Hvanneyri is a hamlet, a university faculty for agriculture, an agricultural college, and a parsonage. The present church was built and consecrated in 1905. Its altarpiece shows Jesus with the local landscapes in the background. The previous church was lifted off its foundations in a great storm in 1903 and carried almost intact to the spot, where the present one was built.

The college was established in 1889 with only one student during the first winter. In connection with the college various farming and research is carried out. A small Technical Museum shows the development of the Icelandic agriculture up to this date and a local women’s society operates a highly interesting handicraft centre in the same building.

A small supermarket is in a nearby building. Before the college was established, the area consisted of small farmlands. They had to be evacuated under protest of some of the inhabitants. One old woman even cast a spell on the college and said that three fires would consume it. Two have already been realized. Down by the estuary of the White River is one of the richest sedge meadows of the country. Shortly after the turn of the 18th century, Hvanneyri was the seat of the sub-governor of Iceland for a short period.