Voorhout is a village and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of 12.59 km² of which 0.33 km² is covered by water, and had a population of 14,792 in 2004. Together with Sassenheim and Warmond, it became part of the Teylingen municipality on January 1, 2006. Voorhout is located in an area called the "Dune and Bulb Region". It also included the communities of Piet Gijzenbrug and Teijlingen with the Slot Teylingen.
History
In 1988 Voorhout celebrated its 1000th anniversary. A letter mentioning Voorhout from 988 had been preserved. This letter states that count Dirk II of Holland granted the church of “Foranholte” to the Egmond Abbey. The second part of the name –holte or –hout is a reference to the dune area that was supposedly very wooded at the time. Settlements arose around this area, and Voorhout arose in front of a forest. The nearby Noordwijkerhout also refers to this forest, just like Holland, which is a degeneration of Holtland, meaning woodland. The area was inhabited far before 988 with Roman coins from around 2000 years ago having been found. In 1907 at the Rijnsburgerweg a farmer found 18 bronze axes and 1 chisel, about 3500 years old. They are now on display in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden. Since 1150 the nobles of Teylingen take an important role in the area. In the Slot Teylingen Dutch counts regularly meet. The most important inhabitant of the castle was Jacoba van Beieren. Voorhout still remained a small settlement. In 1514 there were only 40 recorded houses in Voorhout. In 1657 the Leidsevaart was dug. It was a canal going from Haarlem to Leiden. Because of this Voorhout started to grow slowly. In 1842 the train track Haarlem-Leiden was opened and Voorhout got two stops, Station Piet Gijzenbrug in the hamlet of Piet Gijzenbrug near Noordwijk, and another called Station Voorhout. In 1900 Voorhout has about 2000 inhabitants. Until World war 2 the main source of income in Voorhout was from the flower bulb industry. After 1944 both train stations in Voorhout get closed for passenger transport and roads are constructed. In 1960 about 5000 people lived in Voorhout and in 1988 that number grew to 9360. The fast growth is caused by the new neighbourhood Oosthout. In 1997 Voorhout gets a train station again. Because of the construction of new neighborhoods the population grew very much. On January 1, 2005 Voorhout counts 14,919 inhabitants. Today only a small amount of the population still works in bulb cultivation. Most inhabitants work outside of Voorhout. On January 1, 2006 the municipalities of Voorhout, Warmond and Sassenheim merge to form the new municipality called Teylingen to the dismay of some of the inhabitants.
Famous inhabitants
Born in Voorhout
Herman Boerhaave, botanist, humanist and physician of European fame
Carlo l'Ami, old football player and later goalkeeper's trainer by AFC Ajax, in Amsterdam
Joris Schouten, politician
Chiara Tissen, actress and writer
E.M. Uhlenbeck, linguist
Truus van Aalten, actress, she ran a souvenir import/export business in Voorhout after 1954, after the Nazis ended her career as a film comedian in Germany
Frank van Borssele, Stadholder of Holland and Zeeland provinces, Count of Oostervant, fourth husband of Jacoba van Beieren, lived for a few years in Slot Teylingen
