Like Blokzijl, peat transport to Holland by ship caused the small city to flourish during the 17th century.

In 1010 Emperor Henry II gave the area Sillva Fulnaho (Forest Vollenhove) to the bishop of Utrecht.

[citation needed] In the 12th century, Bishop Godfried van Rhenen built a castle in the Almere, the Olde Huys, with a keep and a chapel.

Joris Schenck van Toutenburg became sheriff and later became governor of Overijssel for Karel the Fifth.

This residence was the administrative center for the three northern provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Overijssel.

At the outbreak of the Eighty Years' War Vollenhove lost the role of administrative center, and in the following centuries, the town withered away.

At the end of the 19th century, a new port was built and a specific fishing boat, the Vollenhovense sphere.

Vollenhove was the beginning of World War II as a major port for the reclamation work of the northeast.

The celebration of the 650-year anniversary as a city on 12 July 2004 was attended by Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, he is the husband of Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands.