The neighborhood was one of the first in the Netherlands to have a majority of residents with a foreign background, primarily consisting of Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese, and Antilleans.

The neighborhood came into existence around the year 1900 when docks were built in Rotterdam-Zuid, and is one of the residential areas that quickly sprang up to house dockworkers.

The Rotterdam Tramway Company (Dutch: Rotterdamsche Tramweg Maatschappij), predecessor of the current RET system, ran a line to the South Holland islands through the neighborhood until the 1970s.

In particular, "slumlords" were accused of renting rooms to migrant workers despite the fact that many native Dutch had been waiting for apartments for years.

The national government issued a stay on this policy the next year, however, and it was overturned in 1974 by the Dutch Council of State.