Editing Nederland, Texas (section)

== History ==

Nederland was founded in 1897 by [[Netherlands|Dutch]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Block, JR|first=W.T|title=TULIPS AMID THE BLUEBONNETS: THE CENTENNIAL OF NEDERLAND, TEXAS|url=http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/centenni.htm#continuefrom|access-date=26 January 2013}}</ref> settlers as a repayment for financial services of Dutch bankers who financed the Kansas City Southern railroad line that runs through the center of the city. (''Nederland'', which literally translates to "Lowland", is the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] name for the Netherlands.) The more prominent families were named Rienstra, Doornbos, and Van Oostrom, and their descendants still live in the area today. Tradition says they were attracted to the flat coastal terrain that reminded them of their homeland (although the heat most certainly did not).

Nederland's early economy was driven by rice and dairy farming. However, the [[depression of 1907]] and overproduction caused the rice industry in the town to collapse. Many Dutch settlers moved away from the area during this time, but a small percentage remained. After the [[Spindletop]] gusher discovery of 1901 and the establishment of the [[Sun Oil]] (Now Entergy Transfer) terminal near Nederland, the town became a residential community for the workers of the nearby oil terminals.

Nederland became incorporated as a city in 1940. The surrounding larger cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and [[Orange, Texas|Orange]] came to be known as the [[Golden Triangle (Texas)|Golden Triangle]]. In the 1940s and 1950s, the [[Port of Port Arthur]] and the [[Port of Beaumont]] were as important as [[New Orleans]], [[Houston]], or [[Galveston]], and Nederland thrived as a result.

The refineries also attracted a large population of [[blue-collar worker|blue-collar]] laborers into the area. The area drew particularly heavily from southern [[Louisiana]], and a strong [[Cajun]] flair is evident throughout the community. With the decline of oil prices in the 1980s, the local economy suffered and Nederland experienced slight population losses, but has stabilized in the late 1990s and 2000s.

Nederland is the ending location of the [[Keystone Pipeline]].