The land of St. Maarten was first known as “Land of Salt,” due to its abundance of saltpans. Although Christopher Columbus did not actually land on St. Maarten, he claimed it for Spain when he sighted the island on November 11, 1493. The name of St. Maarten came about due to the fact that Columbus sighted the island on the holy day of St. Martin of Tours.

Around 1630, the French and Dutch took over the island. In 1648 the two countries signed an agreement to divide the island between France and The Netherlands, a state that the island has remained in ever since.