Hudiksvall

History

Hudiksvall was founded by King John III of Sweden in 1582. He had the inhabitants moved from the town Hudik, where his father Gustav Vasa had collected the trade- and craftsmen of Hälsingland in order to more easily collect taxes, to Hudiksvall by the shores of the bay.

At the time, fishing and the trading of furs, skins, iron, copper and wood products were the main sources of income, and the city flourished. But the city lost its privileges for foreign trading in 1636, and its development was somewhat stalled for the next two centuries.

It has been damaged by fires some 10 times, the most severe when it was burnt by the Russians during the Russian Pillage of 1719-1721 in 1721, whereafter only the church remained. The current street structure was applied in 1792 as part of the reconstruction necessitated by another fire.

Climate

Hudiksvall has a humid continental climate with a significant maritime influence. In the 1961-1990 reference period it was just above subarctic, but that border region has since moved somewhat further north. Considering how far north it is, the climate is comparatively mild, with warm summers and moderated winters with daytime highs often hovering around the freezing point. The town is the northernmost in Sweden to have January average highs above -1 C and is the coastal tipping point for regular average highs of 22 C in summer. By east coast standards, Hudiksvall has a relatively wet climate with an annual precipitation rate averaging 646 mm sometimes resulting in heavy snowfall during winters.

|Jan record high C = 12.0 |Feb record high C = 13.5 |Mar record high C = 17.8 |Apr record high C = 24.3 |May record high C = 30.3 |Jun record high C = 31.9 |Jul record high C = 34.0 |Aug record high C = 32.5 |Sep record high C = 26.7 |Oct record high C = 21.1 |Nov record high C = 17.6 |Dec record high C = 12.3 |year record high C = 34.0 |Jan avg record high C = 6.0 |Feb avg record high C = 8.1 |Mar avg record high C = 13.8 |Apr avg record high C = 18.7 |May avg record high C = 23.4 |Jun avg record high C = 27.2 |Jul avg record high C = 28.8 |Aug avg record high C = 27.4 |Sep avg record high C = 22.9 |Oct avg record high C = 16.4 |Nov avg record high C = 11.2 |Dec avg record high C = 6.9 |year avg record high C = 29.8 |Jan avg record low C = -18.4 |Feb avg record low C = -18.7 |Mar avg record low C = -13.7 |Apr avg record low C = -6.9 |May avg record low C = -2.7 |Jun avg record low C = 2.8 |Jul avg record low C = 6.0 |Aug avg record low C = 4.4 |Sep avg record low C = -0.1 |Oct avg record low C = -5.8 |Nov avg record low C = -9.5 |Dec avg record low C = -14.9 |year avg record low C = -22.0 |Jan record low C = -29.1 |Feb record low C = -32.0 |Mar record low C = -26.3 |Apr record low C = -19.0 |May record low C = -7.6 |Jun record low C = -1.4 |Jul record low C = 1.9 |Aug record low C = 0.6 |Sep record low C = -3.7 |Oct record low C = -13.5 |Nov record low C = -18.8 |Dec record low C = -25.6 |year record low C = -32.0 |Jan snow depth cm = 37 |Feb snow depth cm = 44 |Mar snow depth cm = 36 |Apr snow depth cm = 11 |May snow depth cm = 0 |Jun snow depth cm = 0 |Jul snow depth cm = 0 |Aug snow depth cm = 0 |Sep snow depth cm = 0 |Oct snow depth cm = 2 |Nov snow depth cm = 12 |Dec snow depth cm = 23 |year snow depth cm = 52 | access-date = 2019-04-30 | archive-date = 2019-04-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190411092753/https://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/ladda-ner-meteorologiska-observationer#param=precipitationMonthlySum,stations=all,stationid=117440 | url-status = dead | access-date=4 May 2015 | archive-date=25 December 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225065632/http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/temperatur/2.1240%20 | url-status=dead

Sport

The city has three exercise trails on either side of the town: in the West, at Fridhem, in the North, just above the gymnasium, and in the East at Björkberg, of which the East has hosted the Svenska mästerskap () in cross country skiing a few times, most recently January 2005. In the western part of town there is also a ski slope, Hede, and in the North lies the trotting track Hagmyren.

The city center features a swimming pool with a gym, a solarium and an indoor sports hall. In 1939 Glysisvallen was built to include a soccer field, stadium, running track and outdoor hockey rink. In 1989 Hudiksvall received their first indoor hockey hall in the area, and in 2007 an artificial soccer field was built at Glysisvallen. In 1999, Hudiksvall also received a large modern indoor sports hall in the former sawmill located in the industrial area Håstaholmen.

In addition, Hudiksvall have the sports club Strands IF, the football club ABK, the hockey club HHC and the floor hockey club Hudik/Björkberg. The most successful in recent years is the Hudiksvall sports club's ski section whose sprint skier Björn Lind won two Olympic gold medals in Turin in 2006. In the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Daniel Richardson won an Olympic gold medal in the team sprint. The 2010 Vasalopp was won by Jörgen Brink.

Transport

The city is served by Hudiksvall Airport. However, there are no schedule flights to and from the airport. The nearest airport is Sundsvall–Timrå Airport which provides direct routes to Stockholm which are operated by Scandinavian Airlines. The airport is located 105 km north of Hudiksvall.

Buildings and structures

Outside of Hudiksvall in Forsa socken, the Storbergsmasten is located. Storbergsmasten is a 335 m guyed mast for FM and TV transmission, which shares the first place as Sweden's tallest structure together with three other masts of same height.

• Läroverket, 1911 school
• Östra skolan (East School)

Notable people

• Agneta Sjödin, presenter and TV-personality of Swedish channel TV4
• Brainbombs, noise rock band
• Gösta Skoglund, social democrat politician and educator
• Hans Vestberg, businessman, Chairman of the Swedish Handball Federation, Former CEO of Ericcson & Former President of the SOC
• Noomi Rapace, actress
• Jenny Sjödin, professional wrestler and submission grappler
• Tomas Brolin, footballer
• Vildhjarta, Progressive metal/Djent band
• Amy Gumenick, Swedish-American actress
• Svante Stockselius, journalist, television executive
• Peter Hedland, mariner, explorer, and pearler

References

References

1. (14 December 2011). "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km² 2005 och 2010". [[Statistics Sweden]].
2. "English - Hudiksvalls kommun".
3. "Hudiksvalls historia - Hudiksvalls kommun".
4. Arvidson, Stellan. (1951). "Hudiksvalls läroverks historia". Läroverkets byggnadsfond/Hudiksvalls kommun.
5. "Östra skolan". IST Group AB.