ALMELO  , a

town in the province of Overysel, Holland, 12 M. by rail N.W. of Hengelo, at the junction of the Overysel and Almelo canals . Pop . (1900) 9957 . It is a place of considerable antiquity, having been the seat of an independent lordship before the 14th century . But it first rose into importance in the second half of the 19th century owing to its share in the extra-ordinary industrial development of the Twente district, and now possesses numerous cotton and damask factories . Among the public buildings are a town hall, court house, corn exchange, and churches of various denominations, as well as a synagogue . The lordship of Almelo belonged to the lords of Heeckeren, who acquired the barony of Rechteren by marriage in 1350 and the countship of Limpourg in 1711 . The elder branch of the mediatized house of Rechteren-Limpourg is still established at Almelo; the younger, German branch, at Markt Einersheim in Bavaria .