Thursday, August 11, 2011

Hometowns of our Ancestors: Haarlem, Holland

  

 "The Great Market in Haarlem" (1696)
Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (1638-1698).

 Haarlem's history dates back to pre-medieval times.  Still a vibrant city in the Netherlands, it is the capital of the Province of North Holland.  Located on the river Spaarne west of Amsterdam, Haarlem has been a major trading centre for tulips since the 1630's thus giving it the nickname  'Bloemenstad' meaning 'flower city'.

Grote Markt in 2007
This is the hometown of our ancestor Christian Bom, daughter of Cornelius & Agnes (Moij) Bom, who arrived in Philadelphia with her parents and brothers Cornelius and Abraham in 1683.

1 comment:

Mary Ellen said...

It took me a few moments to realize the top picture and bottom photo were the same, just more than 300 years apart - I love seeing the connection between the past and present illustrated like that!