History Hans Högman
Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-03-18
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History of Swedish Log Driving

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Swedish

History of Swedish Log Driving - Maps

Introduction

Medelpad is a province in mid-Sweden and its major city is Sundsvall. During the second half of the 1800s, Sundsvall became the center of the world’s largest lumber industry district. The Sundsvall region became a lumbering Klondike. The lumber industry was expanding fast during the 1800s. Steam power made it possible to establish sawmills by the coast, easily reached by the shipping lines. In 1849, the first steam-powered sawmill in Norrland was established in Tunadal by the Alnö Sound, just north of Sundsvall. Soon, more than 40 steam-powered sawmills were established along Medelpad’s coastline, and alone in the vicinity of Sundsvall city were 23 steam-powered sawmills established. Sundsvall is in Västernorrland County (Swe: Län) located between two rivers, Indalsälven in the north and Ljungan in the south. Medelpad quickly grew as the major center for the lumber industry. The image shows sawmill workers and piles of boards at Gustavsberg Sawmill in Alnön, Sundsvall, 1908. Image: Sundsvall Museum, ID: SuM- foto021393. The Swedish poet and author Elias Sehlstedt (1808-1874) visited Sundsvall at the beginning of the 1870s and was amazed by the many sawmills in the area. He wrote a poem called ”Songs about Ångermanland” published in 1873 where he uttered the famous phrase “Såg vid såg jag såg hvarthelst jag såg”. It’s a wordplay and not easy to translate but it reads something like this: “Saw by saw I saw wherever I saw”.

Maps of Sweden

Map of Sweden showing the three “lands”; Götaland, Svealand, and Norrland. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden is located in the eastern part of Svealand. Map of Sweden showing Sweden’s historic provinces. Medelpad is in mid-Sweden and Sundsvall is located by the coast in Medelpad. Map showing the eastern part of Medelpad with Sundsvall City by the coast. Alnön is an island just east of Sundsvall. All the about 40 steam-powered sawmills in the vicinity of Sundsvall were located on the coastal strip from Skönvik 10 km north of Sundsvall to Svartvik 10 km south of Sundsvall, a stretch of 20 km. A great deal of the many sawmills was located on the west coast of Alnön.

Related Links

• Maps,the subdivisions of Sweden into lands, provinces and counties • Map, Swedish provinces • Map, Swedish counties • The Conception of Crofts and Crofters • The Old Agricultural Society and its People • The Swedish Emigration to the USA

Source References

• Flottarna fick fart på exporten: Timmerflottning, av Nils Johan Tjärnlund, 6 juli 2010. Tidskriften Populär Historia 6/2010. • Skogen, flottningen och Norrbottens människor, Skogshistoriska Sällskapets Årsskrift 2016, sid 12-21. • Flottningen i Norrland, Lars Karlman jk 92/96. • Sågverksindustrins utveckling i Norrland; från 1850 till andra världskriget. Inst. för vegetationsekologi och inst. för skogsskötsel SLU Umeå, Åsa Blom, Erik Willén 1991/95. • "Nyfiken på Sverige", Utbildningsradion (sid 4) • "Ådalen, industrihistorisk inventering", del 3, 1980, (sid 20 - 21) • Wikipedia Top of page
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Sundsvall’s harbor in the 1870s during the lumbering boom.
Hotel Knaust in Sundsvall is a well-known hotel & restaurant frequently visited by the wealthy lumber tycoons around the turn of the century 1900. The image shows the famous marble staircase at Hotel Knaust. Image, 1966, Wikipedia.
Previous page
History Hans Högman
Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-03-18
Made with Xara

Log Driving in Sweden

Swedish

History of Swedish Log Driving - Maps

Introduction

Medelpad is a province in mid-Sweden and its major city is Sundsvall. During the second half of the 1800s, Sundsvall became the center of the world’s largest lumber industry district. The Sundsvall region became a lumbering Klondike. The lumber industry was expanding fast during the 1800s. Steam power made it possible to establish sawmills by the coast, easily reached by the shipping lines. In 1849, the first steam-powered sawmill in Norrland was established in Tunadal by the Alnö Sound, just north of Sundsvall. Soon, more than 40 steam-powered sawmills were established along Medelpad’s coastline, and alone in the vicinity of Sundsvall city were 23 steam-powered sawmills established. Sundsvall is in Västernorrland County (Swe: Län) located between two rivers, Indalsälven in the north and Ljungan in the south. Medelpad quickly grew as the major center for the lumber industry. The image shows sawmill workers and piles of boards at Gustavsberg Sawmill in Alnön, Sundsvall, 1908. Image: Sundsvall Museum, ID: SuM-foto021393. The Swedish poet and author Elias Sehlstedt (1808- 1874) visited Sundsvall at the beginning of the 1870s and was amazed by the many sawmills in the area. He wrote a poem called ”Songs about Ångermanland” published in 1873 where he uttered the famous phrase “Såg vid såg jag såg hvarthelst jag såg”. It’s a wordplay and not easy to translate but it reads something like this: “Saw by saw I saw wherever I saw”.

Maps of Sweden

Map of Sweden showing Sweden’s historic provinces. Medelpad is in mid-Sweden and Sundsvall is located by the coast in Medelpad.
Map of Sweden showing the three “lands”; Götaland, Svealand, and Norrland. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden is located in the eastern part of Svealand.
Map showing the eastern part of Medelpad with Sundsvall City by the coast. Alnön is an island just east of Sundsvall. All the about 40 steam-powered sawmills in the vicinity of Sundsvall were located on the coastal strip from Skönvik 10 km north of Sundsvall to Svartvik 10 km south of Sundsvall, a stretch of 20 km. A great deal of the many sawmills was located on the west coast of Alnön.

Related Links

• Maps,the subdivisions of Sweden into lands, provinces and counties • Map, Swedish provinces • Map, Swedish counties • The Conception of Crofts and Crofters • The Old Agricultural Society and its People • The Swedish Emigration to the USA

Source References

• Flottarna fick fart på exporten: Timmerflottning, av Nils Johan Tjärnlund, 6 juli 2010. Tidskriften Populär Historia 6/2010. • Skogen, flottningen och Norrbottens människor, Skogshistoriska Sällskapets Årsskrift 2016, sid 12- 21. • Flottningen i Norrland, Lars Karlman jk 92/96. • Sågverksindustrins utveckling i Norrland; från 1850 till andra världskriget. Inst. för vegetationsekologi och inst. för skogsskötsel SLU Umeå, Åsa Blom, Erik Willén 1991/95. • "Nyfiken på Sverige", Utbildningsradion (sid 4) • "Ådalen, industrihistorisk inventering", del 3, 1980, (sid 20 - 21) • Wikipedia Top of page
Sundsvall’s harbor in the 1870s during the lumbering boom.
Hotel Knaust in Sundsvall is a well-known hotel & restaurant frequently visited by the wealthy lumber tycoons around the turn of the century 1900. The image shows the famous marble staircase at Hotel Knaust. Image, 1966, Wikipedia.
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