Son, Norway

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Son is an old lading place, and former municipality, in the county of Akershus, Norway.

[edit] Overview

Son, together with the small lading place of Hølen, was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Son and Hølen were separated as municipalities of their own January 1, 1848. Son was merged with Vestby January 1, 1964.

Son is located at the Oslofjord, 50 km south of the Norwegian capital Oslo, just north of Moss and near the border of Østfold, and located south of the village of Hølen. Son is located in Vestby municipality in Akershus. Before the merge with Vestby the number of inhabitants in Son was about 800-900 (1940). Today, Son, including Store Brevik has 5035 inabitants (2006).

In the Renaissance era, Son became famous as a harbour. Timber came from the nearby areas and was partially floated down the river. On many Dutch maps from that time (the oldest one being from 1582) Oslofjord is noted as Zoon Water. However, when this period ended, Son lost its importance.

Son has later been known as a town of many painters and artists.

[edit] The name

The name Son is pronounced with a long "o".

Son is probably the old name of the river Hølenselva (Norse *Són). The meaning of the (hypothetical) rivername is unknown.

Until 1889 the name was written Soon.