The village originated around the year 1000 (as Majorgast) and was profiled from 1400 onwards as the counterpart of Lutjegast. The village contains a 17th-century church, the so-called Witte Kerkje ('Little White Church'). This church was restored in 1829.[4]
Grootegast was the main village of the former municipality. The name of the village refers to a gast or gaast, a higher, sandy ridge in an otherwise swampy area. Groot is Dutch for 'large'.
Dialect
The Grootegasters dialect, or Westerkwartiers, is clearly a borderline case. Linguistically, the influences of three provinces are noticeable: the dialect is a variant of Gronings, but in terms of intelligibility it is more like Drents; however, the accent and grammar sound rather Frisian, which can be explained by the fact that almost all of Lutjegast still spoke Frisian 100 years ago. Being a border village of Lutjegast, Frisian influence is still noticeable today in the number of villagers of Frisian origin and the many business and social contacts with Friesland.
^"Postcodetool for 9861AC". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
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