Grand Case is one of the oldest sites of human settlement on the island with the first settlers arriving by boat from Venezuela around 1800 B.C. and their ancestors, the Arawak Indians, settling here around 550 B.C.  The area offered an abundance of fishing and hunting and other natural resources.  It was during an archeological dig at Hope Estate near Grand Case where the ceramic Arawak Dog was discovered.

Old maps from the early 1700’s mention La Grande-Case (the Great Cabin) as one of the 4 districts on the French side of the island.  Some believe that this “large cabin” was the master house of a large sugar mill.  In the early 1800’s there were 7-8 houses with salt from the nearby pond bringing wealth to this hamlet until the early 1900’s. 

In the early 1900’s Grand Case became St. Martin’s center of communication and until 1970 most of the island’s sea traffic would go through this area off-loading vegetables on the wharf and picking up cattle raised on the hillsides surrounding the lagoon.  In 1971 the L’Esperance airport was built.

Today, while remaining quaint and serene, Grand Case has established itself as the Caribbean’s culinary capital.