The "The Island Of Tintamarre" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting on Orient Beach looking Northeast toward the small island known as Tintamarre.  It is an 80 acre island that at one time had it's own King, Navy and airline.  

This map shows the island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
with the small island of Tintamarre to the top right.

It is situated to the East of the Orleans quarter of St. Martin, the French side of the two country island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  Carol and I had a boat ride a few years ago where we got to see the back side of the island which still has some woodland on it, but is no longer inhabited.  The coast line of this small island is the most abundant in fish in the surrounding area and you can still find an plenty of limestone on the island.  The island is known locally as "Flat Island".  At first it was said that the French took possession of the island from the English, but then passed it to the van Romondt family.  The first to come to St. Martin was Diederik Johannes van Romondt who arrived from Holland in 1801.  He served as governor of Sint Maarten from 1820 to 1840.  The last known member having the van Romondt name was Diederik Christian who died at the age of 76 in 1948 at Mary's Fancy, his estate in Dutch Cul de Sac on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten.  

The beautiful island of Tintamarre.

Diederik Christian move to the Isle of Tintamarre, which he owned, in 1902 due to a dispute over property taxes in Sint Maarten.  It was reported by a French journalist in 1913 that he was The King of Tintamarre.  After that he began to receive letters from Paris, Italy and Germany from women who wanted to be lifelong partners with him so they could be Queen of Tintamarre.  I'm not sure if that ever worked out or not.  Many of the people who worked for him on Tintamarre were from the nearby island of Anguilla.  Here he raised 60 to 70 head of cattle and about 540 sheep, grew fine island cotton and made cheese and butter which was renowned throughout the West Indies.  In 1931 he sold the island to Louis Constant Fleming, a merchant and mayor of Marigot, the capital of St. Martin.  It was said that during WWII Tintamarre was a place for submarines to recharge their batteries.  In 1945 an airport with a 500 meter dirt runway was developed by the French along with a protected lagoon suitable for "flying boats".  

A pontoon plane landing near the island.

Soon Tintamarre became the base of a regional airline, CAA Stinson Trimotors ("Sompagnie Aerienne Antillaise").  There was a brief "Golden Age" for this tiny island with its 20 inhabitants and its airport.  That was until March 22, 1947 when a disastrous night take-off from the unlit airstrip killed a pilot.  Then on May 22 of the same year a plane crashed into the sea between Tintamarre and St. Barths which killed two. 18 days later, during a night take-off, three more people were killed.  Didn't fare well for air travel to or from the island.  On September 1st of 1950, a hurricane put an end to the old CAA airplanes that still sat on the island.  The last traces of the dirt airstrip were erased in the 1956 and 1960 hurricanes.  

Boats carrying nude bathers arrive for exploration of the island.

The only activity that takes place on the island today is when the "Nude Cruise" from St. Martin arrives and the naked patrons explore the island looking for traces of it's history when Mr. D.C. van Romondt was the King and was romanticized by journalists.  They just may find a few screws or bolts from one of the CAA airplanes or a hoof from one of the goats that roamed the hills of the island years ago or maybe a stone or two from one of the old buildings that at one time sat on "Flat Island".  Carol and I have seen the island up close from boats, but have never stepped foot on the island.  Beautiful place, but I guess it's use as a site for a town has passed years ago.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.