Around the turn of the century, the AMSM (Aachen-Maastricht Railway Company) built several mining communities close to the mine for miners and officials. It was hoped that the construction of these homes would help reduce the high turnover among employees.

In total, the Domaniale Mine built a total of six mining communities:

Mining Community I  Holzstraat 108-122                 8 houses         1883
Mining Community II Holzstraat 84-102                   10 houses       1886
Mining Community III Holzstraat 40-54                     8 houses         1889
Mining Community IV Mijnweg 4-10                         4 houses         1891
Mining Community V Nieuwstraat 118-133             24 house         1902
Mining Community VI Holzstraat 55                          2 houses         <1883

By the standards of the time, these were spacious houses, each with a large garden and barn so that the miners could grow their own vegetables and keep small livestock. Most of the houses have been demolished over the years, only Community III on Holzstraat, dating from 1889, remains largely intact.
Shortly after the First World War broke out, Germany closed all the roads leading to Nieuwstraat in Kerkrade.In late 1914, the Germans placed a barbed wire barrier on the border, which they hoped would prevent deserters and prisoners of war from fleeing and keep spies out.
The economic blockade in Germany led to a boom in smuggling along the border.
The Dutch also built a high wire barrier in 1915 next to the border, to deter smugglers. When it turned out that it wasn’t having the desired effect, the municipality of Kerkrade hermetically closed the windows and doors on the street side with chicken wire. The residents on the Dutch side of Nieuwstraat now had three barriers in front of their front doors, and could only leave their homes through the back.
In 1972, the mining community was demolished.