Fort Zoutman
Encyclopedia
Fort Zoutman is a military fortification
at Oranjestad, Aruba
. Built in 1798 by the Dutch
army, it is the oldest structure on the island
of Aruba
. The Willem III Tower was added to the west side of the fort in 1868. The fort and tower were restored and re-opened in 1983 as the Historical Museum of Aruba.
: Bay of Horses) on the island of Aruba as an intermediate harbor
between Curaçao
and Venezuela
. In 1796, a Comité Militaire (English: Army Committee) was established in Curaçao under acting governor Johan Rudolf Lauffer to build fortifications on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire to defend against pirates
and other enemies. The fort on Aruba was named after Dutch Rear Admiral Johan Arnold Zoutman
who fought in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
and the American Revolutionary War
, though he had never been to the island. It was completed in 1798 at what was then the shore
line of the island, and was initially armed with four cannon
s. The surrounding area developed through economic growth into the capital city of Oranjestad
.
Renovation
of the fort began in 1826 under Commander Simon Plats who found it to be in poor shape. The fort was not garrison
ed from 1830 to 1834. While occupied by a small colonial constabulary
brigade in 1859, prison cell
s were constructed against the eastern and western walls, eliminating some of the embrasure
s and gun ports. The eastern cells were replaced with concrete units in 1936. The present day walls date back to 1936, and 31 of as many as 35 gun ports were counted in the walls prior to the fort's most recent restoration in 1974.
at the fort which could also house the town bell to be rung on the hour. The completed Willem III Tower (Dutch
: Willem III Toren) was named after King William III of the Netherlands
and lighted on his birthday, February 19, 1868. Arch
ways at its base were designed to serve as the west entrance to the fort. The original kerosene lamp
was replaced by a petrol lamp and then an acetylene lamp
in 1930. Electrical lighting was added in 1935. The tower ceased to function as a lighthouse in 1963 with the removal of its lamp. Over the years, it has also functioned as a clock tower
, courtroom
, library
, post office
, tax office, watchtower
and a station
for the Aruba Police Force
.
since March 16, 1992. It is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. Exhibits cover the early history and development of Aruba
through the arrival of the Lago Oil & Transport Company
in the 1920s. Group visits and walking city tours are accommodated by multilingual
guides. The Bon Bini Festival is held at the fort every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
at Oranjestad, Aruba
Oranjestad, Aruba
Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country...
. Built in 1798 by the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
army, it is the oldest structure on the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
. The Willem III Tower was added to the west side of the fort in 1868. The fort and tower were restored and re-opened in 1983 as the Historical Museum of Aruba.
History
The Dutch first settled Paardenbaai (EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Bay of Horses) on the island of Aruba as an intermediate harbor
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
between Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. In 1796, a Comité Militaire (English: Army Committee) was established in Curaçao under acting governor Johan Rudolf Lauffer to build fortifications on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire to defend against pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
and other enemies. The fort on Aruba was named after Dutch Rear Admiral Johan Arnold Zoutman
Johan Zoutman
Johan Arnold Zoutman was a Dutch naval figure and Rear Admiral who fought at the Battle of Dogger Bank in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War.Zoutman also fought in the American Revolutionary War.-Legacy:...
who fought in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...
and the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, though he had never been to the island. It was completed in 1798 at what was then the shore
Shore
A shore or shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In Physical Oceanography a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore,...
line of the island, and was initially armed with four cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s. The surrounding area developed through economic growth into the capital city of Oranjestad
Oranjestad, Aruba
Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country...
.
Renovation
Renovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
of the fort began in 1826 under Commander Simon Plats who found it to be in poor shape. The fort was not garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
ed from 1830 to 1834. While occupied by a small colonial constabulary
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
brigade in 1859, prison cell
Prison cell
A prison cell or holding cell or lock-up is a small room in a prison, or police station where a prisoner is held.Prison cells are usually about 6 by 8 feet in size with steel or brick walls and one solid or barred door that locks from the outside. Many modern prison cells are pre-cast. Solid doors...
s were constructed against the eastern and western walls, eliminating some of the embrasure
Embrasure
In military architecture, an embrasure is the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle...
s and gun ports. The eastern cells were replaced with concrete units in 1936. The present day walls date back to 1936, and 31 of as many as 35 gun ports were counted in the walls prior to the fort's most recent restoration in 1974.
Willem III Tower
At the request of lieutenant governor J.H. Ferguson in 1866, construction began on a lighthouseLighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
at the fort which could also house the town bell to be rung on the hour. The completed Willem III Tower (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Willem III Toren) was named after King William III of the Netherlands
William III of the Netherlands
William III was from 1849 King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg until his death and the Duke of Limburg until the abolition of the Duchy in 1866.-Early life:William was born in Brussels as son of William II of the Netherlands and...
and lighted on his birthday, February 19, 1868. Arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
ways at its base were designed to serve as the west entrance to the fort. The original kerosene lamp
Kerosene lamp
The kerosene lamp is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. This article refers to kerosene lamps that have a wick and a tall glass chimney. Kerosene lanterns that have a wick and a glass globe are related to kerosene lamps and are included here as well...
was replaced by a petrol lamp and then an acetylene lamp
Acetylene Lamp
For the lighting device, see Acetylene lamp, also known as Drake, is a fictional character created by Osamu Tezuka who recurrently appears in his works, usually in a villainous role.-Description:...
in 1930. Electrical lighting was added in 1935. The tower ceased to function as a lighthouse in 1963 with the removal of its lamp. Over the years, it has also functioned as a clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
, courtroom
Courtroom
A courtroom is the actual enclosed space in which a judge regularly holds court.The schedule of official court proceedings is called a docket; the term is also synonymous with a court's caseload as a whole.-Courtroom design:-United States:...
, library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, tax office, watchtower
Watchtower
A watchtower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military, and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may...
and a station
Police station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
for the Aruba Police Force
Aruba Police Force
The Aruba Police Force is the law enforcement agency of the island of Aruba. The force operates under the authority of the Ministry of Justice.-Organization:...
.
Historical Museum of Aruba
The fort and tower underwent restoration work from 1974 to 1980. On September 15, 1983, the facility was re-opened as the Historical Museum of Aruba. The Fundacion Museo Arubano (English: Aruban Museum Foundation) has administered the museumMuseum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
since March 16, 1992. It is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. Exhibits cover the early history and development of Aruba
History of Aruba
Aruba's first inhabitants were the Caquetios Indians from the Arawak tribe, who migrated there from Venezuela to escape attacks by the Caribs. Fragments of the earliest known Indian settlements date back to about 1000...
through the arrival of the Lago Oil & Transport Company
Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd.
Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd. had its beginning in 1924 as a shipping company carrying crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to its transshipment facility on the island of Aruba.-History:...
in the 1920s. Group visits and walking city tours are accommodated by multilingual
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
guides. The Bon Bini Festival is held at the fort every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
External links
- Fort Zoutman / Historical Museum - Official tourist website