Philipsburg Courthouse Tours

Standing sentinel in the palm-lined Watney Square on Front Street, Philipsburg Courthouse is the centerpiece of the island’s Dutch capital. Built in 1793, the white wooden structure with crisp green trim has a bell tower topped by a pineapple—a classic Caribbean symbol for “welcome.” Once used as a jail, a post office, and a fire station, the building is currently a working courthouse.

As the Philipsburg Courthouse is a working courthouse, it may not always be open to visitors. To learn more about the courthouse, book a guided sightseeing tour of the area. Such tours might start in Philipsburg and stop at a former plantation and perhaps Fort Amsterdam in Philipsburg and Fort Louis in the French-sde capital of Marigot. Guides often speak of the island’s history both before and after France and Holland divided the land in half.

The courthouse sits right at the center of downtown Philipsburg on Front Street. From the cruise ship dock, it’s a 10-minute walk. If you drive, there's a parking lot about a block from the courthouse.

The best time to visit St. Martin/St. Maarten is in the shoulder seasons of spring or fall when cheaper rates are offered and rain is less likely. With pleasant year-round weather, there’s no bad time to visit, but summer is the warmest. 

Travelers curious about the history of both the town and the island should make a visit to the St. Maarten Museum, about a 5-minute walk east down Front Street from the Courthouse. On display are Arawak pottery shards, artifacts and photos from the plantation era, and items from the excavated HMS Proselyte, a frigate that sank off Fort Amsterdam in 1801.