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- Title
En gårdsägarförening i industrialismens Sundsvall 1897-1909.
- Authors
Sundborg, Peter
- Abstract
In 1897, a property-owners association was founded in the Stenhammaren district of Sundsvall. The association was created by local property owners, comprising workers, craftsmen and other low-wage earners. With the coming of industry, Sundsvall had attracted large numbers of workers who needed somewhere to live. The townscape had densified and unregulated building developments emerged too. In the case of Stenhammaren, the urban plan of 1868 included 139 plots of land. The area soon filled with people and became overpopulated. Stenhammaren lacked roads, streets, lighting, water mains and sewage systems, and the authorities were not especially interested in supplying these amenities. Yet the main reason for the creation of the property-owners association was not a lack of hygiene facilities, but the many illegal bars and brothels. The association asked the public prosecutor and the mayor for help, but with little success. Instead the body took matters into its own hands. The association organised evening and night-time patrols. It rewarded local people for providing information on illegal activities. It was also instrumental in prosecuting individual property owners. An association meeting in 1899 reported that the organisation had successfully closed down the twelve brothels that had been open when its work began. The property-owners association began taking on other issues too. Young boys causing mischief in the evenings were a problem; neglectful housing tenants were another. The association campaigned long and hard to open a bathhouse and laundry in the area. In April 1905, when construction work finally began, a party was held to celebrate the laying of the foundation. Local people probably began bathing and laundering in the building sometime in 1906. The final major problem that the association tackled was the area's lack of mains water and a sewage system. With wastewater filling local ditches, filth sometimes overflowed onto the streets, spreading a foul smell. Despite repeated requests, the local authority resolved the water and sewage issue only on 7 February 1909. This date marks the final entry in the comprehensive minutes book, which has formed the main source of information for researching the history of the property-owners association. Yet the organisation lived on until 1933, according to newspaper sources. Another of the association's successes was to change the name of the district, from Stenhammaren to Södermalm, by which it remains known to this day.
- Subjects
WATER-pipes; URBAN planning; PUBLIC prosecutors; SEWAGE; HYGIENE; LAUNDRY equipment
- Publication
Bebyggelsehistorisk Tidskrift, 2019, Issue 77, p59
- ISSN
0349-2834
- Publication type
Article