Fort Amsterdam was built by the Dutch in 1631 and is located on the peninsula separating Great Bay and Little Bay. Two years later the Spanish captured, and occupied, the fort until 1648. The Dutch gained control again and owned Fort Amsterdam for 150 years until the French took it in 1795 only to lose it to the English in 1801 who gave it back to the Dutch in 1816.
To get to Fort Amsterdam I chose to walk since there is no bus running to it. After I walked the entire beach in Great Bay, which is also the Boardwalk of Philipsburg, I had to walk another mile that included going up, then down, through a resort, and finally back up the hill it was built on.
I try to find the positive in almost everything I see, but the little that remains of Fort Amsterdam hardly made the journey worth the effort. Well I guess I did get a good story out of it, so there is that. I actually enjoyed the cliff and rocks at the very end of the peninsula more than the building, wall, cistern, and 5-6 cannons. Just letting you know so you do not have to trek all the way over there.
