Houtskär

History

The name of Houtskär is of Finnish origin. The hout- element does not come from any Swedish word, instead coming from the Finnish word hauta which in this context may refer to a deep part of the sea or a burial site. The original Finnish name can be reconstructed as *Hautasaari or *Hautasalo, where saari/salo was then translated into Swedish as skär. Houtskari is a later Finnish transcription of the Swedish name. Houtskär was first mentioned in 1554. A chapel was built in the village of Näsby in the early 17th century, while a church was built there in the 18th century. At the time, Houtskär was a part of the Korpo (Korppoo) parish. In 1865, Houtskär became a separate municipality. In 2009, Houtskär became a part of the new Väståboland municipality, which was renamed to Pargas in 2012.