Skåre, Norway

Skåre is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 68 km2 municipality existed from 1881 until 1958 when it was merged into the neighboring town of Haugesund. Originally, Skåre encompassed the far northwestern corner of Rogaland county on the mainland, plus several islands off the western coast. Today, Skåre refers to the northern part of the town of Haugesund.

History
The municipality of Skaare (later, the spelling was changed to Skåre) was created on 1 November 1881 when it was split off from the municipality of Torvastad. The new municipality had a population of 1,665. On 1 January 1911, a part of Skåre (population: 3,847) bordering the neighboring town of Haugesund was transferred to Haugesund. On 1 January 1958, the rest of Skåre (population: 6,772) was merged with the town of Haugesund, creating a much larger Haugesund Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Skara farm (Skára) since the first Skåre Church was built there. The name likes derives from the word which means "a rift in a rock". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Skaare with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Skåre, using the letter å instead.

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 (Herredsstyre) of Skåre was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Skåre (incomplete list):
 * 1916-1919: Torjus Larsen Gard
 * 1931-1937: Torjus Larsen Gard