CaribSeek Kaleidoscope | Otrobanda Curacao | The Development of Willemstad from a Settlement to a City by Prof. René Römer

Awasá.
One of the oldest known photographs of what is nowadays Brionplein.

Otrobanda
The very year (1707) Beck wrote his letter asking to be allowed to start building on the "other side" he got permission from the Board of Trustees to start assigning plots of land for construction, on the condition that the buildings be not more than two stories high as this could be a hindrance to the line of fire from the fort. Otrobanda also grew very fast, although it

was a different Otrobanda than we know today. Houses and warehouses were built on the waterfront, de "Waterkant" (our present Awa'sa or Brionplein), along the road leading to the Western part of the island, and at the so called "Kreek", now better known as the "Rifwater". Here again water played an important role in the structuring of the city. Big mansions, of which three are still basking in their glory, were built alongside the "Rifwater", presumably by merchants who could profit from the waterways, St. Ana Bay and the "Rifwater", to transport their merchandise to their backyards where apart of the dwellings for the slaves, they had their warehouses. Between the "Rifwater" and "Breedestraat", as the road to the Western part of the island, which gradually passed into the "Roodeweg", eventually was called,

Punda Alleys 1900-1904 (Keukenstraat)

"the alleys" (steegjes) developed: narrow, picturesque streets, more or less the same as in the original Willemstad but less systematically organized. The "alleys" form a tangle of lanes. Strolling through these lanes is a unique experience. Building activities, up until the beginning of the 19th century, were limited to what we now call Otrobanda Abou, which consisted of the houses alongside the "Rifwater", the alleys and houses on both sides of Breedestraat. But that new part of Willemstad too developed very quickly. In 1754 governor Faesch, who lived in Otrobanda, wrote that this area was filled with buildings just like "de Willemstad". Until the first decades of the 19th century, the higher parts, the so-called "berg" or "seru" (hill) of Otrobanda were sparsely built.

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"Rifwater" Otrobanda

Breedestraat Otrabanda, 1895-1900

Wealth through Trade Reflected in the Growth of the City
We are still missing a study on the relationship between the growth of Willemstad and developments in the economic sector. The fact is that during the 18th century Willemstad was an important harbor, not only for the slave-trade, but also and still more for the trade with the Spanish mainland and the transshipment of the goods from what is now Estado Falcón in Venezuela and Rio Hacha in Colombia, to Europe. Cacao, sugar, dye wood, hides, tobacco and coffee were brought to the island and transported to among other places, Amsterdam, which was an important distribution harbor for these goods on the European continent. It still has to be proven by more detailed studies, but I have a feeling that quite a lot of money was made in this kind of predominantly illegal trade, which made it easier for the West Indian Company to let go of the monopoly on the slave trade so easily in 1730. On the other hand the fact that the Company had lost its contract to supply the Spanish colonies with slaves to the British also played an important role in this decision. Not only private persons, but also the ‘Company’ participated in this trade. From 1729 to 1759 more then 50% of the traffic in the harbor of Curaçao, about 200 out of the 400 ships per year, was with the north coast of South America that is with, what now is Venezuela and Colombia. During that period an average of 2,500 tons of merchandise was transported, and in the peak years of 1728 to 1751 even 20,000 tons. This is according to a study by the Spanish historian Ramon Aizpurua who has done research on this matter not only in Spanish, but also in Dutch archives. He states in his 1993 publication that in that period the province of Venezuela had stronger commercial ties with Curaçao than with Spain.

In that period an extension of Willemstad developed to the East outside the city wall as well. Building activities started at what is now known as Pietermaai Smal. According to Hartog retired sea captains and merchants built those houses. In at least one of the dormer windows until two years ago the date 1753 could be read. It is a pity that it is partly eroded now.

Scharloo

Scharloo, 1900

An extension took place also to the North, across the Waaigat, where houses were built in the Eastern part of Scharloo (Skarlo Abou), with a concentration near the harbor. The beautiful house where the Marine Museum is now established, for example, was built around 1749. In 1885 this was given a neo-classical front by adding a "pro naos" and a tympan in front of the existing structure. Following that period Curaçao profited from the Seven Years War between England and France (1756-1763) and the independence war of the British colonies in North America (1776-1783). Both French and English ships took refuge in the harbor of Curaçao during the Seven Years War. The merchandise they were transporting was very often sold at low prices during their stay in the harbor. From here they were traded with the Spanish mainland, the traditional trade partner, against a much better price then they had been acquired for. In the Independence War of the United States of America both the legal and illegal trade flourished. The wealth the above mentioned trade produced is thus reflected in the houses that were built in that period.

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