[1] Situated in a monumental building dating from 1911 the Veenkoloniaal Museum exhibits the development of the Groninger Peat district but also the history of hundreds of inland barges and a similar number of skippers families.

Agriculture, shipping and potato starch and strawboard industries flourish.

Strawboard is exported to England, which explains the name Albion of one of the factories.

Amazing when you consider that these enterprising villages are situated more than forty kilometres from the coast.

The Veenkoloniaal Museum is located at the Museumplein 5 in the village of Veendam in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands.