General information thumb|left|Map of the merged areas in 1971 that formed present-day Grimstad thumb|left|View of the city centre thumb|left|Grimstad Church thumb|upright=0.8|The narrow main pedestrian street Storgata in the city center. The town of Grimstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1878, part of the neighboring municipality of Fjære (population: 948) was transferred to Grimstad. Again, on 1 January 1960, another part of Fjære (pop: 344) was transferred to Grimstad. On 1 January 1971, the rural municipalities of Fjære (pop: 6,189) and Landvik (pop: 2,781) were merged with the town of Grimstad (pop: 2,794) to form a significantly larger municipality of Grimstad with a total population of 11,764 at the time of the merger.
General information thumb|left|Map of the merged areas in 1971 that formed present-day Grimstad thumb|left|View of the city centre thumb|left|Grimstad Church thumb|upright=0.8|The narrow main pedestrian street Storgata in the city center. The town of Grimstad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1878, part of the neighboring municipality of Fjære (population: 948) was transferred to Grimstad. Again, on 1 January 1960, another part of Fjære (pop: 344) was transferred to Grimstad. On 1 January 1971, the rural municipalities of Fjære (pop: 6,189) and Landvik (pop: 2,781) were merged with the town of Grimstad (pop: 2,794) to form a significantly larger munic.ipality of Grimstad with a total population of 11,764 at the time of the merger