Neerlandia is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

, Canada within the County of Barrhead No. 11. Neerlandia is situated at the intersection of Highway 769 and Township Road 615A between Mellowdale and

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

, approximately 20 kilometers north of

Barrhead Barrhead (, ) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-produ ...

and northwest of

Westlock Westlock is a town in central Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1913, the town is primarily an agricultural, business, and government administration centre serving communities and rural areas within surrounding Westlock County. Geography Westlock ...

. Neerlandia was founded by

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

immigrants beginning in 1911. The name "Neerlandia" refers to the first settlers' country of origin, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The surrounding area is largely agricultural based with many people in the outlying area also being involved in construction and other trades as well.

History

In January 1911, Henry Kippers began a Dutch colonization society with the goal to create a Dutch farming community. The community formation began on December 18, 1911 with 16 men filling for land permits at the Dominion of Lands Office in Edmonton, Alberta. These men were John Anema, Rients de Jager, Drikus Huinink, Cornelius Ingwersen, Albert M. Mast, Johan Messelink, Henry J. Micheal, Menne Nanninga, Albert J. Oldegbers, Hendrik Schoonekamp, Berend te Ronde, Douwe Terpsma, John Terpsma, Siebren Tiemstra and Willem van Ark. This was followed by Fred Baron and Henry J. Kippers on December 26, 1911 and Arie Emmerzael on February 6, 1912.

Demographics

Neerlandia recorded a population of 101 in the 1991 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

Services and amenities

The Hamlet of Neerlandia has four churches (

Christian Reformed A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

United Reformed The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

and two

Canadian Reformed The Canadian and American Reformed Churches (CanRC) is a federation of Protestant Reformed (Calvinist) churches in Canada and the United States, with historical roots in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. Basic beliefs and doctrine CanRC c ...

), a grocery store, a farm and building centre, a self-serve gas station, a restaurant and two schools, the Neerlandia Public Christian School and the

Covenant Canadian Reformed School Covenant Canadian Reformed School is a K-12 private Christian school in Neerlandia, Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prai ...

. The public school houses the public library and has a tennis court and a baseball diamond. The ice rink beside the public school was demolished to make room for the new school and a new ice rink has been constructed across the road from the school. Neerlandia is southeast of the

Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park is a wildland provincial park in Woodlands County, Alberta, Canada. The park is in area and was established in 1997. The park is contained in the Upper Athabasca Land Use Framework. The park ...

Woodlands County Woodlands County is a municipal district in north-central Alberta, Canada. Located in Census Division No. 13, its municipal office is located outside but adjacent to the Town of Whitecourt. A second municipal office is located in the Hamle ...

, which is accessible via Highway 769 and Highway 661. The park and surrounding area is a camping, snowmobiling, quadding, trailriding and hunting destination.

References

{{Alberta, hamlets=yes County of Barrhead No. 11 Hamlets in Alberta Dutch-Canadian culture

History

Demographics

Services and amenities

Further reading

See also

References