Norge is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in James City County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Location

Norge is located on the old Richmond-Williamsburg Stage Road, which is U.S. Route 60 in modern times.

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

was built through the area in the 1970s, and passes nearby. Exit 231 is labeled "Croaker-Norge" for the two small communities nearby.

History

The new community of Norge was formally established beginning in 1904 in western James City County by

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

s and other

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

ns, with persons resettling from other places in North America joined by new immigrants. Land at Norge was reasonably priced and offered rich farm land in a gentler climate than that of the northern and Midwestern states, where some of the immigrants had originally settled upon coming to America. When it came to naming the hamlet, Foster was the first suggestion. Foster was the name of a house that stood near the railroad tracks. However, that name was dismissed. Norway was another suggestion, but that was vetoed due to that moniker already having been assigned to another post office. So the town settled on the Norwegian spelling. The word "Norge" is the Norwegian (Bokmål) spelling of "

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

". The town’s first residents used the Norwegian pronunciation, “Nor’-ga”. For some years, prospective new residents were introduced to the area through promotional material sent out by Carl Martin Bergh, a fellow Norwegian-American with farming experience who had become a land agent for the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

(C&O). The

Peninsula Extension The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an ...

of the railroad had been built through the area in 1881 to reach from the mountains of West Virginia to the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

piers on

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic ...

at the new city of

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

in adjacent Warwick County. Originally known as "Vaiden's Siding", the C&O built a railroad station at Norge in 1908. The Norge Depot offered a convenient point for shipping farm produce to places such as Richmond. Although the railroad station was closed in 1969, and C&O passenger service ended in 1971,

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

continues to serve the area with a stop at the

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

station. By 1909, Norge contained 25 buildings, including homes, churches, stores and other businesses. Some of the original buildings still stand today.

Landmarks

The Norge Historic District was considered for the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1992 (reference number 92001269), but there were owner objections. The landmarks include the following: Viking Hall: In 1908, a group of young men, who called themselves the "Vikings", purchased two lots on the corner of Richmond Rd. and Peninsula St. for $5.00 in order to construct a Town Hall. They wanted a centrally located place to be used for dances, meetings and parties as their parents had known in Norway. Viking Hall provided a space for a variety of venues until the 1920s, when it went into disrepair. The Norge Home Demonstration Club purchased the building, renovated it, and renamed it the Norge Community Hall. To this day, the community and many local organizations continue to make extensive use of this hall. Bergh Hotel: This hotel was built at the turn of the 20th century. It was owned and operated by Alfred Bergh to accommodate the new arrivals at the new community. The building today is thriving as a furniture store: since the 1980s it has been the "Williamsburg Wicker and Rattan". Kinde and Nesseth Store: Hans Kinde and John Nesseth opened Norge's first store in 1903. It was a general store that sold everything from clothing to fertilizer to groceries. In 1904, the first Norge

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

operated from this facility. The building was rebuilt in 1908 after a fire, and still operates today as an antique store under the name "The Old Store in the Village". The farm home of Carl Bergh, built around 1904, is located at the end of Farmville Lane in Norge. The house was built on the remaining foundation of Farmville Plantation Manor House dating to the early 1800s, which had burned in the 1890s. Other landmarks in Norge include the former Doll Factory, the former

Williamsburg Soap and Candle Factory The Williamsburg Soap and Candle Company, known to millions as just the "candle factory", was located in the Norge section of James City County, Virginia. The factory was famous for making quality soap and candles. At one time, the Williamsbur ...

, Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran Church and the

Norge Train Depot Norge Train Depot is a historic home located at Norge, near Williamsburg, James City County, Virginia. It was built about 1907 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from standardized plans. The train station is the last surviving example of a wood f ...

, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Education

It is within Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools. Area schools: * Norge Elementary School * Toano Middle School * Warhill High School - Compare to the location of Norge ES

References

External links

* Geographical coordinates: (click for maps and satellite photos of Norge, Virginia)
James City County
(official website)
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Virginia Unincorporated communities in James City County, Virginia

Norwegian migration to North America