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H © Stephen J. Pavlidis 2010 |
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A Brief History of Statia
First colonized by Dutch Zeelanders in 1636, within a century Statia was the trading capital of the West Indies and was nicknamed the Golden Rock for the fine silks and other treasures that were stored in its warehouses. The area at the foot of the cliff in Oranjestad was home to a long line of shops and warehouses where you could purchase treasures from all over the world. It was possible to pick up the finest fabrics, precious metals, sugar, cotton, tobacco, and even slaves for the right price while offshore a hundred ships or more lay at anchor at any particular time (with some 3,500 a year stopping here). While the rest of the nations of the world struggled with each other to get along, Statia remained a neutral port where those vessels that were unable to trade with other nations, could trade openly with Statia (during the American Revolution, Statia acted as a gun-runner to the American colonies). Many of the 8,000 residents, a mixture of Dutch, British, and Jewish merchants, grew very wealthy from this sanctioned smuggling.
These golden years came to an end on November 16, 1776, when Statia inadvertently became the first nation to recognize the newest nation, the United States of America. An American ship, the Andrew Doria under the command of Captain Isaiah Robinson, entered the harbor and gave a salute that then Governor Johannes de Graff returned in kind. De Graff thought the Andrew Doria was a merchant ship and had no idea that she was really an American naval vessel under a rebel captain so he ordered the garrison at Fort Oranje to salute the American ship, the first time any sovereign power officially recognized the new American nation. The British were so infuriated by this event, and further irritated by the fact that Statia was selling weapons to the American revolutionaries, that they declared war on Holland in 1780 and sent Admiral Rodney to attack Statia a year later. British forces seized Oranjestad and set about luring over 150 merchant vessels into the harbor. The troops then impounded the ships and their cargoes, destroyed the harbor’s breakwater, and sacked and burnt the town of Oranjestad. Rodney then plundered the entire island seizing the personal goods and fortunes of the residents and deporting many of the Jewish merchants (whom he caught red-handed burying and stashing their valuables), Statia never fully recovered. In a few years, Statia was again in Dutch control and trade resumed for a while, but the level of activity decreased rapidly as the political and economic climate in the Caribbean changed in the 1800s and many residents, dissatisfied with dismal hopes for the future chose to leave the island ending Statia’s prosperity. It took more than 2˝ centuries, but in the 1980s Statia made her reemergence as a transshipment port, but this time the sole commodity is oil. Storage tanks and a 3,000’ pier have been constructed in Tumbledown Dick Baai and a small refinery is in operation in the hills above the bay.
Today the island boasts about 1,600 people, and the once busy waterfront is no more as hurricanes took their toll on Lower Town, that part of Oranjestad that lies at the bottom of the conspicuous cliff, to the extent that only a few ruins remain. However there is still a certain charm in the architecture and in Statia’s people.