FREDONIA

fredonia, a village of chautauqua county, new york, u.s.a., about 45 m. s.w. of buffalo, and 3 m. from lake erie. pop. (1900) 4127; (1905, state census) 5148; (1910 census) 5285. fredonia is served by the dunkirk, allegheny valley & pittsburg railway, which connects at dunkirk, 3 m. to the n., with the erie, the lake shore & michigan southern, the new york, chicago & st louis, and the pennsylvania railways; and by electric railway to erie, buffalo and dunkirk. it is the seat of a state normal school. the darwin r. barker public library contained 9700 volumes in 1908. fredonia is situated in the grape-growing region of western new york, is an important shipping point for grapes, and has large grape-vine and general nurseries. the making of wine and of unfermented grape-juice are important industries of the village. among other manufactures are canned goods, coal dealers' supplies, and patent medicines. the first settlement here was made in 1804, and the place was called canandaway until 1817, when the present name was adopted. the village was incorporated in 1829. fredonia was one of the first places in the united states, if not the first, to make use of natural gas for public purposes. within the village limits, near a creek, whose waters showed the presence of gas, a well was sunk in 1821, and the supply of gas thus tapped was sufficient to light the streets of the village. another well was sunk within the village limits in 1858. about 1905 natural gas was again obtained by deep drilling near fredonia and came into general use for heat, light and power. in the fredonia baptist church on the 14th of december 1873 a woman's temperance union was organized, and from this is sometimes dated the beginning of the woman's christian temperance union movement. fredrikshald (frederickshald, friederichshall), a seaport and garrison town of norway, in smaalenene _amt_ (county), 85 m. by rail s. by e. of christiania. pop. (1900) 11,948. it is picturesquely situated on both banks of the tistedal river at its outflow to the ide fjord, surrounded by several rocky eminences. the chief of these is occupied by the famous fortress fredriksten, protected on three sides by precipices, founded by frederick iii. (1661), and mainly showing, in its present form, the works of frederick v. (1766) and christian vii. (1808). between it and the smaller gyldenloeve fort a monument marks the spot where charles xii. was shot in the trenches while besieging the town (1718). the siege, which was then raised, is further commemorated by a monument to the brave defence of the brothers peter and hans kolbjoernsen. fredrikshald is close to the swedish frontier, and had previously (1660) withstood invasion, after which its name was changed from halden to the present form in 1665 in honour of frederick iii. the town was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1759 and 1826. the castle surrendered to the swedish crown prince bernadotte in 1814, and its capture was speedily followed by the conquest of the kingdom and its union with sweden. fredrikshald is one of the principal ports of the kingdom for the export of timber. marble of very fine quality and grain is extensively quarried and exported for architectural ornamentation and for furniture-making. wood-pulp is also exported. the industries embrace granite quarries, wood-pulp factories, and factories for sugar, tobacco, curtains, travelling-bags, boots, &c. there are railway communications with gothenburg and all parts of sweden and regular coastal and steamer services. fredrikstad (frederikstad), a seaport and manufacturing town of norway in smaalenene _amt_ (county), 58 m. s. by e. of christiania by the christiania-gothenburg railway. pop. (1900) 14,553. it lies at the mouth and on the eastern shore of christiania fjord, occupying both banks of the great river glommen, which, descending from the richly-wooded district of oesterdal, floats down vast quantities of timber. the new town on the right bank is therefore a centre of the timber export trade, this place being the principal port in norway for the export of pit-props, planed boards, and other varieties of timber. there is also a great industry in the making of red bricks, owing to the expansion of christiania, gothenburg and other towns. granite is quarried and exported. besides the large number of saw and planing mills, there are shipbuilding yards, engine and boiler works, cotton and woollen mills, and factories for acetic acid and naphtha. the harbour, which can be entered by vessels drawing 14 ft., is kept open in winter by an ice-breaker. in the vicinity is the island hankoe, the most fashionable norwegian seaside resort. the old town on the left bank was founded by frederick ii. in 1567. it was for a long time strongly fortified, and in 1716 charles xii. of sweden made a vain attempt to capture it.