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Philipsburg: how Sint Maarten's capital began on a sand ridge in Great Bay
Philipsburg, the capital of Sint Maarten, was founded by a council decision on 15 May 1733 and carried the name Philipsburg by 1738. Here is how the town started, where its name comes from and why Great Bay became the island's harbour.
By SXM Daily ยท
Philipsburg is the capital of Sint Maarten. It began as a planned village on a strip of sand in Great Bay, settled by a council decision on 15 May 1733, and it was carrying the name Philipsburg by 1738.
Photo: Rennett Stowe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A village decided by the council in 1733
On 15 May 1733, Vice-Commander Martin Meyers and the island council agreed to build a new village by Great Bay. The decision is recorded in Dutch as "een durp te maken aan de Grote Baai", which means "to make a village on the Great Bay". In its first years the settlement was simply known as the "Nieuwe Durp", the new village.
These details come from two sources that go back to the archives: the DAL architecten study The Urban Heritage of Philipsburg, which cites archival records, and a history of the town in The Saba Islander, which draws on M.D. Teenstra.
Where the name comes from
The village was renamed under Commander John Philips. The name Philipsburg first shows up in letters written in 1738. So the town is correctly described as founded in 1733 and named Philipsburg by 1738.
Some secondary sources give a later founding year. SXM Daily follows the two archive-based sources, which agree on the 1733 council decision and the 1738 naming.
A town between the bay and the salt pond
Philipsburg was laid out on a sand ridge with Great Bay on one side and the Great Salt Pond on the other. The new village was built on that strip of land between the sea and the pond.
After 1733, Great Bay became the island's harbour. The choice to build there tied the new village to the sea from the start.
Why it matters
Philipsburg is the capital of Sint Maarten, and its story starts with a council choosing a site on the bay. That choice explains why the capital sits on a ridge between the sea and a salt pond, and why Great Bay became the island's harbour.
Encyclopaedia Britannica also lists Philipsburg as the capital of Sint Maarten.
Sources
- https://www.dalarchitecten.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/SintMaarten-A3.pdf
- https://thesabaislander.com/2018/09/15/philipsburg/
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Sint-Maarten
- https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85293797.html
Source: https://www.dalarchitecten.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/SintMaarten-A3.pdf