Schoonoord is a town in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and it is part of the Coevorden

Coevorden

Coevorden is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands. During the municipal reorganisation in the province in 1998, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo.- Population centers :...

 municipality in Drenthe

Drenthe

Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...

. It has an altitude of about 20 meters (65 feet). The population was 2,219 with 970 households in 2004.

History

Schoonoord was founded in 1854 by labourmen from Smilde who dug the Oranjekanaal. Later, when the peat in the neighbouring Odoornerveen was being cut, more workers settled in the village. The name of the village was thought up by the peat digger Klijn. It literally means "beautiful place".

Places of interest

Due to the 100th anniversary of the village a few turf huts were built. This collection has evolved to the open-air museum Ellert en Brammert

Ellert en Brammert (museum)

Open air museum Ellert en Brammert is a museum in Schoonoord expositing the way people lived in Drenthe at the time of the peat digging. It was named after a myth about the two giants Ellert en Brammert who prowled around the Ellertsveld....

. Also, there is a megalith called the Papeloze Kerk nearby Schoonoord. A windmill

Molen van Schoonoord

The Molen van Schoonoord is a smock mill in Schoonoord, Drenthe, the Netherlands. The mill was built in 1903 and is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 33784. It is now used as living accommodation.-History:...

in Schoonoord has been converted to residential accommodation but is missing its cap and sails.