As resident archeologist, Haviser has made several discoveries like this in the past six years that have enriched St. Maarten's history. He and the SIMARC students uncovered the oldest known remnants of Simpson Bay Bridge circa 1930s, the unique rounded bastion of Fort Amsterdam, skeletons of three African-born slaves who picked salt here long before Philipsburg was established and the lost grave of Father Onderwater. Haviser also helped develop a policy to protect the island's oldest residents: its large trees.

Haviser runs the successful Simarc program, which teaches high school students the basics of archeology and has been involved in several interesting digs to discover bits of a forgotten or unknown past. That project has yielded the Centre, which now stores the majority of island artifacts, and boasts the first St. Maarten student to study archeology.

Haviser's efforts here and in the Netherlands Antilles have earned him the distinction of Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau from Dutch Queen Beatrix.

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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