Page "Smallingerland" Paragraph 6

Notary Public J. G.

van Blom wrote those words of praise about his hometown in 1840 A. D ..

Most of the 3, 000 residents from those days would have had no chance to enjoy the umbrageous scenery ; people had to make a living and after work little spare time was left.

Some 200 years earlier, in 1640 A. D., the hamlets of Drachten North and Drachten South were little more than a small church and some farm houses.

Other villages in the region were older, bigger and more important, for example Smalle Ee with its monastery and subsequent activities such as an annual fair, which was always bracketed together with those of Leeuwarden en Dokkum.

Or Oudega, where a stone church had been erected even before 1100 A. D.