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local Saturday 1 November 2025
Place names in San Nicolas and their origins

(Oranjestad)–If you’re ever Colorado. Named after the happened.
taking a tour of Aruba, San 30-meter, deep red, lime-
Nicolas would definitely stone hill, “Sero Colorado” In 1829, Pieter Lampe was a
be on your itinerary. From translates to “Colored Hill”. planter and the person re-
relaxing on the white, san- Sero Colorado has deep sponsible for governing this
dy beaches of Baby and historical ties with the once- remote area. As the story
Roger’s Beach, to explor- thriving phosphate industry goes, Pieter was well known
ing the prehistoric caves in the area. Matter of fact, and beloved for his kind-
of Quadirikiri and Fontein, there are still underground ness and good treatment
you are taking in a full view shafts and passages deep of his employees, and was
of what San Nicolas has in Sero Colorado from the therefore also called Vader
to offer. But did you know time of phosphate mining. Piet (Father Piet). Howev-
that you are also pass- In 1958, the refinery at the er, he was tragically mur-
ing through areas whose time, Lago, adopted this dered—some speculate at
names have historical ori- name for the residential the hands of a slave. For his district was named after a phate boom in late 19th
gins? Here are a few place section of its employees. work and good heart, the Spanish saint. Though one century Aruba. Back then,
names in San Nicolas and area was named after him. account does support this landowners (most, if not all
their origin story. Vader Piet with the theory that the dis- of them men) were referred
Another well visited area, San Nicolas trict was named after the to as “Shon” by their subor-
Sero Colorado Vader Piet is located in the Of course we can’t forget saint by Spanish colonizers, dinates. So, the district was
On your way to Baby or Arikok National Park. Rec- San Nicolas itself. Much the other account is much originally named after Shon
Roger’s Beach, you’ll pass ognizable sites within this like Vader Piet, the origin less divine, but does refer to Nicolaas. Over time, the
by the famous Red Anchor area includes the Wind Mills of the name San Nicolas an influential figure in the name evolved into what is
at what was once the en- and the Quadirikiri Cave. has so far two different ac- area. now San Nicolas.q
trance to the Colony resi- The origin of this name is counts. In the literal sense,
dential community and be part historical and specula- “San Nicolas” translates Nicolaas van der Biest was Source: “Aruba: Short History”
greeted with red soiled hills tion, as there are slight de- to “Saint Nicolas”, leading a successful landowner by Dr. J. Hartog.
by the coast. This is Sero viations from what actually many to believe that this during the time of the phos-

The Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins and its history

(Oranjestad)—The Bushiri- a first exploration for gold literally struck gold, and
bana Gold Mill Ruins is one on the island was commis- as word got out, a gold
of the most visited places sioned by the Dutch West fever spread among the
by tourists on the island, India Company. Under the locals who started search-
as it lies along the north- leadership of Mr. Paulus ing for more gold. About 25
ern coast line near the mini Printz, a three-year search pounds worth was found.
pool and on the way to the was conducted on Aruba,
Natural Bridge. Despite its to no avail. Though they At the same time, the Aru-
seemingly plain appear- found some gold, it was ban government took
ance, this ruin represents enough to motivate a fur- immediate actions, and
one of the most important ther search, and the assign- informed Curacao that
histories of the island: The ment was discontinued by gold was found. At first,
Aruban Gold Rush. Printz himself. everyone could look for ferent companies from to quicksilver in order to
gold, as long as they sold around the world, all of obtain pure gold. All these
Built in 1872 by English com- It wasn’t until 100 years lat- it to the government. How- which used primitive meth- processes were done at
pany Aruba Island Gold er, in 1824, when a young ever, after some time, the ods to dig and carve out the Bushiribana Gold Mill.
Mining Company Ltd, the boy found a lump of gold government decided to gold from the rocks. Aruba
gold mill at Bushiribana while out herding his fa- implement stricter rules and Island Gold Mining Compa- The gold mill itself had a
was constructed in the ther’s sheep. His father took banned local search par- ny Ltd. was no different, but short life-span: only 10 years
area where most gold was it to a local merchant who ties. used a unique method that in service, but its structure
found by locals. The story then sold the lump for $70. involved grinding the rocks remained relatively solid till
of gold on Aruba actually Unbeknownst to the boy Over the years, conces- and letting the dust be this day, and is now a his-
dates back to 1725, when and his father, they quite sion-holding had seen dif- blown away by the strong torical remnant. q
northeast wind, leaving
clumps of gold behind. The Sources: Etnia Nativa & gold-
next step was melting the mineranch.com.
gold and letting it attach