Solum, Norway

Solum is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The 318 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Skien Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Solum, just south of Klovholt. Solum Church was the main church for the municipality.

History
The parish of Solum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census, the municipality had a population of 3,557. Solum is located west of the town of Skien, and encompassed districts such as Nenset, Tollnes, Flakvarp, Skotfoss, and Klyve. On 1 July 1916, an area of Solum Municipality (population: 1,042) was annexed by the growing town of Skien. Then on 1 July 1920, a different area of Solum (population 1,614) was annexed by the growing town of Porsgrunn. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Solum Municipality (population: 13,706) was merged with the neighboring Gjerpen Municipality (population: 15,300) and the town of Skien (population: 15,805) plus the Valebø area of Holla Municipality (population: 259). These areas became the new Skien Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Solum farm (Sólheimar) since the first Solum Church was built there. The first element is which means "sun" or "sunny". The last element is derived from the word which means "village" or "abode".

Government
During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Solum (incomplete list):
 * 1838-1839: Hans Blom Cappelen, Sr.
 * 1839-1847: Hans Nicolai Ørn
 * 1847-1858: Hans Wilhelm Christopher Huitfeldt Wessel

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Solum was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.