A prominent feature outside the modern core of the village is the white (Dutch reformed) church, built in the fifteenth century to replace a wooden chapel demolished in 1409.

However, near Urk the ship sank and after the war the bells from Den Hoorn were salvaged and returned to the tower.

In the past Den Hoorn was much larger and the church was surrounded by buildings, but major reductions in shipping transport led to many houses in the village being abandoned and subsequently destroyed, leaving the church looking isolated.

Since 1962 boats to Texel have docked at 't Horntje, very close to Den Hoorn which is near the southern tip of the island.

These are the Royal Dutch Institute for Maritime Research (Nederlands Instituut voor Zeeonderzoek / NIOZ) and a short distance away Alterra, previously and more instructively known as the Institute for Woodland and Rural Environment Research (het Instituut voor Bos- en Natuuronderzoek / IBAN)