Namsos (Southern Sami: Nåavmesjenjaelmie) is a municipality in
Namdalen in Trøndelag. The community center Namsos is located in the
innermost part of the Namsenfjord, where the salmon river Namsen has
its outlet, hence the town's name Namsens os, and correspondingly in
Sami Nåavmesjen njaelmie.
The municipality of Namsos has
15,230 inhabitants per. 1 January 2020 and consists of the
administration center / city of Namsos with 8,421 inhabitants (as of
1 January 2020), Spillum with 1,322 inhabitants on the south side of
Namsen's outlet, the town of Bangsund with 881 inhabitants (as of 1
January 2020) which is located 13 km south of the town of Namsos, in
addition to several less densely populated places outside the
municipal center such as Vemundvik, Otterøya and Klinga.
The
municipality is known for its history of sawmills, and for its
connection to the Trønder rockers D.D.E., Terje Tysland and Åge
Aleksandersen. The city is home to Namsos Hospital, and to nursing
and social worker education as a department of Nord University. The
city has its own airport; Namsos Airport.
The municipality includes the areas on both sides of
the outlet of the Namsen. In the north, the municipality also
includes the areas around Blikkengfjorden and its arms, as well as
the islands Otterøya (139 km²), Hoddøya (10 km²) and part (23 km²)
of Elvalandet.
The terrain is hilly, and larger flat areas
are found only along Namsen, in the middle of Otterøya, and in
Bangdalen and Klinga. In the 1960s and 70s, large areas on both
sides of Namsen's estuary were filled with sand that was dredged
into the river. These areas are now used as land for business
purposes.
The highest mountain in Namsos municipality is
Grønkleppen (765 meters above sea level) on the border with
Høylandet municipality. Around Namsos town are many lower peaks.
Some of these are popular hiking destinations, such as the city
mountain Klompen (actually Bjørumsklumpen, 114 masl), Svartfjellet
(245 meters above sea level), Vattafjellet (240 meters above sea
level), Spillumsfjellet (actually Dugurdsmålsfjellet, 440 meters
above sea level), and Strandafjellet (317 meters above sea level).
Namsos previously collaborated with the neighboring
municipalities Namdalseid, Fosnes and Overhalla in Midtre Namdal
joint municipality. In connection with the government Solberg's
municipal reform, the Storting decided on 8 June 2017 that the
municipalities of Namsos, Namdalseid and Fosnes will be merged no
later than 1 January 2020. The joint municipality was dissolved as a
result. Together with the other municipalities in Namdalen (which
had previously collaborated in Ytre Namdal Regional Council and
Indre Namdal Regional Council), a joint Namdal Regional Council was
established.
Namsos Airport has flights to Trondheim, Rørvik
and Oslo. Fylkesvei 17, «Kystriksveien», runs through the
municipality.
Namdalsavisa is published in Namso's five days
a week.
Namsos was founded in 1845. The place was
excellent for running a lumber industry due to the proximity to the
forest-rich areas in Namdalen and the coastal access via the
Namsenfjord. One of the most important reasons for the construction
of the Namsos charging station was to have its own customs office,
so that timber could be exported directly abroad. There were a dozen
sawmills in Namdalen before the charging station Namsos was built.
These were smaller sawmills built by the forest owners in favorable
places with regard to timber forests and waterfalls.
Today,
only one of the eleven historic sawmills still in operation is
Moelven Van Severen. A sawmill museum has also been established
based on the old Spillum Steam Saw & Planer, later A / S
Spillumbruket: Norwegian Sawmill Museum, which is today a department
in the Central Museum.
British soldiers walk through the
ruins of Namsos.
The city has burned down three times. The first
fire was in 1872 when two boys were playing with matches. The second
fire was in 1897. The cause is unknown. The third time was during
World War II when German bombers bombed the city on April 20, 1940.