Near the town church there is a monument in memory of professor Knut Lundmark. He was born in 1889, in Krokträsk, Älvsbyn. The teacher at his primary school encouraged his parents to let him study at the higher educational institution in Luleå, and then at university. 1929 he became a professor of astronomy in Lund.
Knut Lundmark published many papers, including the book ‘Astronomical Discoveries’, which describes several thousand years of collective astronomical research. He was also a prolific writer in many scientific journals and has been described as “the man who gave popular science a face”.