Näs was originally named after the stretch of rapids and the water plant that were located north of Näs Bridge. Up until 1904, Näs had mills, sawmills, a blacksmith's workshop and eel and salmon fisheries. The small-scale fishing and mill foundations were then torn down and the Borenberg Power Station was built. The mill owned by Axel von Fersen in 1774 is still there on the southern bank of the river.

The electric power station was driven by six turbines. In 1988, it was replaced by a new power station with two turbines. The power station, along with von Fersen's mill, has today been made into a museum.

(Further reading: Castensson, R., Hillmo, T. & Kolsgård, S., Kraften ur Motala ström (Power from the River Motala Ström), 1993; Wingårdh, G., Näs kvarnby vid Motala ström (The Mill Village of Näs on the River Motala Ström), 1999)

Section of the canal map of a planned stretch of canal around the rapids at Näs Mill, 1774. Observe that the map is oriented so that North is to the right on the map. The direction of the current in the river Motala Ström is consequently from the top to the bottom of the map. On the map, one can see how von Röök thought the Göta Canal would be drawn around the rapids at Näs and Henfors.

The map shows clearly the various sorts of land usage, e.g. arable fields, meadows and forest.

Click on the maps to enlargen! Use the "Back" button to return.

An interesting note about this map is that in the upper right corner one can see the local type of in stream fishery that was used for the catching of eel. The fishery was typical along the river. At the time the map was drawn, it belonged to the village of Kungs Norrby.

Red line = bicycle path.