Looking back a century

Are you curious about what Longyearbyen looked like in earlier days? Or do you like chilly pictures in general? Norsk Polarinstitutt has collected 60000 new and old pictures from the polar regions - the oldest dating back as far as 1872. It´s worth a look.

These two are from the first settlement in Longyearbyen - which was located at Skjæringa, more or less where the church is now. The first is from 1908, when the Americans still ran the place.


















The next one is from 1935, when the Norwegians (Store Norske Kullkompani) had taken over. It was on this muddy street that Siri from Svalbard ran around, I suppose.



This third on the right I don´t know the date of - but it gives an idea about what mining was like 50-60 years ago.

But - check it out for yourself. More pictures here.