Porjus
Porjus, which means sail in Sámi, is located at the outflow of the Stora Lulevatten, approximately 40 kilometers north of Jokkmokk. In 1833 the wilderness homestead of Porjus was established, which eventually became the town of Porjus.
In 1910 the Parliament decided that a hydroelectric power station would be built on the Stora Lule River at a location called Porjus, to provide electricity to the railroad that transported iron-ore. There were seven residents in Porjus at that time. When the Porjus power station was inaugurated in 1915 it was called the “monument in the wilderness”. The construction demanded an enormous amount of labour and was a large step in modernizing Swedish industry.
The navvy’s path is called the old tourist trail on which building material was carried 60 kilometers from Gällivare to the power station construction site until the railroad was built in 1911.
The population of the town has varied significantly during the construction of the hydroelectric plants on the Stora Lule River. When Harsprånget was built at the beginning of the 1950s, over three thousands persons lived in Porjus. In 1999 there were 304.
The old power station in Porjus is a national historical building with an intact machine hall and control room. Porjus Expo is also housed here, an exhibit of the Porjus Archives Committee with texts and pictures which tells of the history and development of the town. Lina’s Café is right beside the room shown on the tour and is open in the summertime.
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