The "Catholic Church On The Island Of Sint Maarten" Story

St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church on Front Street.

It was an ordinary day.  Walking along Front Street in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten when I pass the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church.  The music emanating from the open windows draws me into the church to see what is the source of the music.  I find a group of about six parishioners, one with a banjo while the rest are vocalists, creating music that just makes you want to tap your foot to the rhythm.  

Front Street side of today's church.

A few years ago I wrote about this church that sits between the boardwalk and Front Street.  It was back in the 15th century that Christopher Columbus gave the name of St. Martin to the island when he set foot upon it on November 11, 1493.  That date happened to be the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, France.  When the church in Philipsburg was completed it took the name of St. Martin of Tours.  The Catholic Church is well founded on the island of St. Martin-Sint Maarten with a few Catholic parishes spread across the island that is part French and part Dutch.  My story today talks a bit more about the building that sits a few blocks east of the church on Front Street.  

The side entrance into the church.

In 1887 Father Nieuwenhuis died.  He left a sum of money, a house and a piece of property behind.  One of these houses was specially built for Catholic Sisters.  It was on April 15, 1890 that a group of Catholic Sisters left Holland and landed on the island of St. Kitts where they quickly chartered a schooner and on May 3 landed on St. Maarten.

St. Mary Boarding School on Front Street.  East of the church.

The house was so large that it became a convent for the Sisters as well as a school with classrooms.  It was known as the St. Joseph Convent and school.  The school opened on Monday June 3, 1890 with a Holy Mass.  All the students were in attendance and after mass went to their new classrooms.  The students were divided into two sections: Paying and non-paying.  

Sisters lead the children past the school.

The population of the school was: 62 children in kinder- garten, 14 children in the paying section and 56 in the non-paying section.  The main problem on day one was the language difference between Sisters and the children as well as students that lacked any discipline.  Eventually things got better and the school began to grow.  

Today's view of the building after it was repaired.

Then in 1923 a wooden building was constructed and named St. Mary's Boarding School.  Girls from neighboring islands lived there as they went to school.  In 1930 other islands began instruction of their own and the boarding school on Front Street closed it's doors.  

Final view of the building.

It continued as a primary school until 1990 when the building went over into private hands.  Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane devastated St. Maarten on September 6, 2017 and destroyed the complete second floor of the old school.  A new cement roof has now replaced the old roof and the new owners have taken in consideration the history of the building and have keep the exterior looking the same.  As I stand in front of the repaired building today, I find it to be as beautiful as I'm sure the original one must have been.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.