The Caribs called the island Alo, which means cashew tree, while Columbus named the island after St Anastasia. Although the French began construction of a fort in 1629, the first permanent settlement wasn't established until the Dutch routed the French in 1636. Statia subsequently changed hands 22 times between the Dutch, French and British.
In the 18th century, as the British and French buried their colonies in taxes and duties, the Dutch turned Statia into a duty-free port. As a result, West Indian and North American colonies were able to circumvent duties by shipping goods via Statia, which boomed into a thriving entrepôt and a major trade center between the Old and New Worlds. During its heyday in the 1770s, as many as 300 trading ships pulled into port each month and the island's population swelled to 20,000. The resulting prosperity earned Statia the nickname 'Golden Rock of the Caribbean.'
Rather inadvertently, the Netherlands became the first foreign country to recognize the American colonies' Declaration of Independence when a Statian ship returned a cannon salute to the passing American war brig
Ironically, US independence and the signing of a peace treaty between the US and Britain in 1783 allowed the former American colonies to establish more direct trade routes and bypass Statia altogether. To this day Statia remains well off the beaten path of travelers - though not of hurricanes. Hurricane Georges caused extensive damage (but luckily no fatalities) on the island in 1998.
