Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Fort Amsterdam's Life Is In The Hands Of The Zoning Committee Of SXM" Story

It was an ordinary day. Looking through the scrapbooks I have made after returning from various Caribbean island vacations in the past 20 years after retiring from a career in teaching Industrial Arts. Trips to Aruba, Antigua, St. Thomas, St. Johns, St. Martin/Sint Marten and Curacao were a few of the spots Carol and I have been lucky enough to visit with our friends Jere and Just Sue. Each scrapbook was different with photos of beaches, museums, art galleries, touring and even visits to Forts. During the last 20 years I have learned more and explored more during our travels to other countries than I had done in the first 50 years of my life. There have been a few favorites along the way which I have written about in the past, but there are a few other places that I wish I had spent more time visiting than I did. Some of those places would be the Forts that dot the landscapes on many of the island we have visited. Most, if not all, islands have at least one fort that would help in the protection of the island. It would usually be placed on a prominent hill or mountain that was close to the shoreline and accessible to water in case it would be necessary to deploy the island's navy to protect its borders. I remember visiting a few different forts on the islands of The Bahamas such as Fort Nassau, Fort Charlotte, Fort Montagu and Fort Fincastle. If you do a search of "Forts" in the little white block at the top left of this story, you might be able to read about a few of them. I also remember Fort Wayne in St Thomas, Fort Barrington in Antigua and Fort Louis in St. Martin. The later fort was built high on a hill on the French side of the island. But, there was also a fort on the Dutch side of the island which I have never visited, but have seen from a distance. Last year I did try to reach the fort, but it is now on private land and I was not allowed to visit it. The fort is known as Fort Amsterdam and was built soon after the Dutch settlers arrived in Sint Maarten in 1631 and claimed the island. Fort Amsterdam was built between Great Bay and Little Bay since it was a great defensive position that was situated at the top of cliffs, but still connected to the mainland. It was surrounded by water on three sides. But, two years after the Dutch arrived and built the fort, the Spanish invaded the island and took over the fort. The Spaniards occupied it as a military outpost supported by San Juan, Puerto Rico until the end of the long Eighty Years War in 1648. In 1644 the Dutch attempted to recapture the fort with an expedition lead by Peter Stuyvesant, but the bloody battle was unsuccessful. During the attempt Stuyvesant lost his leg which was later replaced by a wooden leg. At the end of the war "The Treaty of Westphalia" was signed by the Dutch, Spain and France in 1648. Sint Maarten changed hands many times during the colonial era, but has been Dutch for most of it's history. Today the fort is small and in terrible shape. I have seen photographs of it and had plans to visit and document what remains, but was stopped as I stated. I can't imagine the historic items that could be found if one walks around and searches a bit during a visit. It is said that there now is a breeding colony of brown pelicans with close to 60 nests on the west side of the spit of land that juts into the sea. Because of this, the site has been identified as an important Bird Area by BirdLife International. The main purpose of Fort Amsterdam was to protect the capital of Philipsburg from invasion whether by pirates of the Caribbean or other countries. The Western wall of the fort shows various stone materials of earlier basalt rock and later cut limestone. It therefore indicates the various reconstruction periods of the fort walls including a red brick lined drainage arch which allowed waste water to be expelled from the Fort's interior. The Southern Bastion overlooks Little Bay and has a cannonball from the attack commanded by Peter Stuyvesant embedded in the wall. The Signal House radio station was originally built in the late 19th century so the signal Master could communicate with the nearby town of Philipsburg about arriving ships. Much of the fort's basic shape can still be seen, but Hurricane Luis damaged much of the fort in 1995. The fort was the bastion for the island. From that location can be seen the islands of Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis and St. Barts. Evidently the fort is now on property owned by the Divi Little Bay Hotel. You may recognize that name since it is one of the places that contestants on "Wheel of Fortune" are sent if they win. The Divi purchased all the land where the fort is located in hopes of expanding their Hotel. Thank goodness that the Historical Fort is on land zoned as a heritage zone and will never receive permits for development. Now all I have to do is talk one of the security guards at the Divi into allowing me to take photos of Fort Amsterdam when I vacation soon on Sint Maarten. Maybe a few US dollars would help me find my way to the fort. If you read about the fort in the next year on this blog, you will know I was successful. PS - The drone photos of Fort Amsterdam were recently taken by photographer Christophe La Villa~Sxmdronechristophe. They were posted on the Facebook Page "WE ARE ST.MAARTENST.MARTIN."