[3] A pentagonal fort was built on this site in 1790, which was named by Governor Jan Wichers, after his birthplace in Groningen, in what was at the time the Dutch Republic.

[4] During his time as a soldier in Suriname (1836–1842), August Kappler described the area, and notes about Groningen that "on this place (...) a city would be built.

[6] At the end of 1845 the survivors of a group of Dutch farmers, led by Pastor Arend van den Brandhof, arrived in Groningen.

They emigrated to Suriname from the Dutch province of Groningen to help build a new life on the other side of the Saramacca River.

Within six months nearly two hundred people had died of typhus and/or yellow fever and the remainder resettled across the river in Groningen.

The following year their leader, Arend van den Brandhof [nl], departed, heading back to the Netherlands.