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The town of Hoofddorp in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. On this map, airport Schiphol is included in Hoofddorp (to the east of the town).

Hoofddorp (literally translated as Main Village) is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2006, the population was 67,816.^[1] The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained.

After the draining of the Haarlemmermeer, it was decided to establish two villages, Kruisdorp and Venneperdorp, in the centre of the polder. In 1868 they were renamed to Hoofddorp and Nieuw-Vennep respectively. The development of Hoofddorp was more prosperous than that of Nieuw-Vennep, and it rapidly became the most important place of the district, even though Badhoevedorp still had more inhabitants, due to its economic and administrative functions and favourable location.

Floriande

In the late 19th century, Hoofddorp was included in the Defense line of Amsterdam.^[2] A fort was built next to the main canal, two batteries are now located in the outskirts of Hoofddorp, and several casemates were built to the east of Hoofddorp. A large dike known as the Geniedijk (Engineers' dike) connects the fort at Hoofddorp to the batteries and the casemates, and ultimately to the fort at Vijfhuizen in the west and the fort at Aalsmeer in the east.

In 1856, the first windmill in the Haarlemmermeer was built in the centre of Hoofddorp by Dirk David van Dijk.^[3] It was called "De Eersteling" (The first). Due to increased building around the mill, it wasn't able to operate for a long time, but in 1977 the mill was moved to another location near fort Hoofddorp. It has been operated regularly from that moment, and has been open for the public.

On 3 August 1912, Hoofddorp was connected by rail to Leiden, Aalsmeer and Haarlem.^[4] These railway lines, operated by the Hollandsche Electrische Spoorwegmaatschappij (HESM), were closed on 31 December 1935.

In 1981, Hoofddorp was connected by rail for the second time, this time to Leiden and Schiphol Airport as a part of the Schiphollijn. The Southern High-Speed Line, that will open in 2007, will use existing conventional track from Amsterdam Central Station to Hoofddorp, where it will branch off onto a dedicated track. The trains will not stop in Hoofddorp.^[5]

The train station and a bus station from the special bus line from Haarlem to Amsterdam, the Zuidtangent, which has largely its own bus lane, with priority at crossings.

Hoofddorp is connected by many bus lines to many cities and towns in the immediate surroundings. Most bus lines are operated by Connexxion. In 2002, Hoofddorp was connected to Haarlem, Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Zuidoost by the high quality bus line Zuidtangent.^[6] The Zuidtangent will be expanded by adding lines from Hoofddorp to Nieuw Vennep and Uithoorn.

The bus station at Spaarne Hospital in Hoofddorp is the world's biggest structure built entirely from synthetic materials: factory-cut polystyrene foam with a polyester skin. At this moment it has been painted in a sort of orange/gold color.

Hoofddorp is well connected to several of the main roads in the Netherlands. At Knooppunt de Hoek, the A5 motorway branches off to Haarlem from the A4 motorway that leads to Amsterdam and The Hague. The A9 motorway can easily be reached via Badhoevedorp or the junction of the A4 and A9 at Knooppunt Badhoevedorp.

Hoofddorp itself lies on the crossing of the two main secondary roads in Haarlemmermeer: the N201 from Hilversum to Zandvoort and the N520, that runs alongside the main canal of the Haarlemmermeer and disects the polder from north to south. The burough Toolenburg is connected to a yet to be developed industrial area by the bridge Lute, that was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava as part of a series of 3 bridges over the main canal along the N520. The secondary road N205 connects Nieuw Vennep to Haarlem and is part of the ring around Hoofddorp; the N201 also forms part of the ring.^[1]

• Fanny Blankers-Koen, 4-time gold medallist at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
• C. Joh. Kieviet, writer of children's literature.
• Tineke Netelenbos, former minister of Transport and Water Management in the second cabinet of Wim Kok.

1. ^ ^{a b} (Dutch) Information guide from the Haarlemmermeer municipality, retrieved 19 January 2007
2. ^ The Defence Line of Amsterdam, retrieved 24 January 2007.
3. ^ Home page of mill "De Eersteling", retrieved 16 March 2007.
4. ^ (Dutch) Informational page about the Haarlemmermeer Spoorlijnen, retrieved 19 January 2007.
5. ^ HSL-Zuid, retrieved 19 January 2007
6. ^ (Dutch) Zuidtangent informational page, retrieved on 19 January 2007

• Hoofddorps polystyrene bus stop
• picuture of the route and stations of the Zuidtangent.

Coordinates: 52°18′N 4°42′E