Up until about 1950 the ports in the North Sea Canal area were all fiercely independent and each had its own special history. From that time on, we talk of the port region in the North Sea Canal area.

Velsen and IJmuiden

The development of the ports in Velsen and IJmuiden started with the completion of the North Sea Canal in 1877. The ships on their way to Amsterdam meant work in the surroundings of the locks. Many types of shipping related companies set themselves up there. Industry boomed after the establishment of a paper factory at the end of the nineteenth century and a steel factory after the first world war.

Beverwijk

Beverwijk already had a port in the eighteenth century. That was mainly an inland port. A small canal, 'the Pijp', was the connection with the Wijkermeer from where ships could reach the 'Zuiderzee' through the Imeer. When the Pijp was connected to the North Sea Canal, development of the port really started to boom. Especially in the period between the two world wars, Beverwijk grew in importance. It is now mainly famed for the export of agricultural products.

Zaanstad

For centuries the port of Zaandam was a small sweet water fishing and inland shipping port. The 'Zaanstreek' (or area around Zaandam) also had a flourishing industry. When the North Sea Canal was completed the local economy received a major stimulus. At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, steam ships were regularly mooring in Zaanstad to unload cargo such as wood, rice and oil seeds for the sawmills and the food industry. The arrival of wood increased substantially, mainly from Scandinavia, Russia and Finland. Steam ships moored at an island in the 'Voorzaan', where timber yard William Pont was established (now PontEecen). In 1911 a new port was opened in Zaandam.

Referred literature: Joris Moes: Noordzeekanaal 1876-2001, Amports, 2000