On the History of the Town

The town of Zavodoukovsk is situated on the bank of the river Bolshoi Uk, a tributary of the Tobol river. It is 96 km to the south-east from Tyumen. The origin of the name ‘Uk’ implies a tartar word ‘an arrow’.

The history of the town began in 1729, when the first notions of the village Ukovskaya were registered. In 1787 the village got the status of the volost centre, and was named Zavodoukovsk. There are two versions as to the name of the town. The first and the most probable dwells on the construction of the vine plant here in 1750, so Zavodoukovsk can be interpreted as ‘a plant (zavod) on the Uk river’. The other version relates to the settlements (zavods) in XVIII-XIX centuries specially built for the exiles to have a rest in.

In the second half of the XVIIIth century vine production got developed in the southern part of the Tobolsk province. One of the biggest vine plants was built in 1740 by the merchant Maxim Pokhodjashin on the bank of the Uk river. High quality of the products manufactured by the plant was guaranteed by unique water springs. Forced labour of peasants from adjacent villages was used at the plant. In 1884 the plant was bought by the well-know Siberian merchant Poklevski-Kozell. At the end of the XIXth century the products of the plant were frequently awarded with high prizes at the all-Russian trade shows. The outlay of the plant survived until today can be regarded as a unique memorial for industrial production in Siberia.

At the end of the XXth century the railway-road Tyumen-Omsk was built, and the Zavodoukovskaya railway station appeared. The merchant brothers Kolmakovs played an important role in the construction of the railway road and in development of zavodoukovsk. One of the brothers, Kiriak Stepanovich was also an agronomist, and contributed a lot to agricultural development of the district.

The vicinities of the future town were divided into the following parts: the vine plant was situated in the western part, and the Kolmakovs estates were in the eastern part. Dense taiga forests occupied the space of the future town center.

By that time a railway station and barracks for workers had been built. Soon the territories adjacent to the station got developed: a water tower, trade barns, and timber stores were constructed.

The territory of the district got actively populated in the first years of the Soviet regime. The names of the streets can verify the fact: Permayskaya (the 1st of may), Donbasskaya, Federativnaya, Revolutionnaya, and so on. Big construction sites appeared that accelerated a speed of the settlement development. In 1929 a wood processing plant was set into operation; in 1930 the Novozaimski grain sovhoz and an elevator got started.

In 1941 Zavodoukovsk got the status of a working settlement. During World War II the Voronezh aviation plant and the First Moscow aviation school were evacuated to Zavodoukovsk. The future cosmonauts L.Demin and S. Komarov graduated from the Moscow aviation school. Over two thousand evacuated children from Leningrad, and a lot of hospitals were located in Zavodoukovsk during the war.

After the war development of Zavodoukovsk was boosted considerably. In 1960 it got the status of a town, and in 1965 it became the district center.

At present the population of Zavodoukovsk numbers over 26 thousand people. The industrial potential of the town is presented by the food manufacturing, agricultural production, wood processing, and sewing. The products of the Zavodoukovsk engineering plant are well known outside the Tyumen province.