Nydam / Nijdam: Origin of the Name
Henk Nijdam sent the following information to Jacob R. Nydam on Sept 15, 1972, and I include it here thanks to James Nydam of Grand Rapids, MI who passed it on to me. Henk was a KLM Pilot. Several times when he happened to be in the Chicago area, he would visit Jake Nydam. The same history is also available from the Nijdamstra Association. See their web site at www.nijdamstra.nl/general.htm
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The northern part of the Dutch coast is Friesland. Because the low lands are actually a delta of the rivers Schelde, Maas, Rhine, and Eems (with a few smaller rivers between these) the character was that of an open, unprotected area with a few openings between the sand dunes to let the tides in and the river water out. However the tides could spread over the whole area and consequently they were never very high and often retarded by the natural obstruction of the dunes and by the river water flowing in the opposite direction. Due to this stagnation of water flow fertile sediments like clay could settle and the area was naturally de-silted.The people who lived in this area could manage by building their houses on poles (see drawing below) or by building small hills (called a "terp") on which they gathered in small communities. These "terps" are the start of the later villages and many of these have a name that ends still on "__terp". They made a living from cattle (cows, sheep, goats), fishing and some agriculture.
Gradually, however, they started fighting the waters by building dykes along the rivers, right up to the river's mouth. As a consequence, the area over which the water used to spread became much smaller and the tides therefore much wilder. To further safeguard themselves against these waters they started building dams across the rivers with a door in them. The door was opened to let the water out and closed to keep the tides out. The first dykes were built in the 9th century.
One of the smaller rivers is the Boorne (still partly existing) and it got its dykes around 950 (10th century). In the 11th century (approx 1045) a dam across the Boorne was built near a place by the name of Irnsum. This dam was called the "Nye daem", which means the new dam, and our name dates from those times. The opening, closing and upkeep of the doors in this dam was done by the farmer living next to it and upon whose land it was situated. The farm (estate) was called "Nyedaemstra-state" and it still exists (see picture below). The people living on it gradually received also this name.
One of the smaller rivers is the Boorne (still partly existing) and it got its dykes around 950 (10th century). In the 11th century (approx 1045) a dam across the Boorne was built near a place by the name of Irnsum. This dam was called the "Nye daem", which means the new dam, and our name dates from those times. The opening, closing and upkeep of the doors in this dam was done by the farmer living next to it and upon whose land it was situated. The farm (estate) was called "Nyedaemstra-state" and it still exists (see picture below). The people living on it gradually received also this name.
The first written mentioning of the farm dates from 1511 and was found in a register of taxes (already then!). The owner was then "Mr. Yds, pastoer thoe Nidam," a catholic priest. The number of the estate is 1 and it consists of "12 pondematen gras [grasland inside the dykes] and 12 pondematen meden [grassland outside the dykes)." One "pondemaat" = 3674 sq. m. The first certain ancestor is Willem Willems de Oude (the old) who owned and lived on the estate in 1579. He was presumably a grandson of Yds Ydszn and a great grandson of the "pastor" Yds. Today it is owned by the Galama family.
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