| Great Lakes: Door County, WI Viking Hall Boat House on Rock Island, WI |
| From Wildernet: "Wealthy inventor, Chester Thordarson, owned the island between 1910 and 1945. He developed approximately 30 acres including Viking Hall, a massive stone building that today house exhibits." The passenger-only ferry from Washington Island lands at the pier which is attached to the Viking Hall Boathouse which Thordarson built. |
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| Above: This is a view from the "Welcome to Rock Island State Park" sign. The boathouse is build directly on the water facing Washington Island. Right: The boathouse is built above the water, visitors can walk down into the boathouse itself. The water is clear enough to see the bottom, about 6-10' deep. This picture is not mine... it is PortalWisconsin's. |
| These pictures were all taken inside the Viking Hall which is built above the boathouse. The furniture, stone work, and art is all original. Above: I took this picture standing in the loft above/behind the fireplace. Right: An antler chandeller above the dining table. Below: Looking across the dining table to the fireplace and the loft above/behind it. The fireplace openin was easily 5' above the floor, the mantle was carved with Icelandic Runes. |
| Most of the larger furniture was carved with Norse mythologic scenes (eg, Ragnarok, Thor's Hammer, the Tree of Ydragsil. Otherwise, most of the furniture was carved with more Icelandic Runes, which are a variation of the old Germanic Runes. |
| Thordarson's plan included an Icelandic castle too, but was never built. There is a wooden model of the plan among the displays on either side of the fireplace inside the Hall. |
| Thordarson's Estate is on the National Register of Historic Places: # 85000641. |