Baron Willem Jan of Dedem, after whom canal and town were named, made a plan to dig a canal; construction began on 9 July 1810. Around two years later, in 1811, the canal had already reached Balkbrug. In 1845 the project got into financial trouble and the baron had to forfeit the canal of Dedemsvaart, until then a private possession, to the province of Overijssel, who took further care of the canal.