Hisøy


Hisøy is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1881 until 1992 when it was merged into the municipality of Arendal. At the time of its dissolution, it was the smallest municipality in the whole county. The municipality encompassed the islands of Hisøya, Gjervoldsøy, Havsøya, Ærøya, Store Torungen, Lille Torungen, and several other small, unpopulated islands. The administrative centre was the village of Kolbjørnsvik on Hisøya island. Hisøy Church was the main church for the municipality, located in the village of His in the central part of Hisøya.

History

The municipality of Hisø was created on 1 January 1881 when the municipality of Øyestad was split into Øyestad and Hisø. On 1 January 1992, there was a major municipal merger involving Hisøy. The municipalities of Hisøy, Tromøy, Øyestad, Moland, and the town of Arendal, forming a new, much larger municipality of Arendal.

Name

The municipality is named Hisøy after the old His farm since this is where the Hisøy Church is located. The first element, His, means "the cut" and the last element is ø or øy which means "island".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms for Hisøy municipality is from modern times; they were granted on 12 December 1986 and they were in use until 31 December 1991 when the municipality ceased to exist. The red arms showed two identical white lighthouses side by side. They were chosen to represent the two local lighthouses: Store Torungen Lighthouse and Lille Torungen Lighthouse which mark the waters around the island of Hisøya and the entrance to the harbour for the town of Arendal.

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