For a long time, Stathelle and neighboring Langesund have been grouped together as part of the Porsgrunn/Skien metropolitan area and because of this, the population and area data for this town has not been separately tracked by Statistics Norway. What is tracked, is the portion of the metropolitan area located in Bamble Municipality. In 2022, the Langesund/Stathelle area in Bamble measured 6.34 square kilometres (1,570 acres) and together they had a population of 10,276 with a population density of 1,622 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,200/sq mi).[5]
History
Stathelle is an old trading town and it was granted ladested rights (port town status) on 22 February 1774.[4][6] In the middle of the 1800s, Stathelle was an enterprising seaport, characterized by the trading house established by Albert Blehr on Kjellestad, which was one of the nation's largest timber exporters. (Today there is a marina and a park in the same area.)[7]
Brevik bridge was constructed during 1962. Previously travelers along the southern highway between Oslo and Stavanger had to take the ferry between the towns of Brevik and Stathelle.
Hansen & Arntzen Co AS is a traditional shipyard in Stathelle that specializes in the restoration of vessels. Hansen & Arntzen AS Ekstrand Co. was established in 1929 as a family business. The company is known for its significant repair and restoration projects. Many famous ships have been restored there, including the Norwegian Royal Yacht HNoMY Norge.[8]
Name
The town is named Stathelle. The first element comes from the word staðr which means "place" or "town". The last element is hella which means "flagstone" or "slab of rock".[4]
Municipal self-government (1838-1964)
The town of Stathelle was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the town of Stathelle (population: 724) was merged with the nearby town of Langesund (population: 2,281) and the surrounding rural municipality of Bamble (population: 5,237) to form a new, larger Bamble Municipality.[9]
The municipal council(Bystyre) of Stathelle was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
^Helland, Amund (1900). "Stathelle ladested". VIII. Bratsberg Amt. Anden del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 225. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
^The family of Albert Blehr who died in 1800, was documented by the Norwegian genealogist, C. S. Schilbred, first chairman and founding member of the Norwegian Heraldry Society in Bygdebok for Bamble (published by Bamble kommune, 1968)
