History History

It is by canoe that the Arawaks would have arrived in the West Indies from northern Venezuela. Their arrival on the island was around 800 and 300 BC. More than 30 sites have been identified on Sint Maarten, including the Hope Estate site (on the Morne River).

From the 12th century, a culture emerges, referred to as Tainos by the Europeans.

After his historic voyage, the famous Genoese cartographer and sailor Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) arrived on the night of October 12, 1492 at the head of three caravels (La Pinta, La Niña and La Santa María) and 90 men to the islands now known as the Bahamas (San Salvador).

On his second voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Saint-Martin on November 11, 1493. He dedicated his discovery to the bishop of Tours, Saint-Martin, whose birthday was that day. According to tradition, the island's natives called it Svalugia (or Soualiga, "land of salt"), as many marshlands provided salt.

The encounter between the two worlds ended in disaster, to the detriment of the West Indies. Between 1492 and 1502, the indigenous population of the Greater Antilles disappeared entirely from the map.

St. Martin becomes Dutch soil. In the 17th century, the island was visited by many European nations. From 1648 to 1816, the island changes hands seven times between French, Dutch and English. It is the great era of privateers and freebooters.

On March 23, 1648, then under the reign of four French and five Dutch, the two nations settled the problem of their sovereignty by the Treaty of Concordia.

The French part of the island is administratively attached to Guadeloupe (250 km away).

In 1776, Fort Louis was built on a morne overlooking the town of Marigot. It protected the town from constant English attacks.

It's the British' turn to settle down. They returned the French part of Saint-Martin to French sovereignty by the Treaty of Paris of 1816.

May 28th is proclaimed the official abolition of slavery for the French part. The triangular trade was then practiced: foodstuffs and merchandise were used as a currency of exchange for people. The majority of slaves in the West Indies and Saint-Martin came from Africa.

Free Port status. Because of its small size, the island will not turn to sugar cane cultivation like many of its Caribbean neighbours. In order to boost salt exports (to Grand-Case, Baie Orientale), the island will benefit from 1850 from the status of Free Port (not subject to customs duties).

Official abolition of slavery for the Dutch part. The signing of the Treaty of Vienna in 1815 put an end to colonial frictions, definitively ensuring Franco-Dutch predominance, but slavery continued in an illegal manner.

The Second World War was also felt on Sint Maarten. The French part of the island recognizes the Vichy government and in consequence suffers the blockade of the allied forces.

The war contributed greatly to the Americanization of the island, of which the United States was the sole supplier. As early as 1943, Juliana (Dutch part) became an important American air base and contributed to the fight against German submarines. This period was also a prosperous period for the traffickers who established great fortunes.

The era of the first tourists. Under the impulse of the Dutch sector, an economic and tourist development extends to the whole island. On the Dutch side, time share had its heyday. On the French side, the hotel industry has always preferred establishments of human size, with a focus on quality.

Natural hazards undermine infrastructure development. In September 1995, the two hurricanes Luis and Marylin devastated the island.

First tourist crisis and political change. Sint Maarten had a difficult year in 2002, which saw a serious defection of the North American clientele, due of course to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

On 7 December 2003, voters in the French West Indies were consulted in a referendum to decide on their institutional future. It was proposed to Saint Martin and Saint Barths that an overseas collectivity (COM) be created, as authorised by the constitutional reform of 28 March 2003 on decentralisation. The latter two islands overwhelmingly approved the proposal. A record of 95.51 per cent for Sint Maarten and 76.17 per cent for St. Barths!

The organic law of 21 February 2007 thus created two new fully-fledged overseas collectivities (COM), Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy. They can keep the tax advantages they have acquired.

From 2012 to 2017, Daniel Gibbs, a native of Saint-Martin, was elected deputy for Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy. He then served as President of the Territorial Council of Saint-Martin between 2017 and 2022. He is committed to being the president of economic development in Saint-Martin. He sees tourism as an economic lever.

Cyclone Irma literally disfigured the island! Saint-Martin is slowly recovering. Gradually, damaged buildings are being destroyed and new infrastructure and hotel establishments are being built. The 2023-2024 season marks a new stage in the rehabilitation of several hotel establishments, closed since Irma, such as the Beach Hôtel de Marigot.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy of Saint-Martin, like many other Caribbean islands, came to a complete standstill. Empty hotels, deserted beaches, restaurants without customers... The crisis has left its mark, with the closure of numerous establishments. The administrative differences between the French and Dutch parts of the island were also exacerbated: establishments on the French side benefited from numerous subsidies.

Since April 2022, the COM has been chaired by Louis Mussington and his "Rassemblement Saint-Martinois" list, which had merged with Valérie Damaseau's "Alternative" list.

After 375 years of ambiguity, and years of negotiations between the two sides of the island, the boundary line of Oyster Pond was officially demarcated by an agreement signed on May 26, 2023 between Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior and Overseas France, who had travelled for the occasion, on behalf of the French Republic, and Silveria Jacobs, Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The border now crosses the middle of the pond, giving both sides of the island an equal share of the water and equal rights to the Captain Oliver marina.