[5]: 67  A fuel shortage prompted large-scale efforts to drain the peat in the area and cut them for fuel.

People were drawn to the area and canals were dug, both to drain the peat and to transport the cuts.

[4] It was originally called Nieuw-Slagharen, but has been renamed Erica after the heath plant.

In 1867, the Hoogeveense Vaart [nl] was dug, and a second settlement was constructed.

[4] Many of the early inhabitants of Erica came from neighbouring Germany and were Roman Catholic, and in 1866, a Catholic church was built.