Skálar
The remains of the village Skálar are remnants of a life that used to be. It was a thriving community whose livelihood depended on the sea. The village was the liveliest around 1920 and inhabitants were ca 120 around that time. In 1923 the second freezing fish factory in Iceland was built in Skálar. The fish was moved from the harbour to the factory in trolley carts and you can still see the trolley tracks and the foundation of the factory. The village was rather remote, there wasn’t a doctor there but there were midwives, no church but a priest from Sauðanes served the people when needed. There was no road to Skálar and people often had to walk seven hours to the farm Heiði. The main transport route was by sea to Seyðisfjörður in the East Fjords and the first phone got to Skálar in 1927.
In the fall of 1942, Americans built a radar station on the hill above the village. The location was thought to be particularly good for monitoring enemy airplanes from the northeast. The station was named Camp Greely and forty-six soldiers lived there in twenty-four Nissen huts. The locals had a lot of contact with the soldiers in the Camp and their communication was always on a friendly basis. The soldiers gave canned goods to the families, and once during a Christmas celebration in Skálar, they brought gifts of candy and toys for the children. They also invited the locals to the movies they showed at the Camp. The world war also had some negative effects on the village of Skálar, for example the naval mines, that sometimes drifted to the shore and exploded, were one of the reasons the village was abandoned around the mid 20th century. Two mines exploded in the winter in 1941-1942 by the shore below the village and damaged a few houses. The other reasons for the abandonment were bad docking conditions, changes in the fishing industry and transportation. In 1930 the global crisis also had some bad effects on the economy everywhere.
The last people to move from Skálar left in 1955. At Skálar you can find a sign where you can read much more about the history of the village and the remains are all listed and marked there. There is also a toilet for visitors. We kindly ask visitors not to litter in the area and treat it with respect.