"Fabrikkaia" (3 of 3)
Description
The quay goes under the name of Prestelvkaia or Fabrikkaia. There was a rectory here from 1793 to 1830, so the river was named Prestelva (Priest River).
In 1871, H. F. Esbensen and the German Thomas Morgan started up a guano factory on Prestelva - they were to produce fertilizer from fish-heads. By the standards of that time, this was a major enterprise consisting of two warehouses, a manager's house and quay, as well as a house for drying the fish-heads. This house acquired the name of "gongen" and parts of the house are still standing on the quay today. The raw materials for the guano production, fish-heads of various kinds, were bought from local fishermen. The heads were strung on a line and hung up to dry on low drying racks, so-called "hauhjeller". After drying, these were delivered to the factory and taken in to the building, where they were hung up to continue drying out. Esbensen owned his own jekt (a small cargo boat with half deck and sails) that sailed around Eastern Finnmark buying up raw materials (fish-heads) for the factory. The guano was mainly exported to Germany.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the first factory burned down. However, it was swiftly rebuilt, this time using more modern technology for measuring and drying the guano. The main building comprised three storeys and may be seen in this photograph. In the western section of the building there was a sawmill on the ground floor and a carpentry workshop upstairs. The guano factory itself was in the building's eastern section. Here, production took place from May onwards, depending on the supply of fish-heads. Many people worked here and women made up the main workforce.
Two millstones from the first factory have been preserved and are situated today north of Fabrikkaia. Stones of this kind were used to mill the guano.
In 1871, H. F. Esbensen and the German Thomas Morgan started up a guano factory on Prestelva - they were to produce fertilizer from fish-heads. By the standards of that time, this was a major enterprise consisting of two warehouses, a manager's house and quay, as well as a house for drying the fish-heads. This house acquired the name of "gongen" and parts of the house are still standing on the quay today. The raw materials for the guano production, fish-heads of various kinds, were bought from local fishermen. The heads were strung on a line and hung up to dry on low drying racks, so-called "hauhjeller". After drying, these were delivered to the factory and taken in to the building, where they were hung up to continue drying out. Esbensen owned his own jekt (a small cargo boat with half deck and sails) that sailed around Eastern Finnmark buying up raw materials (fish-heads) for the factory. The guano was mainly exported to Germany.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the first factory burned down. However, it was swiftly rebuilt, this time using more modern technology for measuring and drying the guano. The main building comprised three storeys and may be seen in this photograph. In the western section of the building there was a sawmill on the ground floor and a carpentry workshop upstairs. The guano factory itself was in the building's eastern section. Here, production took place from May onwards, depending on the supply of fish-heads. Many people worked here and women made up the main workforce.
Two millstones from the first factory have been preserved and are situated today north of Fabrikkaia. Stones of this kind were used to mill the guano.
