View of the Sparbu squadron of the Norwegian military (c. 1905)
The parish of Sparbu was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The eastern Ogndalen valley (population: 1,441) was separated from Sparbu on 1 January 1885 to form the new municipality of Skei. This left Sparbu with 2,842 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a large merger took place: the neighboring municipalities of Beitstad (population: 2,563), Egge (population: 3,476), Kvam (population: 1,245), Ogndal (population: 2,678), Sparbu (population: 4,027), and Stod (population: 1,268) were all merged with the town of Steinkjer (population: 4,325) to form the new municipality of Steinkjer.[4]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named an old name for the area (Old Norse: Sparabú). The first element is spara which has an uncertain meaning, however it is possible that it means "something excellent" or "something one saves for". The last element is bú which means "household" or "farm". Historically, the name was spelled Sparbuen (using the definite singular form).[5]
The municipal council(Herredsstyre) of Sparbu was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
^Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
^Rygh, Oluf (1903). Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Trondhjems amt (in Norwegian) (15 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 202.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^"Ordførere i Sparbu kommune" (in Norwegian). Steinkjerleksikonet. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 14 April 2020.