Cruquius () is a village in the
Dutch province of
North Holland
North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
. It is a part of the municipality of
Haarlemmermeer and lies about 4 km northwest of
Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp (; ) is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained.
His ...
.
History
Cruquius gets its name from
Nicolaas Kruik
Nicolaas Samuelszoon Kruik ( la, Nicolaus Samuelis Cruquius; 2 December 1678, West-Vlieland – 5 February 1754, Spaarndam), also known as Klaas Kruik and Nicolaes Krukius, was a Dutch land surveyor, cartographer, astronomer and weatherman. He i ...
(1678–1754), a Dutch land-surveyor and one of many promoters of a plan to pump the
Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem lake) dry. Like many well-educated men of his time, he
latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
ized his name to
Nicolaas Samuel Cruquius
Nicolaas Samuelszoon Kruik ( la, Nicolaus Samuelis Cruquius; 2 December 1678, West-Vlieland – 5 February 1754, Spaarndam), also known as Klaas Kruik and Nicolaes Krukius, was a Dutch land surveyor, cartographer, astronomer and weatherman. He is ...
. During his lifetime the issue of the Haarlem Lake and how to pump it dry was international news, as the following excerpt from the ''
Virginia Gazette'' on May 31, 1751, illustrates:
Virginia Gazette, Hunter, September 26, 1751, page 3
, facsimile on research.history.org
"By a private letter from Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
, we are told, that the Dutch Engineers, in their Plan for draining the lake of Haerlem, proposed to employ 150 mills for three Years, and had computed the Expense at a Million and Half of Florins, but that a German, who had been long employed in the Mines of Hungary and Hartz, had proposed to drain it with 50 machines, in 15 months, at a far less Expense; and that he has been ordered to erect one of those Machines, which, if it shall be found to execute what he has asserted, his Proposal will be immediately accepted."
Even 50 machines proved too expensive, so it wasn't until successful experiments with steam pumping stations, such as at nearby Groenendaal park in 1781, that serious plans resulted in three steam driven pumping stations, including the one at Cruquius. As a tribute to former planners, the pumping station
Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure system ...
s of the Haarlemmermeer were named after them. The one at the mouth of the Spaarne river, near Heemstede
Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the fourth richest municipality of the Netherlands.
History
Heemstede formed around the Castle ''Heemstede'' that was built overlooking the ...
, was called Cruquius. To service the mill, the workers who lived there founded the village of the same name. The dike was built in the 1840s, the pump started work in 1850 and in the three years that had been predicted a century before, the Haarlem lake was pumped dry. The pumping station Cruquius continued to work on and off until 1933, when it was made into a museum. The foreman's house was made into a café which it still is today.
Gallery
Image:Cruquius-from-heemstede-side.jpg, Cruquius Museum, seen from Heemstede side of Cruquius bridge over the Ringvaart
Image:Brokstuk-gemaal-blijdorp-polder.jpg, Cruquius Museum entrance, showing piece of foundation from first steam mill in the Netherlands
Image:Theehuis-cruquius.jpg, Former residence of Cruquius mill's foreman, today a café next to the museum.
File:Ringdijk Haarlemmermeer - panoramio (3).jpg, House in Cruquius
See also
*Museum De Cruquius
The Museum De Cruquius (or Cruquiusmuseum) occupies the old Cruquius steam pumping station in Cruquius, the Netherlands. It derives its name from Nicolaas Kruik (1678–1754), a Dutch land-surveyor and one of many promoters of a plan to pump ...
References
{{Haarlemmermeer navbox
Populated places in North Holland
Haarlemmermeer