Landvik

Landvik is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The 223.1 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1971. The municipality's area is now located in the western and central part of the present-day municipality of Grimstad. The administrative centre was the village of Roresanden, just up the hill from the Landvik Church. Other villages in Landvik include Molland, Reddal, Skiftenes, Tjore, and Østerhus. Today, the name Landvik is still used to designate the westernmost part of the municipality of Grimstad, near the Prestegårdskogen housing development.

History
The parish of Hommedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1865, the municipality was renamed Landvig. Originally, the municipal council met at the Torp farm in Reddal. Starting in the 1840s, the council met at the Landvik farm near the church. In 1876, the council began meeting at the Vikmarken school, just south of Roresanden. On 1 January 1883, the uninhabited Tolleholmen part of neighboring Birkenes municipality was transferred to Landvik. In 1956, the municipal council began meeting at the Landvik herredshus in Roresanden.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962, the uninhabited area of Salvestjønn in neighboring Øyestad municipality and most of the municipality of Eide (504 inhabitants) were merged into the municipality of Landvik. After the merger, Landvik had a total of 2,433 residents.

Then on 1 January 1971, the neighboring municipalities of Landvik and Fjære were merged with the town of Grimstad to create a new, larger municipality of Grimstad. Prior to the merger, Landvik had a population of 2,781.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) was first named after the old Hommedal farm (Humludalr) since the local priest lived on that farm. The first element was the old name for a local river, Humla. That is the genitive case of the word which is the name of the "humulus" plant. The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". The municipality and parish used the name Hommedal from 1838 until 1865 when the municipal (but not the parish name) was changed to "Landvig".

The new name came from the neighboring Landvig farm since the historic Landvik Church was located there. The first element is which means "land" or "district". The last element comes from the word which means "bay" or "inlet". The farm is located on a bay on the northeast side of the lake Landvikvannet. In the early 20th century the spelling was adjusted to Landvik, to use a more Norwegianized spelling rather than the old Danish spelling.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. 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.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Landvik was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.