Our History

Norway House Foundation has its origins in the 2nd World War

Norway House Foundation has its origins in the 2nd World War. When Hitler invaded Norway on April 9, 1940, the Norwegian commercial fleet was amongst the largest in the world and nearly all Norwegian ships were in international waters.

The Norwegian King and the government fled Norway to England, and the newly created government in London created Nortraship to administer the fleet, with offices in London and New York.

Lars Christensen Jr., a member of the Welfare Board of Nortraship and an employee of the Sandefjord shipping company Thor Dahl, lived with his family in New York. On behalf of Nortraship, he came to San Francisco in 1941 to investigate the possibility of acquiring a building to house Norwegian sailors during temporary stays between disembarking one ship and embarking on another.

Norway House Originally provided Food and Lodging for Norwegian Seamen in San Francisco

Mr. Christensen met with members of the Seamen’s Union in San Francisco, members of the Fish Club, and members of the Norwegian Consulate. Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Christensen decided to buy a recommended building located at 2501 Vallejo Street, San Francisco for the sum of $10,000, and operations started right away.

The purchase was made for the benefit of Norway House (“NH” or “Norway House”), which was in the process of being incorporated as a charitable organization. This was accomplished, and the articles of incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State of California on November 16, 1942.

The first purpose of Norway House Corporation was listed as:

“To acquire and maintain a home in San Francisco ... for Norwegian merchant officers and seamen temporarily sojourning in California; to provide food and lodging in said home, at cost, for said officers and seamen; to establish and maintain a library in said home for the use and benefit of said officers and seamen; to provide for social, literary and similar entertainments in said home for said seamen.”

In the beginning of the operation of Norway House, the Christensens also helped with funds to renovate and rebuild the Vallejo Street property to fit the purpose of Norway House.

From the start, the upper two floors were planned for a capacity of eighteen lodgings, but during the war and shortly after as many as thirty persons would be accommodated for the night. The ground floor over the garage was to be used as the manager’s office, and above that were the social rooms, with a library, dining room and kitchen. The upstairs rooms were sleeping rooms and bathrooms.

NH was administered by the Norwegian Government Seamen’s Service and, until the 1970’s, NH was an active facility for social events for Norwegian seamen as well as the Norwegian community in the Bay Area.

Funding was always an issue for NH. As the number of Norwegian sailors started a rapid decline, the activities did not generate sufficient funds for paying the maintenance of the building.

The Sale of Norway House and the Birth of Norway House Foundation

On November 24, 1942, the members of the Board of Directors signed a Declaration setting forth that:

“…in the event of dissolution of [Norway House Corporation], after payment of all just debts and claims of said corporation, the residue belongs to the Government of the Kingdom of Norway.”

Resolutions stating the same continued to be signed by the Board until at least 1989.