City, originated at the mouth of the Zaan in the IJ. The nearby village of Saenden was destroyed by the West Frisians in 1155, after which in the 13th century a new settlement was created on the east bank of the Zaan at a dam built around 1288 in the Zaan. A chapel was erected on an artificial mound (first entry 1411). Shortly afterwards a settlement nucleus also developed to the west of the dam and since then there has been talk of the East side and the West side or of East and Westzaandam. The West side got its own church in 1640. The buildings developed along the two river dykes in a northerly direction (the Achterzaan, East side and West side) and in a southerly direction (the Vooraan, Hogendijk and Zuiddijk). At right angles to the river dykes there were many cross paths inland that led to industrial mills.
The dam initially had two vaulted locks. After the drainage of the Beemster (1612), these were supplemented with a drainage lock. For the larger ships there was an overtower in 1609, which functioned until 1718. The 17th century was a period of unprecedented industrial prosperity for Zaandam, which became an important center for timber trade and shipbuilding. In 1697 and in 1717 Tsar Peter the Great spent some time in Zaandam to qualify for shipbuilding. For the growing population many simple houses were built along the existing and along new cross paths in the 17th century. Due to the declining navigability of the Zaan, it went down economically in the 18th century. In 1811, Napoleon, by Imperial Decree, united the villages of Oost- and Westzaandam to the city of Zaandam. Zaandam experienced a second industrial flowering period after 1850. Many of the 17th-century buildings also disappeared. From the end of the 19th century, the space between the 17th-century cross paths was parceled according to existing structures (parcel lockers). The Zeemanstraat and Botenmakersstraat date from this period. The Gedempte Gracht, whose moat has been filled in around 1850, is a 17th-century crossroads. In addition to compaction of the buildings, a virtually closed strip of factory development was also created in the northern direction (Albert Heijn, Sigma, Van Gelder). On the West side, the Verkade complex developed on both sides of the road from 1886 onwards. Between the Vooraan and the North Sea Canal, the side channel G came into use in 1879. In 1883, the Oostzijder Kattegat was excavated and the Forces were split into a beamed harbor (northern part) and a harbor basin (southern part). In 1903 the new Wilhelminas lock was opened and the Achterzaan was deepened. A new beam port, built in 1911, got a direct connection with the old harbor entrance in the Voorzaan.
The wood-processing industry was located around this harbor (Bruynzeel, 1897). The area to the east of the Zuiddijk was fully built up in the twenties and thirties.
Important interventions in the center were the construction of the Dam Square and the Wilhelminastraat (circa 1910), and later the breakthrough between Gedempte Gracht and Dam (1955) and the construction of the Beatrix Bridge (1958) and the new Wilhelminabrug (1965) on the locks. Several neighborhoods have been redeveloped - especially in late-19th century expansions - including the Russian Neighborhood and the Stationsbuurt. Since around 1980, many industrial complexes have been replaced on the East side with residential construction, such as the Albert Heijn food factory (1994), or converted into apartments, such as G.J.'s paper mill. van Gelder (2005). New offices have also been built, for example the head office of Ahold (parent company Albert Heijn) on Albert Heijnweg (1988-'90, design by W. Visser).
