Schokland has been inhabited since prehistoric times. At first part of mainland, it became a peninsula in the Middle Ages. In the 15th century it became an island due to raising of the seawater. The island was definitively evacuated in 1859 because of frequent flooding, despite the building of dikes to protect from the water. After draining the North East Polder in 1942, it became part of the land reclaimed from the sea.