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The beginning of Drachten

Drachten began as a small community on the eastside of the river "de Drait". That's where early settlers started draining the land to use it for agriculture. With the cultivation of the land they started moving more and more eastward, because every time a stretch of peatbog was turned into peat, the remaining sandground could be used for agriculture. Around 1200 A.D. the community had grown so much that it was decided to build a small stone church. The church was used for 200 years, until the rising waters drove people even further east.

In 1550 A.D. the peat reserve in 'Holland' deteriorated. Consequently, peat from Friesland started to yield money. Rich people started buying large pieces of peatbog to turn it into peat and exploit it in large quantities. A few rich people from The Hague saw the potential. In 1641 they got permission to dig a canal. This canal was needed for two reasons. First, it made the peat dryer, and hence more usable, and second it allowed for the transportation of the peat, usually by ships along the canal. It is believed that they took a ruler and dug one canal (The Drachtster Compagnonsvaart) exactly between the two churches, and after they finished it they dug The Noorder- en Zuider Dwarsvaart. Because of various reasons the enterprise never turned a profit..

Drachten grows

This was essentualy the "birth" of Drachten. There, where the peat industry was beginning, people started to build on the shores of the canal. Pubs, shops, shipbuilding facilities, and public utilities, such as a rope-walk, were built. After a while Noorder- en Zuider Dragten fused together and created Drachten, bigger then any village in Smallingerland. Around 1830 a town hall was build, and the notary moved from Oudega to Drachten. The digging of peat lasted for 200 years. The ground won by the digging was big, but the contracters that made money off it did not use the grounds. They moved to Beetsterzwaag and built there mansions there.

The poor workers stayed behind. Some became small farmers, but most of them didn't make it. Smallingerland was a poor community and that is the main reason there are few historic buildings left. In Drachten there was some industry left along the canal. There were some windmills and tobacco factories. Bit by bit there rose an "upper class". These civilians started ruling the area in the nineteenth century, as well as providing administrative, cultural and ecclesiastical functions. Most of the community grew from ten or fifteen families who were related by various bloodlines.

Quick Growth

Drachten has grown enormously from that time on. During the period between 1950 and 1991, Drachten grew by an average of 1,000 inhabitants a year. The arrival of Philips has been a huge contibutor to this growth. As of today there are 55.000 people living in Smallingerland.

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