Due to a surveying error it was much narrower than the adjoining Uilenburg island, and had just one main street running through it, Valkenburgerstraat.

[2] Maps from the 16th to 18th century show ship ramps along the Markengracht, the eastern boundary of the island, but the shipyards later relocated because the canal was too narrow.

Rats the size of cats that win prizes at exhibition frolic in broad daylight in the yards.

The synagogue of the chewre Tif'eres Jisroeil was housed on the lower floor of Markengracht 5 from 1835 until 1928, when many of its members moved to the Transvaal neighborhood.

[1] The whole area between Valkenburgerstraat and Rapenburgerstraat was cleared for construction of the IJtunnel, leaving a wide empty space between the two streets.