Heden is one of the oldest villages in Luleå parish and bears clear traces of important periods in Norrbotten’s history. Early finds in the area indicate trade with southern Sweden during the early Iron Age. For a long time, the annual market was also held here.

The so-called English Channel, which was optimistically started to transport ore from Gällivare to Luleå, stopped in the Heden area. The company Gellivare Co Ltd had received the go-ahead to start construction in 1864 and employed almost 1500 workers. Just three years later, the company went bankrupt and the lack of wages sparked the country’s first workers’ uprising – which was ruthlessly suppressed by the military. It was not until the 1880s that attempts to transport ore were resumed, using the newly constructed railroad (Malmbanan). The remnants of the canal – dry canal ditches in the Heden area and water-filled ditches and stone piers in Edefors – have had listed building status since 1989.

A modern historical memory is the Air Force airfield, Field 32, which was built in 1940-41 and served as a satellite base for the Norrbotten Air Force. The field included an expeditionary barracks, an air service building and a deployment barracks. The field currently covers more than 240 hectares, which in addition to the runway consists of open land, deciduous and spruce forests. The field, like other military training fields, has limited public access. Updated information on accessibility is available on the Armed Forces’ website.

An extensive intervention that also constitutes an important industrial historical monument is the Boden power plant, which was built in the 1960s. The construction resulted in the disappearance of the last spawning grounds for salmon and sea trout in the Lule River. To secure salmon stocks, Vattenfall established a fish farm in Heden. Every year, 100,000s of salmon and trout are bred here and placed in the lower reaches of the river for further migration to the sea. It received an award in 2022 for its work on reducing its environmental impact.