History
In the Middle ages Kats originally prospered as Suburchdijke the name alluding to connections with the nearby city of Souburg. The local inhabitants are referred to locally as katsenaers and 150 of them were drowned in flooding caused by a great storm on 5 November 1530, which engulfed the whole island, then in 1532 the Elizabethflood swept away all the remaining buildings. Poldering Noord Beveland (the process the Dutch invented to reclaim land from the sea) didn’t start again until 1598 - the villages of Colijnsplaat and Kats were both built on estates at right angles to each other.
The name “Kats” originates from the family van Kats/van Cats- a certain Caths was granted the deeds. Kats grew very slowly and was blighted by the plagues of 1603 to 1605 and 1650. By 1629 a windmill had been built and 30 years later in 1659 enough people were living there to establish a reformed church parish. The first minister was Johannes Jones, like other inhabitants of the time he was born in England. The name Jones hints at Welsh ancestry. In 1687 the present day church was built.
In 1922 the mill was demolished. In the thirties discussions were held about redrawing municipal boundaries and in 1941 Kats, Colijnsplaat and Kortgene were joined together as the municipality of Kortgene with its administrative centre in Kortgene, in recent years this has become the municipality of Noord-Beveland, all administration being transferred to the new council building in Wissenkerke. Sections for the suspended road connecting the islands of the massive Neeltje Jans flood prevention scheme were built at Kats.
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