| The Descendants of Jacob Tanis of Ouddorp To Tanis Page Back To Genealogy Main Page More pictures of Ouddorp |
| Ouddorp Zuid Holland, The Netherlands |
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| Painting of Ouddorp, Zuid Holland about 1800 |
| Today, Ouddorp with its surrounding area has much to offer, such as miles of white sandy beaches, beautiful scenic areas, cosy town center with many shops. Ouddorp is a tiny, ancient Dutch village (the name means "old village") and is still a picturesque, and charming old-fashioned Dutch town. There is a city center, built around an ancient church, with narrow, crooked streets paved with Belgian block. The shop fronts and homes are classic old Dutch in style. Next to the chruch there is a small, very old town hall which has now been converted into a town museum. There are windmills, not one, but two genuine old windmills located within walking distance of the church. At the museum you will find brief description of most of the displays in English. You'll see the town crest and learn of the origin of the symbols on it which includes a castle, a knight, two golden crossbows and a green bird. The most important local industries were farming and shipping. The sailboats were specially built with side keels that could be raised instead of deep, permanent center keels, because of the shallow water and sand bars around the islands. It is important to remember that even though Ouddorp is linked by causeways and highways to the rest of Holland today, it was very isolated from the rest of the country until well into the 20th century. The people who lived there actually spoke a distinct dialect of the Dutch language which many Hollanders would have trouble understanding today. The museum has several stories on tape by the old-timers in the old dialect. The Goeree-Overflakkee lsland was two small island at one time. A dam was constructed at Stelledam in the late 1700s, and the polders were created in the area. The Tanis family lived on a very small island called Goeree, which included the small villages of Ouddorp and Geodereede, some sand dunes and not much else. They have been reclaimng land from the sea since then. In the 1700s the island would have been much smaller and they were very isolated from the rest of Holland for centuries. In the 1800s, the ladies wore lace head coverings that were kept in place with a unique gold metal head band. This head band had what can only be described as a small bed spring on each side of the lady's head. Richer women had gold earring type things dangling from each "bed spring". This head band and lace shawl style was only common for women on Goeree and Overflakkee and all women in this region wore it. The dresses, of course, could be any color they wanted, as long as it was BLACK. The men also dressed entirely in black during this period. The above information was provided to me by John M. Casteline who has visited the area a couple of time and whose ancestors are also from Ouddorp. You can E-mail John at [email protected] Anyone looking for their ancestors from Goeree-Overflakkee E-mail Leo Akershoek, his ancestors are also from this area and has some 2100 persons listed including the Tanis family and many others. For more pictures of Ouddorp please click here |
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| Goedereede a small historical town about two miles from Ouddorp |
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| See picture of Ouddorp's city crest |