Event to celebrate near completion of Norwegian immigrant home project
By Terri Jo Ryan
Special to the Tribune-Herald
A celebration to honor the near completion of the decades-long project to restore a vintage Norwegian immigrant home eight miles west of Clifton will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Jens Ringness House Museum.
The farmhouse of the Ringness family in Bosque County has been restored toalmost original condition.
www.ringnesshouse.org photo
The home is located at 7621 Bosque County Road 219 near the historic marker erected in the Great Depression to mark the spot where the first Norwegian Lutheran church service in Central Texas took place in January 1867. The original structure was the home of Kari and Jens Ringness and their seven children.
The Ringness family arrived in Texas from Hedmark county, Norway, in 1851. Their son Gunerius was the first child born to Norwegian parents in Bosque County in 1855. One of their offspring, Ole, was the first mail carrier between Bosque County and Fort Worth.
He is credited with the invention of the disk plow.
The site of the Ringness home is located on a farm owned by Don and Alice Brandenberg, who donated the stone ruins in 2000 to the Norwegian Society of Texas.
Betty Tindall, one of the leaders behind the project, said Friday’s event will laud donors who have given more than $1,000 to the restoration. Activities will include a short historical program, a plaque dedication, an accordianist from Houston and refreshments.
For more information about the restoration, visit the website at www.ringnesshouse.org, email Tindall at btindall@embarqmail.com or call 254-597-2478.
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