Svartrå is a former village and parish in

Falkenberg Municipality Falkenberg Municipality (''Falkenbergs kommun'') is a municipality in Halland County on the Swedish west coast. The town Falkenberg is the municipal seat. The municipality was created in 1971 when the ''City of Falkenberg'' was amalgamated with s ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with about 200 citizens. It formed a parish until 2006, when the parish merged with Köinge and

Okome Okome () is a parish and village in Falkenberg, Sweden. The village has a population of about 160, and the parish as a whole has a population of about 500. The village has some services, such as a primary school A primary school (in Irela ...

parishes to form Okome parish. It was a municipality between 1863 and 1951. A brook, Svartån, flows through the area. It is likely to have given name to the village which in turn gave the parish its name. Svartrå was first mentioned in 1461, then spelt ''Swa eraa''. ''Svart'' means black, while ''rå'' means owner's mark or border. The children usually attend Okome school until the age of 12, after which they attend ''Apelskolan'' in

Ullared Ullared is a locality situated in Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 791 inhabitants in 2010. The village hosts a large department store, Gekås. It is the largest store in both Sweden and Scandinavia, and the growth of the stor ...

. However, the children in the northernmost part of the area spend all their compulsory education at Apelskolan. The area is a political stronghold for the Centre Party which usually gains around 50 percent of the votes.

Geography and geology

Svartrå is bordered on the east by

Högvadsån

Naturreservatet Sumpafallen, 2003, fran Boarpa bro

Sumpafallen and Björkekullen Nature Reserve are located in the area, the latter being a

farm museum A farm museum, or museum farm, is a museum based on a historical farm and its buildings, presenting agricultural history. Often the farm is still a working farm, for demonstration and educational purposes. See List of open-air and living history ...

. As the ice receded during the last glacial period parts of Svartrå formed a bay. Glacier rivers eroded the land and made it comparatively hilly.

History

Some remains from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

have been found, such as flint objects and arrow points. There are

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

remains in the vicinity of the church, as well as Bronze Age remains at ''Vårdhögen'', a hill top. The church dates back to the 12th century and has survived several planned demolitions. The village was split up due to agricultural reforms in the mid 19th century ( laga skifte). Falkenberg railway and Varberg-Ätran railway had stations in ''Svartråhed'' and ''Skinnarlyngen'' in the first part of the 20th century. Svartrå had a school in one form or another from about 1850 to 1960. The population topped during the later part of the 19th century, when it reached about 500 people. It was depopulated during most of the 20th century, until a population of about 200 people was reached. It has remained on that level for the last decades.

Economy

Svartrå has never been home to any major industrial activity, although it has had a few minor

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s as well as a gravel pit.

References

Swedish Wikipedia: Svartrå (22/01/2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svartra Falkenberg Municipality