Hooisteeg Waalwijk

This location is part of the Wet Blue route.

The Hooisteeg probably owes its name to the fact that the Waalwijk farmers used to go via this path to their meadows and hayfields in the Buitenpolder to harvest the famous Langstraathooi. The cottages in this alley (also called "dam" in Waalwijk) are an example of relatively good working-class houses and commissioned by some middle-class farmers and built in the period 1879-1881.

After the Hooisteeg properties were declared uninhabitable in the 1960s, shoemaker Bergmans occupied the entire east side as a workshop. The cottages on the west side, where a similar row stood, were demolished.

When Bergmans retired, it was decided to restore the former workers' cottages. After the completion of that restoration, in late 2002, small-scale, artisanal businesses were established in the premises.

The construction type of the workers' houses in Hooisteeg is characteristic of Waalwijk. As the last remaining dam housing complex, it represents a unique aspect of the social and economic history of the municipality. Together, the dam houses have been a national monument since 2002.

The projection on the façades, in which today's craftsmen and artists figure, was made after the example of a photograph from 1905. For the magazine "Wereldkroniek," shoemakers from the Gold Mine, located a little further west, but no longer in existence, posed at their work chairs.