Lost place names: Moddergat
Pindorp was a fine example of a place name that was changed to Wouwse Plantage. That was in the south of the Netherlands. But changes also occurred in the north of the country. Such as the place Moddergat, located in the municipality of Dongeradeel in the province of Friesland.
An auxiliary post office was established in Moddergat. The office manager was provided with a so-called long bar stamp, issued on September 28, 1908. However, due to cutbacks (even back then!), the auxiliary post office was closed and replaced by a post station. This occurred in 1925 and was announced by a publication of the State Post and Telecommunications (PTT):
Communications No. 13657S of December 2, 1925: The auxiliary post and telegraph office at Mud hole Effective January 1, 1926, it was replaced by a post, telegraph, and telephone station with telegram delivery. Mail delivery would be handled from Nes (WD). The stamp had to be returned because post stations had no 'right' to a date stamp. Nevertheless, the station keeper received the stamp back in April 1928, and could stamp away merrily once again.
As of December 3, 1973, the name of the rural postal agency is Paesens-Moddergat changed into EasterA new stamp was ordered from the Braungardt company in Germany. However, upon receipt, it turned out that the name Paesens was misspelled! The stamp was not sent but destroyed. The Braungardt company was informed of the error. The correct stamp was provided on October 30, 1973. Which name would the residents of the twin village (Moddergat and Paesens) have preferred? Or were the names 'forced' upon the villagers? When entering the village of Paesens-Moddergat from the north, Moddergat is indicated, but further on, the name Paesens-Moddergat appears. Quite a puzzle, isn't it? 
Paesens-Moddergat has an interesting history, due to the storm disaster of 1883.
Have a look at:
http://www.lauwersmeerkoerier.nl/html/nl/paesens_moddergat/k01.html
Pindorp has disappeared as a place name designation and become Wouwse Plantage, but the place name designation Moddergat still exists, despite the disappearance of the name from the postmark due to a revaluation of the type of post office. Moddergat is one half of the twin village Paesens-Moddergat.
Better examples of truly vanished place names are Jutphaas and Vreeswijk. In 1971, Jutphaas and Vreeswijk were merged to form the new municipality of Nieuwegein. Since then, Nieuwegein has also been used as a place name, including in postal signage. Jutphaas and Vreeswijk now only appear as district designations within Nieuwegein.
Due to municipal reorganizations, just about half of the Netherlands has lost a name on their stamps.
Here in the south, among others, Nieuwenhagen, Schaesberg, now Landgraaf.
Schinveld, Merkelbeek, now Onderbanken.
Smaller offices were also no longer mentioned by name, such as Kaalheide, Spekholzerheide, and Terwinselen; these three have merged into Kerkrade West.
But all of this is fun... it is more than just collecting stamps!!!
Hi Cees,
Nice articles about lost place names!
Dear Cees,
We spoke in Leiden about the Vogelenzang stamp. Do you have an opportunity for that? Regards, Ronald van der Leeden
You're mixing up a few apples and oranges here, Albert. In principle, place names do not disappear due to municipal mergers. Nieuwegein and Landgraaf are rare exceptions to that principle.
Thus, mergers have indeed created a municipality of Onderbanken, but not a place called Onderbanken. The villages of Schinveld, Merkelbeek, and others simply still exist. A fundamentally different situation from Landgraaf, therefore, where the settlements had grown together to such an extent that five years after the merger, it was decided to make the municipality name the place name as well (with corresponding changes to the stamp names).