Fron Municipality
Fron is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality was located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. Fron Municipality has existed twice: from 1838 to 1851 and again from 1966 to 1977. The area is now divided between Nord-Fron Municipality and Sør-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county. The administrative centre was the village of Hundorp where the Sør-Fron Church was located. Other villages in the municipality included Gålå, Harpefoss, Kvam, Lia, Skåbu, and Vinstra.
Prior to its dissolution in 1977, the municipality was the 34th largest by area out of the 445 municipalities in Norway. Fron Municipality was the 93rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 9,633. The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 2.4% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
The prestegjeld of Fron was established as a civil municipality on 1 January 1838 when the new formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect. On 1 January 1851, the municipality was divided in two. The northwest portion became Nord-Fron Municipality and the southeast portion became Sør-Fron Municipality.During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Sjoa area was transferred from Nord-Fron Municipality to the neighboring Sel Municipality. Then, on 1 January 1966, Nord-Fron Municipality and Sør-Fron Municipality were merged to form a new Fron Municipality.
The 1966 merger was not well-liked among the residents of the new municipality. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed and Nord-Fron Municipality and Sør-Fron Municipality were recreated using their old borders from 1965.
Since that time, there have been talks about reuniting the two municipalities once again, but the plans have not come to pass. In the 2010s, Nord-Fron Municipality, Sør-Fron Municipality, and Ringebu Municipality looked into merging, but this did not happen. Nord-Fron Municipality also made inquiries to merge with Sel Municipality, but this did not happen either.
Name
The municipality is named after the old Fron farm since the first Fron Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it may come from the word which means "earth" or "land".Churches
The Church of Norway had four parishes within Fron Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, Fron Municipality was divided between the Nord-Fron prestegjeld in the Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti and the Sør-Fron prestegjeld in the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti, both within the Diocese of Hamar.| Prestegjeld | Parish | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
| Nord-Fron | Kvam | Kvam Church | Kvam | 1952 |
| Nord-Fron | Kvikne | Kvikne Church | Kvikne | 1764 |
| Nord-Fron | Kvikne | Skåbu Chapel | Skåbu | 1927 |
| Nord-Fron | Sødorp | Sødorp Church | Vinstra | 1752 |
| Nord-Fron | Sødorp | Sødorp Chapel | Vinstra | 1929 |
| Sør-Frøn | Sør-Frøn | Sør-Fron Church | Hundorp | 1792 |
| Sør-Frøn | Sør-Frøn | Espedalen Chapel | Espedalen | 1974 |
Geography
Fron Municipality was located in the central part of the Gudbrandsdalen valley. Sel Municipality was to the north, Folldal Municipality and Stor-Elvdal Municipality were to the northeast, Ringebu Municipality was to the southeast, Gausdal Municipality was to the south, Øystre Slidre Municipality was to the southwest, and Vågå Municipality was to the west. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Heimdalshøe, located on the border with Vågå Municipality.Government
While it existed, Fron Municipality was responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.Municipal council
The municipal council of Fron Municipality was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.Mayors
The mayor of Fron Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position- 1966–1968: Paul Brenna
- 1969–1975: Tollef Beitrusten
- 1975–1977: Asbjørn Myrvang