Shakhunya is a city of railroad workers and timber harvesters. It is the administrative center of Shakhunskiy District of Nizhny Novgorod Region.
History
The rapid development of the settlement and the entire district began after the October Revolution, driven by the construction of the railway. In 1933 Shakhunya became a workers' settlement, and in 1943 that workers' settlement was elevated to the status of a city.
The name derives from the Shikhunya River. The same name was borne by the first починок (small pioneer settlement) in the area.
The city began its life on the site of dense forest, but quickly surpassed Vetluga in population and took on the role of organizational center for the northeastern part of the Gorky Region — the area known as Zavetluzh'ye — distinguished not only as an administrative center and a major junction on the Gorky Railway, but also as an inter-district organizing hub. This was aided by Shakhunya's position midway between two regional capitals — City of Gorky and Kirov.
The station and the city of Shakhunya grew up together. This left its mark on the history of this remote forested land and on the lives of the people who transformed it. The residents of Shakhunya are predominantly highly skilled railroad workers, specialists in the timber and wood-chemical industries, along with their children and grandchildren. People who love their land live here — people who have preserved and cherish the traditions of the first settlers of the Shakhunya region; they are persistent, purposeful, full of life, and above all believe in their land and its bright future.
The founding and development of Shakhunya is tied to the construction of the Nizhny Novgorod–Kotelnich railway line, which began even before the October Revolution of 1917. Along one section of the route, the rail line passed near the village of Shakhunya; three kilometers from the village, as the project specified, a station was established and named after the village. Thus the city's name came into being before the city itself. The station was situated between two small rivers, the Chyornaya and the Samarikha. The railway crossed both rivers perpendicularly. The terrain was flat, low-lying, and in places swampy.
Of great importance for the development of Shakhunya settlement was the construction of the locomotive depot, which took about four years and was completed in 1927. This was Shakhunya's first major enterprise, requiring many workers — fitters, lathe operators, blacksmiths — who significantly increased the settlement's population. Alongside the locomotive depot, a power station was built in Shakhunya: the railroad workers' apartments were lit by Ilyich's light bulbs.
During the 1930s, a great many more railway enterprises and organizations were established in Shakhunya. The town grew into a major railway junction on the Gorky Railway, and the railroad workers' settlement expanded rapidly. During the war years, Shakhunya's importance on the Gorky Railway increased further, and on October 21, 1943, the settlement was granted city status.
In memory of the generations of railroad workers who labored selflessly from the founding of the depot onward, a locomotive of the LV series — the last word in Russian steam-locomotive engineering — has been placed on permanent display in the station square of Shakhunya. It serves as a reminder of those first generations of railroad workers.
In the early postwar five-year plans, the young city rapidly grew into a major industrial and commercial center of the northern part of the region. Industrial development in Shakhunskiy District picked up pace. New industrial enterprises were built in Shakhunya and the surrounding district, while those established earlier continued to expand.
The 1970s were a particularly notable decade for Shakhunya. It became a city of new construction. In 1972, a plant for the production of skimmed milk powder, with a butter-making and whole-milk products shop, was built on the outskirts of Shakhunya; its products were in demand not only within the Gorky Region but beyond its borders as well. The plant's output reached the world market and was exported to the Netherlands, Poland, and Afghanistan. During these years the face of Shakhunya changed dramatically. Five-story residential buildings went up in the center, and the outskirts of the city were developed. Comfortable residential blocks and broad, tree-lined streets were built, and the residents of Shakhunya themselves keep them clean and orderly and continue to improve their native city.