Mosjøen is situated where the river Vefsa meets with the fjord. The first structures at Mosjøen were boathouses and sheds, which belonged to the farmers who lived up in the valleys. The buildings were aligned in rows along the edge of the river mouth. This is where the boats were kept, in addition to fishing equipment. There was also room for overnight visitors of the Dolstad Church or those who had maritime business dealings here. In the 18th century this type of traffic led to establishment of two trading settlements and eventually other business activities. During the 19th century this beach area developed into a row of joined wharf warehouses in the high water level, on the outside of the old stretch of boathouses. Here there was also a road with residences and business premises behind - this became the street Sjøgata.

Around roughly 1970 it was threatened that the area with the wooden buildings would be torn down. Fortunately the programme "Sjøgata Well" was established at this time, and with help from Department of Architecture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTH) led by the architect Dag Nilsen and Vefsn Museum led by Hans Pedersen, in 1979 the buildings were regulated for conservation. Eventually the wooden buildings were renovated and the operations were established. Today Sjøgata is a living part of the Mosjøen town centre.

1800-1900

Buildings

residences

wharf warehouses

Woodwork

cogging joint method

Houen Fund Diploma 1988

residence

woodwork

log construction

empire style

Grønvold, Ulf and Jiri Havran: Priset arkitektur 1904-2000, Oslo 2000, pp. 12-13, 16-17.

Byggekunst 1/1979, p. 30.

Vefsn Museum, Fotefar mot nord, Sjøgata i Mosjøen, Historien om en by, Trondheim 1997.