Fairhaven (Svalbard) - History

History

Willem Barentsz was the first to explore the area around Fairhaven in 1596. The first indisputable visit by the English was made by Jonas Poole in the Amity in 1610. Thomas Marmaduke is known to have explored the area north of Fairhaven in 1612, and may have explored Fairhaven itself as well. Again, the following season (1613), Marmaduke explored as far north as Fairhaven. The first known whaling here occurred in 1614, with the Dutch resorting to Amsterdamøya and the English to the south. Here they both establish temporary whaling stations, the former most likely on the southeastern spit of Amsterdamøya, and the latter probably on the southeastern corner of Danskøya. In 1615, they again made their way to their respective anchorages in Fairhaven. In 1619 and 1620 there were also at least two Danish ships sharing the southern area with the English. The English continued to send ships to Fairhaven until 1624 or 1625, when the Dutch took over the area.

In 1619 the Dutch replaced the tents and temporary tryworks on Amsterdamøya with permanent structures of wood and brick, in what would become known as Smeerenburg, or "Blubbertown." At first only the men of Amsterdam and the Danes established themselves on the island, with the former claiming the east and the latter the west. By 1623 several chambers of the Noordsche Compagnie had erected structures for the processing and warehousing of whale oil, and by 1633 all the chambers were represented. Up to 200 men worked ashore during the peak years in the mid-1630s. The settlement began to decline in the early 1640s, and was probably abandoned in the following decade.

In 1636, another station, called the "Cookery of Harlingen", was established by the Dutch in Houcker Bay (Virgohamna) on the north side of Danskøya. The remains of this station were seen by Frederich Martens in 1671. In 1888/1889 Arnold Pike wintered in a hut he built on almost the exact site of the former station. In 1896 Herr Andrée established himself here in an attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon, but was forced to return to Sweden. He returned to Houcker Bay the following summer (1897), and accompanied by two others, left Houcker Bay on July 11 in the balloon Eagle. They were never heard of again. Parties from Andrée’s ship, the Virgo, surveyed Fairhaven and the surrounding area.