Víðirbyggð was formed in an area north of Árdals and Framnes Settlements at the beginning of the 20th century. Another settlement, the Sandy Hill Settlement (Sandhæðabyggð) was formed to the west where it is called Sylvan. New Iceland was divided into four settlements early in the settlement period, to the south was Víðirnes, then Árnes, Fljóts and finally Mikley to the north and east. Later Hnausa was added, which was within the boundaries of New Iceland, but Ísafold, Geysir, Árdals and Framnes and Víðir and Sandy Hill were outside the original boundaries of the colony.
Sandhæðir (Sylvan) can be seen at the top of the map, Víðir and Árborg in the south.
New settlement: By the end of the 19th century, a large increase had taken place in the Icelandic settlement west of Lake Winnipeg and up by the Icelandic River. Settlers flocked to this area from other Icelandic settlements on the continent and from home. Many of the settlers in the new settlement north of Árborg were the sons of the first settlers, either born in the west or in Iceland. By the turn of the century, these were grown men were seeking places where they could settle and start farming. One such was Jón Sigurðsson who came west at the age of 11 with his parents, Sigurður Björnsson and Guðfinna Oddsdóttir. The family settled in the Hnausa Settlement on a land called Ekra. There Jón grew up and learned to work. He moved west, a married man and the father of two children in 1905 and is one of the first settlers in the settlement. At first, he named his farm Aðalból after Aðalból in Hrafnkelsdalur in N. Múlasýsla, but when he decided to apply for a post office, he realized that Aðalból was unsuitable as a name for a post office. He then decided to call his farm Víðir and in 1906 he received a permit to run a post office called Vidir P.O. It was in a new extension to his home. Willow is a characteristic tree species in the area.
Gate to the cemetery on Jón Sigurðsson’s land in Víðir. Photo: SBM
Meeting house, school, congregation and cemetery: As in other Icelandic settlements, the post office in Víðir soon became a kind of meeting house because many people came together at the same time to get the mail. Various issues concerning young settlements were discussed, such as church affairs and schools. A meeting on the school issue was held at Jón’s home on June 25, 1908, and Jón was one of those elected to the school committee that year. Jón sat on that committee for 27 consecutive years. Víðir School began operating in September 1909. Jón’s home was a meeting place, theater and church for many years, but discussions about building a meetinghouse began and in 1914 it was formally opened. It stood on Jón’s land. The same year a congregation was formed in the settlement and shortly afterwards Jón gave land for a cemetery.
English version by Thor group.