Holland
How it went on
After the Civil War
Holland expands
More and more immigrants came to the US, and so the Colony expanded. There were even so many that Holland became a real city in 1867. The prosperity rose enormously after Holland finally built good connecting roads. Then came railways through the territory. The other roads were made better and Holland built, finally, a good harbor. There came more roads, so, now products could better be imported from and exported to the near places.Fire!!
Holland had many shops in 1871: nine general stores, three hardware stores, three furniture shops, five smiths, three printing offices, three saloons, two hotels, two jeweller shops, a restaurant, and much more. It got better and better and seemed that nothing could stop it.One fire, in October, 1871, reduced most of the city to ashes. The fire came through a time of enormous dryness. No one could stop the fire. After a couple of hours it stopped by itself, but the damage was done. The center of Holland was gone. More than 200 houses, 75 shops and offices, 15 factories and workshops, 3 hotels, and 5 churches were gone. Many animals and one human died.
Again reverse
Finally, after all those years, Holland was well organized, and then the bad fire came. Hundreds of people were homeless and all they had was gone. Even so, they immediately started rebuilding. Many other Dutch immigrants from other settlements helped by sending money and supplies. In 1873, Holland received money from the American government to help get itself back on its feet.Meanwhile, there still came more immigrants, who mainly became farmers. They bought land, for themselves and also for their sons. Almost all the land was taken and the price for a piece of land rose enormously.
Prosperity
The prosperity is fairly high. There are now more factories in Holland: A car parts factory, the world's biggest gherkins factory, a furniture supply company, and a food processing plant.Holland Today
Holland still exists. Now it's a real city with 31,000 inhabitants (as of 1998). While much of Holland looks more American than Dutch, there is still some evidence. There are still historical parts in the city, like the "Holland State Park", "Dutch Village" and "Netherlands Museum". There is also the annual "Tulip Time".
To learn more about modern-day Holland, visit Holland Today.
Emigration through the years
Emigration is a huge step for any person. Generally speaking, there are many immigrants to the US at times when the economy is bad in the Netherlands and good in the US, and vice versa. Van Raalte emigrated, many people followed his example. At the end of the 1850s, Dutch emigration, for the most part, stopped because the Dutch economy was strong again, and the US had an economic crisis in 1857. After the American Civil War (1861-1865), there came immigrants again. When the US had an economic crisis in 1873 again, it stopped for the most part. The third and last peak came when the US opened the West for settlement.