Nieuw-Rotterdam
Nieuw-Rotterdam was the former capital in what is now the Nickerie district in Suriname . He was on the right bank in the mouth of the Nickerie River. Extensive erosion due to sea surf and storm surges meant that the place had to be abandoned in 1870.
history
Around 1820 the first settlement was founded here under the name Nickerie-Punt or De Punt . The place was on a narrow strip of land between the river and the Atlantic Ocean. After 1850, the heyday of the place began primarily through trade - including smuggling - with British Guiana . It was enlarged and given the name Nieuw-Rotterdam. The extension took place through the construction of two streets, including the Kerkstraat , which ran from south to north and ended at the church tower. There were several public buildings, a fortified military post and barracks.
From 1863 onwards, severe coastal erosion became an ever greater threat to the place; it had to be abandoned in 1870 and was rebuilt to the south, further inland as Nieuwe Wijk . But the sea also threatened this new settlement.
The location had to be relocated again and in 1879 today's Nieuw Nickerie was founded on the left bank of the Nickerie, further away from the estuary .
literature
- Herman Daniël Benjamin u. Joh. F. Snelleman (red.): Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië , Martinus Nijhoff u. EJ Brill, The Hague u. Leiden 1914-1917, p. 509.