Herefoss

Herefoss kommune
Former Municipality

Herefoss church
Coordinates: 58°31′28″N 08°21′04″E / 58.52444°N 8.35111°E / 58.52444; 8.35111Coordinates: 58°31′28″N 08°21′04″E / 58.52444°N 8.35111°E / 58.52444; 8.35111
Country Norway
County Aust-Agder
District Sørlandet
Municipality ID NO-0933
Adm. Center Herefoss
Created as Formannskapsdistrikt in 1838
Merged with Birkenes in 1967

Herefoss is a village and former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is located in the present-day municipality of Birkenes in the Sørlandet region.

Herefoss used to have a train station on the Sørlandsbanen. It was opened on 22 June 1938, but the use was discontinued in 1989, however, the station building is still standing. Norwegian national road 404 (Rv404) runs from Herefoss to Grimstad.

Name

The first documented occurrence of the name Hegrafoss stems from 1487, and the Old Norse form of the name must then have been Hegrafors. The first element is the genitive case of the bird name hegri (grey heron) (same as the local river name, Hegra), and the last element is fors which means "waterfall".[1]

History

The municipality of Heirefos was established on 7  November 1874. On 1 January 1967, Herefoss was incorporated into the neighboring municipality of Birkenes along with Vegusdal. Prior to the merger, Herefoss had a population of 585. In 1900, 610 people lived in the municipality on 67 different farms.

Herefoss was the seat of public officials in the district. The fogd resided here from 1680 to 1820, and the sorenskriver (district judge) also lived here from 1724 to 1852. Herefoss was established as a prestegjeld in 1875. Herefoss church was consecrated by bishop Jacob von der Lippe in 1865.[2]

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nedenes amt (in Norwegian) (8 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 71.
  2. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
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