Template:Wp-Berdsk-History

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The migration of Russians into present-day Novosibirsk Oblast began at the end of the 17th century and continued into the 18th century. The Siberian colonists included fugitive peasants escaping Peter the Great's oppression, Old Believers, and hunters in search of furs in the Siberian woods.

By 1715, the Berd River basin had a significant population. The risk of nomad incursions from the south drove the people to demand that the Tomsk regional authorities build a defensive fortress. The fortress, at the confluence of the Berd and Ob rivers, was protected by steep banks on two sides and dense forest on the third side. The Ob river valley could be seen from the banks. The Siberian Route was laid out nearby in 1730, encouraging the development of trade. At the beginning of the 19th century, a small amount of gold washed up from the upper Berd and the Salair Ridge.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Berdsk became a grain-processing center. The local Gorokhov mill produced several types of flour which were distributed throughout Siberia, Russia and Europe via the Kara Sea. The nearby Altai Railway was built in 1915, connecting Novo-Nikolaevsk, Barnaul and Biysk.

Mobilization during World War I and the Russian Civil War which followed the October Revolution reduced Berdsk's population by one-third. The town was an administrative center of the White movement and an underground Bolshevik center. The Soviet collectivization of agriculture ended Siberia's role as an agricultural exporter.

Construction of the Novosibirsk Hydroelectric Station placed the main part of Berdsk in the Novosibirsk Reservoir's flood zone. The town was evacuated several years before the reservoir was filled in 1957–1958, and the area around the railroad station was rebuilt. Bersk's oldest buildings date to 1915, and its streets form a grid. The town was home to a Soviet bioweapons production facility.