Meerzorg (

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (also Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue," Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a ''lingua franca'' by approximately 550,000 people in Suriname. Developed originally amo ...

: Ansu) is a town and resort (municipality) in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, located on the eastern bank of the

Suriname River The Suriname River (Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it i ...

, directly opposite the capital

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

. Its population at the 2012 census was 12,405. Since 2000 it has been connected to Paramaribo by the

Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge The Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (Dutch: ''Jules Wijdenboschbrug''), also called Suriname bridge and known locally as Bosje Brug, is a bridge over the Suriname River between the capital city Paramaribo and Meerzorg in the Commewijne District. The bri ...

, named after the former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Jules Wijdenbosch Jules Albert Wijdenbosch (born 2 May 1941 in Paramaribo) is a Surinamese politician who was President of Suriname from 1996 to 2000. He was a member of the National Democratic Party, which held absolute power in Suriname during the 1980s. He was ...

History

Meerzorg is named after the sugar plantation Meerzorg. The plantation was founded at the end of the 17th century, and was originally called Plantage Amsinck. On 10 October 1712,

Jacques Cassard Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer. Biography Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his fa ...

captured the plantation for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and threatened Paramaribo across the Suriname river. Negotiations started, and on 27 October Cassard left with ƒ747,350 (€8.1 million in 2018) worth of goods and slaves. To protect Paramaribo and Commewijne from future attacks,

Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam is a fort in Suriname built from 1734 to 1747 at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers. It is open to the public as an open-air museum. History The necessity of improving the fortifications of the colony of ...

was constructed, and opened in 1747. On 15 March 1907, the plantation owners announced a grand plan: a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line would be laid between Spieringshoek and Meerzorg, the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

would start loading

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

s at a new wharf, and a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

ferry would connect Meerzorg with Paramaribo. On 26 August 1907, the plans were cancelled, and the owner was thinking of selling the plantation. In 1915, the plantation was bought by the government to be repurposed for small scale agriculture, and suburban housing projects. Due to the proximity of Paramaribo, factories were built in Meerzorg. In 1930, the plantation was extended by a

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

, and the new land was used to grow

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. Meerzorg started to grow, and by 1948 had a population of 4,000 people. In 1958, the

Commewijne District Commewijne is a district of Suriname, located on the right bank of the Suriname River. Commewijne's capital city is Nieuw Amsterdam. Tamanredjo is another major town, while Meerzorg is the most populated. The district has a population of 31,4 ...

was expanded to include Meerzorg boosting its population. In 1931, a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

opened between Meerzorg en

Waterkant The Waterkant is the oldest and one of the most important streets of Paramaribo, Suriname. The street is located in the historic centre on the Suriname River, and was the location where ships used to arrive. The street starts at the Onafhankeli ...

, Paramaribo, but to improve access to the eastern part of Suriname, the

was opened on 20 May 2000, replacing the ferry. The bridge is part of the East-West Link. There have been repeated calls to reopen a ferry service for

bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s and

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s. The ferry

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

has been upgraded to a touristic zone as of 2012. Meerzorg has been designated as a regional centre, and suburban area for Paramaribo, and there have been many building projects in the early 21st century. In 2006, the plan Richelieu was announced to built 4,000 houses at the location of the former plantation in corporation with the Development Bureau of the Dutch city of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Meerzorg was also home to the Cinema Ansoe, a unique wooden

art-deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...

cinema, which opened on 28 November 1958. As of 2013, the cinema was in a dilapidated condition with broken windows.

Other settlements

The village of

Laarwijk Laarwijk is a settlement and a former sugar plantation in the Commewijne District in Suriname. Laarwijk is situated along the Suriname River and can only be reached by boat (via Domburg). History Laarwijk was founded in 1737. The government bou ...

is located on the Meerzorg resort. The

Brooskampers The Brooskampers (also: Bakabusi Nengre) were a Maroon people, descendants of runaway African slaves, living in the forested interior of Suriname. The tribe is related to the Saramaka, and originated from Loango-Angola. The Brooskampers gained au ...

Maroons Maroons are descendants of African diaspora in the Americas, Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples, eventually ethnogenesi ...

lived on plantations Rorac and Klaverblad between 1863 and 1917.

Peperpot nature park

Peperpot is a former

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

plantation located to the south of the town of Meerzorg. It is one of the oldest plantations. The exact year of founding is not known, but it was soon after 1692. The plantation remained in production until 1998. The plantation has been transformed into a 700

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s nature park, and is home to many birds and animals. The nature park opened in 2009 and was financed by the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

and the

Nationale Postcode Loterij The Nationale Postcode Loterij (National Postcode Lottery) is the biggest charity lottery in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1989 by Novamedia, a marketing agency that sets up and runs charity lotteries. Forty percent of the proceeds of this lo ...

Sports

The

Meerzorg Stadion Meerzorg Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Meerzorg, Suriname. It is home to both SVB Hoofdklasse clubs SV Excelsior and SV Nishan 42. The stadium has a capacity of 1,300 people Location The Meerzorg Stadium is located along the Oost-Westver ...

, a multi-purpose stadium, is located in Meerzorg near the East-West Link. The stadium is home to both

SVB Hoofdklasse The SVB Eerste Divisie is the highest football championship for clubs run by the Surinaamse Voetbal Bond. The Topklasse is at the top of the system of Surinamese football championships. The league currently comprises twelve teams and operates a ...

clubs

SV Excelsior SV, Sv, sv, etc. may refer to: Places and language * El Salvador, ISO 3166-1 country code SV * South Vietnam, an extinct state * Svalbard, Norway, FIPS country code SV * Swedish language, ISO 639-1 language code sv * Silicon Valley, a region in n ...

and SV Nishan 42. The stadium has a capacity of 1,300 people.

References

External links

Meerzorg-Paramaribo bridge
(Dutch)
Peperpot Nature Park at Facebook
{{Surinamese District Commewijne Resorts of Suriname Populated places in Commewijne District