Jednorożec () is a village in Przasnysz County, Poland. Located in the Mazovian Voivodeship, the town is one of the centres of the historical region of Kurpie. It lies approximately northeast of Przasnysz and north of Warsaw.
Etymology
The town was named based on the local legend of a beekeeper who saw a unicorn in the area, which was at the time a royal hunting preserve. According to the legend, Prince Janusz III Mazowiecki ordered the building of a hunting lodge on the spot, which he named Jednorożec, meaning "unicorn."
The coat of arms and the municipal flag of Jednorożec consist of a unicorn accompanied by two bees. The unicorn is shown in the position of a Polish battle horse. The color green symbolizes the area's forested Kurpie past, as well as the current "green" values of the local inhabitants, and the green color also refers to the area as part of what was once "Poland's Green Lungs."
Government
The village of Jednorożec is the seat of the Gmina Jednorożec (administrative district) in Przasnysz County.
The Jednorożec municipal office is located at ul. Odrodzenia 14, 06-323 Jednorożec.
Current departments include: Mayor Secretary Treasurer Finance and Budget Office Investment and Development Team Head of the Office of Civil Status Independent Workplace Affairs and Local Government Personnel Independent Position for Defense, Civil Protection and Economic Crisis Management Independent Workplace - Computer Science Stand-alone post for Land Reclamation Project Coordinator
History
Jednorożec has a history going back at least three hundred years. It survived the "Swedish invasion of Poland" during the Second Northern War in the 17th century and subsequent occupations by Russia and Germany.
The area now known as Jednorożec was part of a royal estate in the Kurpie forest, and contained no permanent residents in the second half of the 16th century, only meadows and small huts of beekeepers. Beekeeping was highly regulated by law and beekeepers were required to provide "forty hands of honey" (40 rączek miodu) per year as tribute to the estate. In addition, they were required to pay the estate a rent and to serve as serfs for three days during harvest time. Nearby neighbors in Lipa and Małowidz, however, were required to serve as serfs three days a week.
Between 1609 and 1616 the heavily forested area was destroyed by violent storms and forest fires which put the beekeepers out of business. Beekeepers who suffered severe losses appealed to the royal court and were provided sixteen hectares of land, allowed the right to bear arms, and, along with settlers in Lipa and Małowidz, were removed from serfdom by the court. This special status and privilege, first started here, was later extended to other settlement areas in the Puszczy Zagajnica forest of Kurpie, and marked the beginning of agriculture in the area.
The Jednorożec settlement was officially incorporated as a village on August 7, 1650, by a decree from King John II Casimir Vasa, which allowed the beekeepers and farmers, who were already settled there, the official title to their land. The village grew from approximately 40 families in the early 1700s to 80 families in 1781, and Jednorożec then became the second largest town of the parish, after Chorzele. A census in 1827 indicated the town's population was 693 inhabitants housed in 111 homes.
A resolution of the Duchy of Warsaw, dated March 12, 1808, allowed the creation of parochial schooling in Jednorożec, and, in 1809, the first school opened in the village in an old building. A newly built school was funded and established in 1817, and the teacher, John Krajewski, received 300 złoty a year, plus contributions. School attendance was low and often interrupted by the children having to remain at home to help with farm chores.
The settlement and surrounding area survived the Swedish invasion of Poland at the turn of the 17th century and, during the November Uprising and the January Uprising of the years 1863–1864, many of the young men of the town joined the insurgency. During the January Uprising, the surrounding forests provided shelter to the insurgents. It is in this area, near Drążdżewo, the commander of the insurgents hid Zygmunt Padlewski with his division after Padlewski's defeat at Myszyniec. Russian czarist troops moved into the area, and a battle was fought which resulted in Padlewski losing the battle with 50 of his insurgents killed in action or drowned while escaping.