Meerzorg (
Sranan Tongo
Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the popu ...
: Ansu
) is a town and resort (municipality) in
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
, located on the eastern bank of the
Suriname River
The Suriname River ( Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is long and flows through the country of Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it is kn ...
, directly opposite the capital
Paramaribo
Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...
. Its population at the 2012 census was 12,405.
Since 2000 it has been connected to Paramaribo by the
Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge
The Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Jules Wijdenboschbrug''), also called Suriname bridge and known locally as Bosje Brug, is a bridge over the Suriname River between the capital city Paramaribo and Meerzorg in the Commewijne Di ...
, named after the former
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Jules Wijdenbosch
Jules Albert Wijdenbosch (2 May 1941 – 30 April 2025) was a Surinamese politician who was President of Suriname from 1996 to 2000 and prime minister from 1987 to 1988.
Life and career
Wijdenbosch was born in Paramaribo on 2 May 1941. He was ...
.
History
Meerzorg is named after the sugar plantation Meerzorg.
The plantation was founded at the end of the 17th century, and was originally called Plantage Amsinck.
On 10 October 1712,
Jacques Cassard
Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer.
Biography
Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his f ...
captured the plantation for
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and threatened Paramaribo across the Suriname river. Negotiations started, and on 27 October Cassard left with ƒ747,350 (€8.1 million in 2018) worth of goods and slaves. To protect Paramaribo and Commewijne from future attacks,
Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam was constructed, and opened in 1747.
On 15 March 1907, the plantation owners announced a grand plan: a
tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
line would be laid between Spieringshoek and Meerzorg, the
United Fruit Company
The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...
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banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s at a new wharf, and a
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
ferry would connect Meerzorg with Paramaribo. On 26 August 1907, the plans were cancelled, and the owner was thinking of selling the plantation. In 1915, the plantation was bought by the government to be repurposed for
small scale agriculture, and suburban housing projects. Due to the proximity of Paramaribo, factories were built in Meerzorg.
In 1930, the plantation was extended by a
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
, and the new land was used to grow
rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
. Meerzorg started to grow, and by 1948 had a population of 4,000 people. In 1958, the