A local adage in Stavanger was that parents would tell their boisterous children to "beware, otherwise I will send to Lindøy!"

The reason for the institution of Lindøy was priest and politician Lars Oftedal bought the 280-deciare (0.69-acre) large island in 1887.

The following year opened the so-called Redningshjem og Oppdragelsesanstalt ("Rescue Home and Educational Institution") which had space for 30 "perverse and depraved boys."

Originally, the island was used by the Waisenhuset orphanage in Stavanger and it was specifically for boys who were unfit to live there in the city.

The child welfare laws were revised again in 1995 and since then, Lindøy has been purely a home for residential care for youths 18 and younger.