Nature in Rundvik

In comparison with Nordmaling, Rundvik is a young society. It emerged in the early 1860s with the formation of Nordmalings Ångsågs AB. Society took shape in the place that the farmers in Lögdeå had used for fi ske. A memory from that time are the sheds at Brohällan, presented elsewhere in this chapter.

Building up the steam saw industry from the ground up was a major investment. Workers and housing were needed. Those employed came from the nearby villages, but also from Grundsunda and Umeå and even from Finland.

1929 is a landmark year in Rundvik's history. As the first of its kind in Europe, the Masonite factory was then completed, named after the masonite's American inventor William H. Mason. Rundvik was now seriously transformed into an industrial society. The new product was seen as "the ticket to the future", writes Jonas Fröberg in his book Masonite. Industry and society flourished, single-family homes grew in number and optimism was high. Rundvik became a municipal society in 1936 and not long after that the young people were able to take a high school diploma in the new school in Nordmaling.

The sawmill and factory have changed shape in many different ways in the long time that has passed since its inception, but they still form Rundvik's backbone. This must also include the strong labor movement that emerged in the working environment.

When you enter the community, you can hardly fail to notice Rundviksgården, which has a large and red-painted throne in the center. The house was originally built by IOGT-NTO in the 1880s and has since been a meeting place for an active political, social and cultural life. Here you can borrow books, go to the cinema and theater, participate in association life and play bingo among many other things.

A fiery soul at Rundviksgården for many decades, Berit Joansson, says that its heyday fell in the decades before television came. Sometimes up to four hundred people could be accommodated there at the same time.

A place in Rundvik with its hilly terrain are some high-altitude workers' barracks from the industry's childhood. From here you look out over the community and Nordmalingsfjärden. The church has the same beautiful location. It is a small red utility church, which was inaugurated in 1954. The church has a bright interior and is decorated with an altarpiece by the famous artist Einar Forseth.

Some of the nature attractions that are worth seeing in Rundvik and Nordmaling and the surrounding area are presented in this chapter. See them as a help to get to know the area a little better. Own walks are recommended - then paths and bays and much else, which you did not know existed, will appear.