E
skifjörður is a Fjord in the county of Suður-Múlasýsla, an appendix
to the northwest of Reydarfjörður. It is sided by steep slopes and ends
in a short, rather narrow valley. On the northern shore of Eskifjörður
lies the township of the same name. Eskifjörður was officially acknowledged as a
markettown in 1786. The town grew rapidly in the years after 1870 as the
Norwegians started catching herring on a large scale off the east coast of Iceland.
A freezing plant was built in 1895 and the first motor boats came in 1905.
A home economics school was founded in 1875, the second of its kind in Iceland
and Iceland's first free church was built here in 1884. The first public
electricity utility in Iceland became operational here in 1911. Eskifjörður is
the seat of the Suður-Múlasýsla county administration. The economy in the town
is dominated by the seafood industry. The local freezing plant is remarkable for
its large wall painting by the Catalonian painter Balthazar.
The mountain Hólmatindur rises 985 meters high above the town,
thoe pride of the inhabitants who claim to receive positive
currents from it. The mountain has its 'dark side', though,
because from September through April the town lies in its shadow.
In the year 1998 the townships of Eskifjörður, Norðfjörður und
Reyðarfjörður were united in one administrative unit: Fjarðabyggð.
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