The name "Piteå", has been the object of a variety of different interpretations. Common for all these is that they all begin with the Pite river as the origin. The sentence "A river called Pitu" in a letter from the year 1335 establishes this.
In 1335 Piteå is named for the first time in writing, although there is evidence of settlements, dated to sometime during the 11th century.
During the 15th century, the now village of Öjebyn, became Pite parish central locality, when the church in all likelihood was completed. This is where King Gustav II Adolf, founded the new town in 1621. Soon a rivalry developed between Piteå and the neighbouring town Luleå, founded at the same time. The letter in 1634 to the government with a plead to "lay waste" to Luleå, the toughest competitor in trade, is now famous.
In the summer of 1666 a large portion of the town surrounding the church was devestated in a fire and after many disputes the town was moved to where it is today.
18th century accounts about Piteå shows that stock-raising was important and citizens sailed to the capital Stockholm several times a year to sell butter, fish, animalhides, pitch and tar.
The citizens of Piteå was also put to hard trials. Three russian wars, looting, crop failure and fires contributed to the dissatisfaction. Dispite this, it was reported at the end of the century that "The amount of pocket watches among the farm-hands was alarmingly large" and also that even the poor now had coffee.
The 19th century started with war against Russia. Sweden surrendered in 1809 and the municipality of Piteå was occupied by the Russians. At Pitsund, 10 km south of Piteå the last shot of the war was fired, so far the last shot fired in a war on Swedish soil.
1810 Norrbotten becomes its own county and 1818 Piteå becomes the county Norrbotten council seat (Where the mayor lives). The recidence is later moved to Luleå in 1856.
In 1858 the first sawmill in the municipality was founded in Bergsviken and three years later one was founded in Munksund. About 10 years later one more was founded at Lövholmen and between 1883-86 the largest one in Storfors.
Handling of wood products, trade and commerce, important ingrediences in Piteås industry and businesses, are still of great importance in this century, even if the local business world is much broader today.
Daniel Solander(1733 - 1782)
was born on the 19th of February, 1733 in Öjebyn, old town of Piteå, in northern Sweden and was brought up in the parsonage at Björklunda in Öjebyn. He studied botany in Uppsala for many years under the leadership of Carl von Linné. In 1759 Solander travelled to England and he soon became a respected member of the Royal Society, the English Science Academy. When captain James Cook left on his famous voyage with the Endeavour around the world on the 26th of August 1768, the Swede Daniel Solander was one of the men on board the ship. Thousands of plants and animals, especially insects were gathered, described and named by Solander during this voyage and in New Zealand and Australia there are many places named after Daniel Solander. Solander never returned to Sweden. He died at the age of 49 in England on the 13th of May 1782.
