The town's name has been in use for centuries and refers to the lock in the Vliet, near the historic city of Leiden. The settlement on the northern side of the lock was known as 'Veur', until the formation of the municipality of Leidschendam in 1938. This recent date belies the long history of human habitation in this area, which predates the Roman occupation two thousand years ago.

Important driver for the development of the area was the Vliet canal, ferrying people and goods through Holland in the Middle Ages, and even in Roman times. As elsewhere in Holland, windmills were constructed to power local industry, such as a wheat grinding mill in 1594 and wood processing mills in 1643 and 1739 ('de Salamander' and 'de Hoop'). Veur became an independent municipality in the time of the short-lived Batavian Republic.

The southern side of the Vliet was settled at a later date due to presence of extensive swamps. These were drained around 1200 by the Dutch counts, enabling the settlements of Stompwijk and Wilsveen to be established. Subsequently, the peat industry flourished, and about twenty windmills were constructed for water management. In 1811, Stompwijk and Veur were combined to form Leidschendam, but this was reversed only six years later, although one mayor continued to serve both villages.

Starting in the closing years of the 19th century, the area started to change rapidly due to combined forces of the agricultural crisis, improved transportation in the area, and regional effects of the first and second World Wars. A growing number of government and industrial activities (the Dutch political capital of The Hague is nearby) and the associated housing demand transformed Veur from a rural into a suburban community. This led to a municipal reorganization and the formation of Leidschendam, in 1938. Both Leidschendam and Voorburg are now part of the agglomeration of the city of The Hague and are often regarded as its suburbs. Stompwijk is still a rural village, located a few miles northeast of Leidschendam. All three were combined into the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg in 2002 (population: 73.832 in 2004, area: 35,6 km2) as an answer to a series of small annexations from surrounding municipalities made by The Hague. Hans van der Sluijs has been mayor of Leidschendam-Voorburg since 2007.

On January 4, 1900, the Zuid-Hollandsche Electric Spoorweg-Maatschappij (ZHESM) was founded. This was the first railway company to operate the services with electric trains. To this end, they have opened the routes The Hague Hollands Spoor - Scheveningen and The Hague Loolaan - Rotterdam Hofplein via Pijnacker, the Hofplein line. The first line was opened on May 1, 1907 and operated with steam traction. The opening of the second section took place on 1 October 1908. This range was electrified with 10,000 volts single phase alternating current at a frequency of 25 hertz. The power station for the generation of electricity was located in Leidschendam. The first coach, BC 1, was delivered in January 1908. The coaches BC 2 - BC 10 followed in February and March of 1908. On October 1, 1908, the operation was also transferred to the HSM and on January 1, 1923 the ZHESM was incorporated into the HSM. Due to the success of the new coaches and the flow of people it attracted, two mBC coaches were ordered in 1911 and two mB coaches were ordered in 1914. This turned out not to be enough to transport all travelers, so that from 1912 equipment was rented from HSM. In the period 1912 - 1944 a total of 8 coaches from the class 1100, the later NS series BC 8000, were rented. These were four-axle carriages suitable for services behind steam locomotives and ran between Amsterdam andZandvoort . These coaches are painted dark green and are therefore named "Green Zandvoorters".

The coaches were built by JJ Beijnes in Haarlem and were derived from an American design. The motors and electrical equipment were supplied by the German Siemens-Schuckert Werke. The motors caused a lot of problems due to overheating, because the resistor windings could not withstand many switching on and off at stops along the way. As a remedy, 20-minute stations were introduced in The Hague to allow the engines to cool down. This costs the ZHESM an extra train set than anticipated. The carriages had a luxurious appearance. The motor vehicles could run in train connection and were equipped with control cables for this purpose.

A little accu locomotive made specifically for Leidschendam to repair the overhead lines and to do light duties.

HSM 201-202

A Westlander is a ship much used in Westland and South Holland for the transport of horticultural products . The first Westlanders were larger (wooden) ships of the pram type . The later smaller iron westlanders are a mixture of the barge (there called vlet), the pram and the chimney . They were propelled by trees , hunting , roads , sails and in later years with a small engine.

A westlander is always a flat bottom with two side swords to prevent bonding , round bilges, a wooden rudder with tiller and when sailing a westlander is gaff rigged to 1 mast with jib. Striking were the faintly curved, strongly falling sterns, with 'cheeks' at the bow on either side of the stem. Westlanders were built from about 11 to 18 meters long with a capacity of 10 to 30 tons. There is a roefje on the aft deck.

Due to the speed with which horticulture nowadays has to work, the use of water transport of horticultural products has become obsolete. This decline was encouraged by municipalities, which preferred low and fixed bridges for road traffic. The load of a Westlander also fits in a truck. As a result, these ships were discarded by the growers and often spent years in ditches next to the market garden - sometimes sunk - waiting for a better fate. A large number of them were noticed there by people who relatively easily placed a superstructure on it and were able to use it again as a recreational vessel. Many Westlanders have been preserved in this way.

The Hagenaars were initially built as a fast river sailing ship ( barge ), comparable to a Hasselteraak. Ships were built along the great rivers. Among others in Westervoort or Dodewaard. The first ships were made of wood and built overboard. In the fore and stern the sides narrowed and ended with the levee of the plane in a bobbin, somewhat like a barge. The Hagenaar had a short mast with a shooting string, that is to say, this string could be lowered along the mast, so that obstacles such as railway bridges could be passed without further problems.

Later, the Hagenaar was built in iron and greatly changed its shape. It became round and smooth from angular. The Hagenaar got the characteristic head that we find in all iron barges. The stern of the Hagenaar is heavily swept. The footwear is all around in line with the torso. The top of the tiller , the top of the mast socket and the top tips of the stem were aligned to pass under the Wagenbrug. To this end, the top part of the anchor and bow winch had to be foldable. Many parts such as swords, cleats and turtle blocks of the sword winches were often removable. A few centimeters could be won for this purpose, which yielded significant gains.

The rig consisted of a mainsail with straight gaff , jib and possibly a jib . Most iron residents of The Hague were built between 1905 and 1915. In the 20th century, most were motorized.