1609: Henry Hudson sails up the river that ends up bearing his name
A brief history of the Norwegian community in the greatest city in the world. Brought to you by the Norwegian Immigrants Association, Inc.
The early years // Lower manhattan
1630s: 57 Norwegians among the first residents of New Amsterdam
1634: Roelof & Anneka Jansen arrives and settles near Albany. They are later given a piece of land north of the current City Hall in lower Manhattan.
1674: In the treaty of Westminster, the Dutch give up the colony to the English. New Amsterdam becomes New York, diminishing the Norwegian connection with the city.
1825: Eerie Canal is finished, making New York the most important port city in the Western hemisphere
1825: Arrival in NYC of the sloop "Restoration", signaling the official start of the Norwegian immigration to the United States.
1844: The Scandinavian Society is formed, meeting in a building on Carlyle St. in the current Financial District of Manhattan
1845: Violin virtuoso Ole Bull visits New York City
1866: Our Savior's Church is started on Monroe Street, Manhattan
late 1800s and forward // Red Hook, brooklyn
1878: The Norwegian Seamen's Church opens its doors in a storefront location, a few years later purchasing this Methodist Church in Red Hook.
1883: Norwegian Hospital founded
1891: Newspaper Nordisk Tidende is founded
1905: Legendary civil engineer and tunnel builder Ole Singstad emigrates to the United States. Singstad invented the innovative ventilation system used for the Holland tunnel and designed the Lincoln, Brooklyn-Battery and Queens-Midtown tunnels in the 20s and 30s. These are all in NYC, however, Singstad worked with numerous similar, large scale projects elsewhere in the U.S. and all over the world.
1914: Gjøa Sporting Club founded
1914: Edvard Grieg statue unveiled in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
1914-1918: World War I. The Norwegian merchant navy plays a crucial part in the Allied war effort, transporting supplies across the Atlantic. Confirmed casualties were 1162 sailors. 943 more remain unaccounted for.
1915: Fourth Avenue subway opens, enabling Norwegian dockworkers to move to the more pleasant Sunset Park and Bay Ridge areas while keeping their waterfront jobs.
Did you know?
1929-1934: During the Great Depression around 400 out-of-work Norwegian sailors seek shelter in makeshift shacks among the rubble of a dump in Red Hook. The Norwegians named it "Ørkenen Sur".
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