Drevja

Drevja is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1927 until its dissolution in 1962. It was located in the Drevja valley, north of the Vefsnfjorden in the northern part of the present-day Vefsn Municipality. Drevja Church was the main church for the municipality. The municipality of Drevja was established on 1 July 1927 when the large Vefsn Municipality was divided into three municipalities: Drevja (population: 964) in the north, Grane (population: 1,746) in the south, and Vefsn (population: 3,119) in the center. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the municipality of Drevja (population: 1,001) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Elsfjord (population: 920) and Vefsn (population: 5,358) and with the town of Mosjøen) to form a new, larger Vefsn Municipality. The municipality was named after the river Drevja which flows from the lake Drevvatnet to the Vefsnfjorden. The name of the river is derived from the word drav which means "rubbish" or "waste". Thus the meaning of the name is something like "the river with unclean water". During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor. The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Drevja was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: The mayors of Drevja: 1927–1931: Sigvald Almlid 1932–1934: Ole Justad 1935–1940: Martin Hvidsten 1943–1945: Egil Brattbakk 1946–1951: Carl P.