When Christopher Columbus sailed past the island we now know as St. Martin in 1493, the native Arawak and Caribe peoples had already left it. But the Arawak had a name for this island: Soualiga, the Land of Salt. While Columbus claimed the island for Spain despite not setting foot onto it, it was the Dutch and French who saw on this island its early promise. Salt was absolutely essential in the sixteenth century, as any country dreaming of overseas colonies needed to be able to preserve meat and fish for the long sea voyages. And so Soualiga, with its natural salt ponds perfect for extraction, became an important stopover point for French and Dutch transatlantic shipping.

Years later, after a brief interlude of Spanish rule, the French and Dutch on the island would add plantations to the economic plan for St. Martin, growing cotton and tobacco. But it was sugar cane that provided the essential second pillar – with salt – to making this island truly run, powering its continued habitation despite not having any year-round freshwater sources.

Salt and sugar. These industries powered both sides of the island, and today’s Dutch Sint Maarten and French Saint-Martin are both built from their legacy.

While salt has been part of human life since Neolithic times, commercial salt mining as we know it is a much more modern industry. Basically, salt water is allowed into a shallow area and as the water evaporates in the sun, it leaves behind the salt. At the dawn of the Age of Exploration, Spain had close to a monopoly on salt in Europe, so when the Eighty Years’ War began between the Dutch and Spanish in the 1560s, that supply was cut off. Enter St. Martin, Soualiga, the Land of Salt, an island with multiple naturally occurring salt ponds that would flood in storms and then evaporate out. Combine that with the island’s place at the northeastern edge of the Lesser Antilles – a perfect stopover point for shipping – and it made sense to launch a small colony here to mine that.

On the northern side of the island, the French felt the same way, and these twin colonies, both named for the name Columbus gave the island, but in their own languages, grew up on salt.

The salt ponds can still be seen all over the island. While today none are active – salt mining officially ended in Sint Maarten in 1949 and in Saint-Martin in the 1960s – they are an indelible part of both life and nature here, providing habitats for fish and birds. (It is also a bit poetic that an island that once relied on removing water from salt now relies on desalination – removing salt from water – to provide potable water for the island’s visitors and inhabitants.)

An island with a full-time population, even one as small as this one, needs more than just a single industry, and in the seventeenth century, plantation life took off on both sides of St. Martin. Despite mountainous terrain and a lack of both good soil and fresh water, a few crops did take. Of these, sugar became dominant. It grows quickly, is adapted to the heat and humidity of the island ecosystem, and doesn’t need huge areas of flat land to grow. It was also absolutely in demand in Europe, worth its weight in gold (almost literally).

Sugar plantations needed workers, and both the Dutch and French imported African slaves to provide that. And while the numbers were never as crazy as in other places like Hispaniola (and its Spanish Santo Domingo and French Saint-Domingue colonies), slaves quickly outnumbered white colonists on both sides of St. Martin.

(In 2010, an exciting discovery was made here in the Dutch-side capital of Philipsburg: three skeletons of African slaves with filed pointed teeth. Jay Haviser, an archaeologist and historian who you will get to know extensively as we explore the colonial history of Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin together in another article, was brought in to help identify the skeletons, called the Zoutsteeg (salt alley) three. Through DNA tracing and strontium remnants in the teeth of the three, Jay was able to place them as first generation slaves from the late seventeenth century, one each from Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. He has since led efforts that will allow the three to be repatriated to their home countries for reburial, a first in the history of slave-trading.)

The interesting facets of being an island divided into two territories are many, but among these is having two different dates for the abolition of slavery. French Saint-Martin celebrated emancipation in 1848, while Dutch Sint Maarten took until 1863. For fifteen years, all a Dutch slave had to do to be free was to cross the border, something done by 26 slaves on July 1, 1848 when word of French emancipation reached them. They crossed the Diamond Estate, one of the plantations, running to freedom on the other side. (While this important event is reenacted to this day, it should be noted that some Dutch-side slaves, though not necessarily from this particular escape, returned after not finding work on the French side.)

Emancipation is celebrated today across the island with the local ponum dance, traditionally done under the stunning flowers of the Flamboyant Tree.

While slavery ended, remnants of plantation life remained – and still remain today. I am fortunate to spend a few nights at Pasture Piece SXM, a bed and breakfast in one of the remaining buildings of the Retreat Estate. Natasha Richardson purchased this house, which once belonged to her grandfather and contained a tiny portion of the once-large plantation, in order to keep this history alive. Decorated with period pieces and housing a small museum, it is a reminder of both the agricultural legacy of St. Martin as well as its darker side of slavery.

The best part of a stay at Pasture Piece is Natasha’s traditional breakfast of Johnny cakes and salt fish, and a conversation about her family and her vision. It is so easy passing an hour talking about what life on this island was for families like hers.

Down the street from Pasture Piece is Rainforest Adventure, a park featuring zip lines (including the 1050 foot tall Flying Dutchman) and some of the best views of the island from the top of a mountain accessed by chair lift. Below sits Emilio Wilson’s former home, now a museum on the property. Wilson purchased this, the remnants of the Industry and Golden Rock plantations, in 1954, becoming the first black plantation owner of the land on which his ancestors were enslaved.

And not all of the sugar plantations are gone. While exports of sugar cane are finished, the end products of the crop can be found by visitors today in one of its finest forms: rum. Cocktails at beachside bars provided the easiest entry point, but for those interested in a more immersive rum experience, there are some options.

About fifteen minutes’ drive from Philipsburg, along a main street through the upscale Simpson Bay and its fine dining options, sits Topper’s Rhum Distillery. Visitors can sample rum (spelled in its more traditional form with the addition of the h) in a dizzying 90 or so varieties. (On my 90 or so minute tour, the group sampled about 15 different flavors. Don’t worry; they weren’t full shots.) These range from classic spiced rhum to signature flavors like white chocolate raspberry to exotic small batch varieties such as jalapeño lime or chai latte.

A tour also includes demonstrations of distillation and bottling, as well as use of the spirit in cooking. I won’t lie; it was a ton of fun!

For another uniquely St. Martin rum experience, you’ll want to head to the French-side capital of Marigot, to a small shop run by Guavaberry Colombier Tradition. This family-owned rum distiller is known for use of the island’s official fruit: the guavaberry.

This small berry has no relation to the guava, and tastes sort of like a red currant crossed with a black peppercorn. (Just beware of the pit.) You can find guavaberry rum cocktails all over the island – and Toppers makes a guavaberry varietal – but here at Colombier it is stronger and the total focus of their specialty. (You can also enjoy guavaberry in other forms in the small shop. Try the powder, which I purchase to rub on meat or mushrooms back at home.)

Salt and sugar. From the earliest days of Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin, these industries guided the growth of an island and its peoples, even those brought here against their will. It can safely be said that without either of these, this incredible place would be immensely different. The legacy of St. Martin’s plantations lives on via people like Natasha at Pasture Piece, those distilling rum (and rhum) and making it into tasty concoctions, and companies like Rainforest Adventure including the history of Emilio Wilson into their operations. It is something every visitor should pay homage to in one – or all – of these forms.

I have so many thank yous for this article, so bear with me. Thank you to Natasha Richardson at Pasture Piece SXM for hosting me for a few nights. Thank you to Rainforest Adventure for the amazing canopy tour. Thank you to Topper’s Rhum Distillery for the tour and tasting. And thank you especially to Visit St. Maarten/St. Martin for arranging my incredibly meaningful week in your lovely home.

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