It was here – on the leafy Ume River headland – that it all began

As early as in the Stone Age people chose to settle here! In 1607 it was decided that the church and market place for southern Lapland be located here on Öhn (the Island). Here the Sami and the settlers met the authorities when they went
to church, markets and court sessions and when taxes were levied. However, the church site grew and when the new church was finished, in 1799, housing moved up to the present Lycksele. Today the headland is a nature reserve and ancient remains area with an information signboard, narrating the history of the site in Swedish, English and Southern Sami.

In the open-air museum area there are some 40 buildings, managed by Lycksele Hembygdsgille (the Lycksele Folklore Society). Here you will fi nd Ruselegården (the Rusele manor-house) with its summer cafeteria, an old country shop, a skittles lane and a lot of other museums. The Margareta Church serves as a highway church in the summer with Sunday services and devotions. As a reminder of the aboriginal people Lycksele Sameförening (the Lycksele Sami Association) builds up a Sami residence and informs about the history of the Sami.

The two basic exhibitions of the Forestry Museum, the lumberjack Era and the Machine Era, describe not only the development of forestry from the 1800s up to now, but also the people who worked in the forests – not forgetting the hardships of the lumberjack’s wife. In the Forestry Museum school programmes the participants are offered themselves to discover the exciting history of the site. Together with leaders from the museum, the Sami Association and the Folklore Society they can take part in a journey back in time in the fantastic Gammplatsen surroundings. Gammplatsen is just cut out for expeditions. Here new things happen incessantly – outdoors as well as indoors – a journey in time you must not miss!