Diegem's market square
Locally, the widening of the Oude Haachtsesteenweg where the St.-Korneliusstraat, the De Reinelaan and the Kuregemstraat come out was called the Groote Markt (Great Market) or simply the Plaats (the Square). In records from before 1800, 'the Plaats' meant something else: the open space between church and castle.
In the first half of the 20th century the Plaats was the lively heart of the village, with shops such as the 'Groot Specerijenhuis van Dieghem' on the corner of the St.-Korneliusstraat, the printing works of Louis Peeters and inns such as Petrus Janssens' 'In ’t Zavelken'. The café 'A la Station du Tram' also stood on the Plaats; photographer Arthur Peeters later had his shop there.
The tram
On 1 September 1890 the first steam tram ran from Haacht to Schaerbeek along the Haachtsesteenweg, and the Plaats got a tram stop. The first electric trams appeared in the 1920s. Further along the Haachtsesteenweg, towards the water tower, stood a tram depot, surrounded by the new houses of Diegem-Uitbreiding (1926).