ORANJESTAD — Sint Eustatius will mark the 250th anniversary of the First Salute with a week of events from November 10–16, culminating in the annual Statia Day ceremony at Fort Oranje.
The anniversary recalls November 16, 1776, when Governor Johannes de Graaff ordered the fort to return a salute fired by the American brig Andrew Doria. The exchange became known as the First Salute to the United States, linking the island to the history of American independence.
The programme includes evening events on Fort Oranjestraat, with storytelling, gospel, youth and cultural activities ahead of the main commemoration on November 16. Organisers expect hundreds of visitors from the region and abroad.
The anniversary also draws attention to Statia’s wider role in the American Revolution. As a major eighteenth-century trading port, the island served as a route for arms, gunpowder and other supplies to American revolutionaries.
That connection is the subject of an exhibition that opened in April at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. Titled The First Salute: An Untold Story of the American Revolution, it explores the island’s place in the events surrounding American independence.
