The "Marigot Through The Ages" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Pulled up a series of websites that post photos of different parts of the island of St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  If you have been reading this site over the past eight years, you probably realize by now that my wife and I have a little spot in our hearts for this beautiful dual-country Caribbean island.  One half of the island is Dutch while the other is French.  They each have their own capital which has the government buildings needed to carry out the administration of their side of the island.  My story today deals with the French town of Marigot which happens to be the capital of the French side.  Carol and I have made many visits to Marigot over the past fifteen years and enjoy the architecture, shops, waterfront market, restaurants as well as the people who call the city home.  I have posted photographs today that date back to 1902, about 50 years after photography began.  Follow the photographs as I take you through the 20th century and into the 21st century with most photos showing you the waterfront of the capital of the French side of St. Martin.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary day.

Downtown street in 1902.

Margot waterfront boat races in 1920.

Marigot from above the city taken in 1936.

Waterfront in 1940.

Heading toward the waterfront in 1950.

The waterfront sometime between 1956 and 1963.

A boat race in 1960.

Heading toward the waterfront in the early 60s.

Another view of the waterfront from the 1960s.

The town is beginning to resemble what it looks like today.  This also is from the 1960s.

Waterfront photo from the 1970s.

Market along the waterfront taken in the 1980s.

Another photo from the 1980s taken along the waterfront.

1985 waterfront photo.

Waterfront photograph taken after Hurricane Luis in 1995.

GoogleEarth photo taken of the waterfront in 2011.

Photo I took in 2006 of the waterfront from the Fort Louis which overlooks the harbor.

And ... the final photograph I took this past spring at the marketplace in Marigot.