"Maursund gård" (7 of 7)
Description
Hans Petter Giæver from Trondheim settled as an outlying resident of Maursund in around 1750. His son Nils took over in 1776 and in the same year he was granted an innkeepers licence. Nils Giæver built the farmhouse that stands there today. The golden age of this trading centre lasted from the end of the eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century.
Trading activity started during the eighteenth century and continued up until the 1960s. The trading centre was based on a combination of trading, farming and fishing. At Maursund there were three jekt boats (a small cargo boat with a half-deck and sails), one after another, all called Nordstjernen (North Star). Dried fish was the most important trading product and this was sent to Bergen. As well as fish, other products included cod liver oil, feathers, leather, furs, reindeer meat and antlers, all sent southwards by boat. They carried products such as corn, flour and brandy back to Nord-Troms. The sailing trip to Bergen took at least three to four weeks. The boats returned in the late autumn and were taken up on land for the winter. It is said that the jekt at Maursund was so large that a hundred men were needed to get it ashore, and the work took at least three to four days.
The last jekt to be called Nordstjernen was built in 1812 and could hold 8,000 våger (124 tons) of dried fish. This was the last boat to sail to Bergen before that type of trading activity came to an end after steamships gradually took over during the 1850s.
The Giævers’ era at Maursund drew to an end in around 1870 when the Høeg family took over. From around 1908 the Tretten family ran the place, and their descendants bequeathed the building to Nord-Troms Museum in 1993.
Trading activity started during the eighteenth century and continued up until the 1960s. The trading centre was based on a combination of trading, farming and fishing. At Maursund there were three jekt boats (a small cargo boat with a half-deck and sails), one after another, all called Nordstjernen (North Star). Dried fish was the most important trading product and this was sent to Bergen. As well as fish, other products included cod liver oil, feathers, leather, furs, reindeer meat and antlers, all sent southwards by boat. They carried products such as corn, flour and brandy back to Nord-Troms. The sailing trip to Bergen took at least three to four weeks. The boats returned in the late autumn and were taken up on land for the winter. It is said that the jekt at Maursund was so large that a hundred men were needed to get it ashore, and the work took at least three to four days.
The last jekt to be called Nordstjernen was built in 1812 and could hold 8,000 våger (124 tons) of dried fish. This was the last boat to sail to Bergen before that type of trading activity came to an end after steamships gradually took over during the 1850s.
The Giævers’ era at Maursund drew to an end in around 1870 when the Høeg family took over. From around 1908 the Tretten family ran the place, and their descendants bequeathed the building to Nord-Troms Museum in 1993.
