Vemundvik Municipality

Vemundvik is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. By 1964, the municipality roughly corresponded to the mainland areas north of the river Namsen in what is now Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county. From 1838 until about 1942, the administrative centre was the village of Vemundvik where Vemundvik Church is located. After 1941, the municipal offices and administration was headquartered in the town of Namsos.
Prior to its dissolution in 1963, the municipality was the 337th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Vemundvik Municipality was the 445th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,943. The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 10.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Vemundvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1846, the village of Namsos was declared to be a ladested, which mean that it was removed from Vemundvik Municipality. The new town had 591 inhabitants and the rest of Vemundvik Municipality was renamed Namsos herred or Namsos landdistrikt and it had 908 residents after the split.
On 1 January 1891, the southern district of the Namsos herred municipality was separated to become the new Klingen Municipality and the remaining northern district was renamed Vemundvik Municipality.
Areas of Vemundvik lying adjacent to the town of Namsos were later annexed by the town on numerous occasions. On 1 January 1882, an area with 109 inhabitants was moved to the town. On 1 July 1921 an area with 927 inhabitants was again transferred to Namsos. Then, on 1 July 1957, another area with a population of 6 was transferred to Namsos.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a large municipal merger took place with the following areas being merged into a new, larger Namsos Municipality with 10,875 residents.

all of the town of Namsos
all of Vemundvik Municipality
all of Klinga Municipality
the parts of Otterøy Municipality located north of the Namsenfjorden
the Finnangerodden area on the island of Otterøya in Fosnes Municipality
Name

The municipality is named after the old Vemundvik farm since the first Vemundvik Church was built there. The first element is an old male name Vémundr or the more modern version, Vemund. The last element is which means "bay" or "inlet".

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Vemundvik Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Namsos prestegjeld and the Indre Namdal prosti in the Diocese of Nidaros.

Parish	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Vemundvik	Vemundvik Church	Vemundvik	1875

Geography

The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Vetterhushatten on the border with Overhalla Municipality to the southeast. The municipality was located to the northeast of the town of Namsos. Fosnes Municipality was located to the north, Overhalla Municipality was to the east and southeast, the town of Namsos and Klinga Municipality were located to the south, and Otterøy Municipality was located to the west.

Government

While it existed, Vemundvik 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 Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Vemundvik Municipality was made up of 13 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 Vemundvik Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position:

1891–1893: Anton Ganæs
1894–1904: Normann Nilsen
1905–1919: Johan Hals
1920–1922: Neumann Thorsen
1923–1928: Johan Lervik
1929–1934: Amund Grande
1935–1937: Jarle Hildrum
1938–1941: Olav Benum
1942–1945: Wilhelm Hals
1945–1945: Olav Benum
1946–1947: Peder Myrvold
1948–1951: Jarle Hildrum
1951–1963: Peder Myrvold