Kvaløy

Not far from here lie Kvaløya and Kvaløyholmen, once among the most vibrant trading hubs in all of Helgeland. Here you can see the remains of piers, boathouses, and stone foundations from a trading post of great importance in the 1800s. Along the stone walls by the shoreline once stood large warehouse buildings connected to the busy trade of the time. This was a central point for transport and communication, and it was here, in 1878, that the company D.S. Torghatten was founded—the beginning of what later became Torghatten Dampskipsselskap, a name that still shapes the region today. Kvaløya was also early in adopting new developments: the island received electricity in 1894, at the same time as Hammerfest and long before many other Norwegian communities. Ships traveling north stopped here to stock up on supplies, trade goods, and seek shelter. It was a small, self-contained community with a bakery, storehouse, guesthouse, barns, warehouses, and living quarters—a key crossroads for trade, fishing, and maritime activity. When the large pier in the center of Brønnøysund was completed in 1912, trade on Kvaløya gradually quieted down. But people still speak of the beautiful guest rooms from 1845 on “Kvaløen,” which were said to be the most elegantly furnished in all of northern Norway.