Hovde
Hovde is one of the oldest farms in Etnedal and dates back
to the age of the Vikings. Like the other farms Hovde was
deserted during the Black Death and wasn't resettled until
the 1650s. Hovde was krongods until 1669.
Ole Jensen was the first to settle Hovde after the Black
Death in 1664 - he was 50 years old at the time. Laurits Christensen
purchased the farm from the king in 1669. Knut Arneson Lunde
bought the farm from him in 1687 and ran the farm from Lunde.
Throughout the ages there has been a close tie between Lunde
farm and Hovde farm, as they were originally settled by the
same family. One generation followed the other, and it also
led to dividing up the farm. Ole Arneson had two sons, Arne
Olsson and Anders Olsson, and in 1811 the decission was made
that Arne would take over the main farm Hovde and Anders would
have Hovdesveen, one of the subfarms. In addition to Hovdesveen
Anders bought Nordre Klevgård farm as well, and that is where
he lived. Later in the 1800s the subfarms Molandsveen, Tollerud,
Sørum, Nysveen, Kleiven and Jehansveen were sold out from
Hovde and new families settled there.
Hovde is located in the southern part of the valley. In addition
to some pasture land for cattle the major income was from
the forest. A sawmill was built in 1796 based on timber from
the farm's forest. According to local restrictions the lumber
had to be sold locally.
The Etna River runs right through Hovde and in 1911 the first
and only electric power plant was built on the farm by Ole
A. Hovde, a very industrious man, who understood the importance
of turbine technology. The powerplant was known as Hovde Lysverk.
And it remained working until 1951. It supplied the sawmill
with electric power in addition to the local farms.
Sources: Gard og Bygde i Etnedal Book C, pages 225-227
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