History
The new community of Norge was formally established beginning in 1904 in western James City County by Norwegian-Americans and other Scandinavians, with persons resettling from other places in North America joined by new immigrants. The word "Norge" is the Norwegian (Bokmål) spelling of "Norway". 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.
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 (C&O). The Peninsula Extension of the railroad had been built through the area in 1881 to reach from the mountains of West Virginia to the coal piers on Hampton Roads at the new city of Newport News 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 continues to serve the area with a stop at the Williamsburg, Virginia station.
By 1909, Norge contained 25 buildings, including homes, churches, stores and other businesses. Some of the original buildings still stand today.
Read more about this topic: Norge, Virginia
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