Gimo, Sweden
Gimo is a small town situated in Östhammar Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 2,765 inhabitants in 2017. The town is located about 20 km west of the Baltic Sea coast and 50 km north of Uppsala. Gimo is best known for the production plant of Sandvik Coromant with 1,500 employees.
History
Little is known about the early history of Gimo. A rune stone from the 10th century is located near the reservoir Gimo Damm. The first mention of the place was in the years 1375–1376 when it was described as the village "Gimmu". The church in Gimo is called "Skäfthammar kyrka" and was probably built in the late 15th century.The ironworks of the area has a thousand year long history. No one knows exactly when the ironworks of Gimo was founded, but the first written records are from 1615 when Hans Sifversson built iron works on behalf of the crown. Louis De Geer bought the iron works in 1643 and expanded the business. The present main building of the Gimo mansion was completed in 1767. Gimo was connected 1876 by railroad through Stockholm-Roslagens Järnvägar.
Industrial heritage
Gimo has a long industrial heritage that is usually taken to date from 1615 when the Swedish Crown built a foundry here. After being ennobled, Louis de Geer was then given permission to purchase the Gimo works, which he had originally leased. Under de Geer's direction, the facility in Gimo was developed into an ironworks with both a blast furnace and hammer. The de Geer family owned the works until 1756 when it was acquired by the businessmen John Jennings and Robert Finlay.The ironworks was founded by the Swedish Crown and operated from 1615–1945 under the ownership of the Reuterskiöld family. It was restructured into a joint-stock company in the early 1900s and finished operating around 1920. In the 1940s Wilhelm Haglund became responsible for developing the manufacture of hard metal tools at Sandvikens Jernverks. Under his direction, a suitable location for a new factory was sought and Gimo was chosen. In 1951 the facility was established here and has since developed into the world leader in the industry that it is today. Today there are 1500 employees producing metal cutting tools for industrial purposes.
Gimo Mansion, which was built in the 1700s, is currently used as a hotel and conference centre and is a popular place to visit.