Sandtorg Municipality
Sandtorg herred
Former municipality
View of Sandtorgholmen (c. 1895)
View of Sandtorgholmen (c. 1895)
Troms within Norway
Troms within Norway
Sandtorg within Troms
Sandtorg within Troms
Coordinates: 68°39′57″N 16°33′31″E / 68.6657°N 16.5586°E / 68.6657; 16.5586
CountryNorway
CountyTroms
DistrictCentral Hålogaland
Established1926
 • Preceded byTrondenes Municipality
Disestablished1 Jan 1964
 • Succeeded byHarstad Municipality
Administrative centreHarstad
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total177 km2 (68 sq mi)
Population
 (1964)
 • Total7,512
 • Density42/km2 (110/sq mi)
DemonymSandtorging[1]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1912[2]
Data from Statistics Norway

Sandtorg is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The 177-square-kilometre (68 sq mi) municipality existed from 1926 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included the southern part of what is now Harstad Municipality on the eastern coast of the island of Hinnøya as well as some smaller islands in the Vågsfjorden. The administrative centre was actually located in the town of Harstad, immediately north of Sandtorg (although Harstad was not in Sandtorg municipality). Sandtorg Church, the main church for the municipality was in the village of Sørvika.[3]

History

Since the early 13th century, there has been a trading post at Sandtorgholmen (where the village of Sandtorg is located). This location became more important in the late 18th century when pilot services were added for foreign and local ships. The trading post continued to be a focal point of Sandtorg until 1945 when the Norwegian Army's communication services took over the facilities after the German occupation (1940–1945). The army returned Sandtorgholmen to civilian use in the 1990s. Today, the Sandtorgholmen trading post features a hotel with a harbor restaurant and meeting facilities.

The municipality of Sandtorg was established on 1 July 1926, when the municipality of Trondenes was divided into three separate municipalities. The areas east of the Tjeldsundet strait and east of the Vågsfjorden (population: 2,443) became the municipality of Skånland and the areas on the west side of the Tjeldsundet and Vågsfjorden were split two ways. The southern part (population: 4,224) became the municipality of Sandtorg and the northern part (population: 3,429) remained as the municipality of Trondenes.[4]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Trondenes municipality (population: 6,567), Sandtorg municipality (population: 7,512), the town of Harstad (population: 3,808) were merged to form a new, larger Harstad Municipality.[4]

Bjarne Berg-Sæther (born 1919) was a significant leader in Sandtorg during the 20th century. He was the mayor of Sandtorg from 1948 until 1964 when it was merged with Harstad. He was also the first mayor of the newly merged municipality of Harstad, which occurred in 1964 (and therefore also the last mayor of Sandtorg). During his 20 years as mayor after World War II, boat building factories at Rødskjæret were added, lighted ski tracks, and a community cultural house was built. Many of these additions caused Sandtorg's population to almost double. Today, Sandtorg is a community in transition from farming, fishing, and meat production to a commuter community with a significant part of the population working in Harstad about 37 kilometres (23 mi) away.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sandtorg farm (Old Norse: Sandþorghom). The first element is sandr which means "sandy area". The last element is torg which means "town square" or "marketplace".[3][5]

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[6]

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Sandtorg was made up of 35 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council was as follows:

Sandtorg herredsstyre 1960–1963 [7]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 17
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 9
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) 2
  Centre Party (Senterpartiet) 2
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 4
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 1
Total number of members:35
Sandtorg herredsstyre 1956–1959 [8]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 18
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 6
  Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) 1
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) 3
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 6
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 1
Total number of members:35
Sandtorg herredsstyre 1952–1955 [9]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 13
  Conservative Party (Høyre) 3
  Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) 1
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) 2
  Liberal Party (Venstre) 4
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 1
Total number of members:24
Sandtorg herredsstyre 1948–1951 [10]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 11
  Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) 2
  Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) 2
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) 9
Total number of members:24
Sandtorg herredsstyre 1945–1947 [11]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 12
  Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) 3
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) 3
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 6
Total number of members:24
Sandtorg herredsstyre 1938–1941* [12]  
Party name (in Norwegian) Number of
representatives
  Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) 11
  Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) 12
  Local List(s) (Lokale lister) 1
Total number of members:24
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

Mayors

The mayors of Sandtorg (incomplete list):

See also

References

  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  3. ^ a b Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (17 June 2017). "Sandtorg". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  4. ^ a b Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  5. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1911). Norske gaardnavne: Tromsø amt (in Norwegian) (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 16.
  6. ^ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

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