Bicentennial Story #85-Holland Land Company

Bicentennial Story #85-Holland Land Company

Description of the Holland Land Company, created to attract Dutch immigrants to settle near Belfield and South Heart, ND.

8/27/1975

Bea Peterson

This recording cannot be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center. This recording may be freely used for education uses, so long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this recording file is permitted without written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center.

mp3

audio reel, analog, 1/4 inch polyester tape

English

BS-085

Belfield, ND

South Heart, ND

Copyright Stark County Historical Society and Dickinson Museum Center

In 1910, bankers in Holland organized the Holland Land Company and invested about a million dollars in farm lands, town lots, and a bank in the Belfield--South Heart region. They hoped to send hundreds of Dutchmen to settle the 27 sections of land. But the venture did not pay off very well. Many of the Dutch settlers were inexperienced laborers with little knowledge of farm management. The huge Hollander house in Belfield and some other homes were sold after a few years of gradual losses. Of the large group which came to settle the area, many returned to Holland or found better prospects elsewhere. Only about ten families remained and rented or bought farms of their own.

This is Bicentennial Story No. 85, prepared by Bea Peterson for the Belfield News.

Belfield News, April 12, 1962

Sound recordings

1:25

128kbps

1970 1979

Bicentennial tape #5, Bicentennial stories 67-86