Kinderdijk is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland, located in the Alblasserwaard. The village is part of the municipality Molenlanden. Kinderdijk is located where the rivers North and Lek meet. The place is mainly known for the Kinderdijk windmills. The main activity is shipbuilding. Kinderdijk was protected from the water by two administrations, the Overwaard (on the east side of the Middelkade) and the Nederwaard (on the west side of the Middelkade). In 1738, the Nederwaard built eight windmills, stone ground sailors. The second mill is open to the public. The Overwaard also built eight mills in 1740, these were octagonal ground-sailers.
Kinderdijk was, in 1886, the first Dutch place with an electricity supply. The electricity was generated in Kinderdijk by the first power station of the Netherlands, designed and built by Willem Benjamin Smit, who was also one of the founders of the Electrisch-Licht-Machinen Fabriek Willem Smit & Co.
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