Sandar

Sandar (until 1932 named Sandeherred) is a former municipality in Vestfold county (Norwegian: flyke), Norway.

Sandar was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was merged with Sandefjord and became its northeastern suburb on January 1, 1968.

Sandar was, basically, the rural part of the current municipality, although it had its share of industry, too, mostly located close to the former border between the two municipalities. Thus many famous corporations now associated with Sandefjord had their origins in Sandar, e.g. Jotun, Framnæs Mekaniske Værksted and Sandar Fabrikker (a chemical plant dedicated to refining whale oil).

With the merger, the combined district took the name of the much smaller town and, effectively, made Sandar disappear from history.

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old farm Sande (Norse Sandar), since the first church was built here. The name is the plural form of sandr m 'sand; area with sandy soil'.