The parish of Gjerpen was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 4,381. Gjerpen was located east of the city of Skien. It encompassed districts such as Borgestad, Bøle, Gulset and Luksefjell.

On 1 July 1916 an area with roughly 1,332 inhabitants was moved to Skien, and on 1 July 1920 an area with 437 inhabitants was moved to Porsgrunn.

On 1 January 1964 the rest of Gjerpen was incorporated into Skien, along with Solum and the district Valebø. Prior to the merger Gjerpen had a population of 15,300. The current district of Gjerpen constitute only a small part of the former Gjerpen municipality.

Skien is a city and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Telemark county.


Living with Otto and his wife in 1900 Census