Carl Martin Bergh

Carl Martin Bergh (died 1906) was a Norwegian-American who is best remembered for promoting the resettlement of fellow Norwegian-American and other Scandinavians families from Midwestern and northern states to the area of James City County and York County surrounding the community of Norge in the eastern coastal plain region of the state of Virginia beginning around 1896.

Carl M. Bergh was born in Lands Parish, Norway and was raised in Wisconsin. His wife Kari was also born in Norway. He had operated a masonry and plaster business in Minnesota and Wisconsin for several years, and had farmed in Kansas and Tennessee for 15 years before coming to Virginia as a land agent for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O).

Bergh felt that the availability of good farm land at reasonable prices and the temperate climate in eastern Virginia would be attractive to Scandinavians who had settled in northern and Midwestern states, as he was aware of their problems with the difficult winters there. He printed and distributed brochures in English, Norwegian, and German describing the climates and opportunities in Virginia, purchasing a home for his own family in 1896.

Beginning in 1898, Norwegians, Swedes and Danes came to Norge from the Midwest, especially the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Most arrived by train on the C&O, whose nearest station was located at Toano, several miles west. Assisted by Jens B. Jenson, a town was laid out which included homes, two stores, a church, blacksmith shop, a sawmill, cabinet shop, and a grist mill. After some debate, it was named Norge. In 1908, the railroad built a station at Norge.

Carl M. Bergh's son, Alfred Bergh, established the Bergh Hotel. Later generations of many other early families now populate Norge, nearby Croaker, and western James City County, as well as the Lighfoot area which includes land in both James City and York Counties.

References

Books

*Traser, Donald R. (1998) "Virginia Railway Depots". Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. ISBN 0-9669906-0-9
*Bradshaw, Nancy Smith and Frances Huckstep Hamilton. (1989) "Velkommen til Norge: A Pictorial History of Norge, Virginia"

Websites

* [http://www.sunnydayguide.com/williamsburg/features/norge.html Norge Village] a commercial site with summary history of Norge