Volunteers Rescue a Depot, a Fishing Boat, and a Viking Ship in Knife River

Standing beside Old Scenic Highway 61 in Knife River is something most visitors do not expect to find: a 42-foot replica of a Viking longship. Named Leif Erikson, the vessel crossed the Atlantic Ocean nearly a century ago as a reenactment of Viking ships of the 1100s.

The ship sailed from Bergen, Norway, in May 1926 and arrived in Duluth in June 1927. For decades, it moved from one location to another as supporters searched for a permanent home where it could be protected from the elements and preserved for future generations. Today, the ship has found that home at the Knife River Heritage & Cultural Center.

This is the story of three restored historical structures standing together on one piece of land known as the Knife River Heritage & Cultural Center. Knife River is a small town about 18 miles north of Duluth. Along with the Viking ship is a railroad depot and a herring tugboat name the Crusader II.

The restored railroad depot tells the story of a community that was once one of the busiest railroad centers on the North Shore.

On a warm summer morning, Northern Wilds met Knife River resident and Heritage Center board president Paul von Goertz to learn how these pieces of history came together in one small North Shore community.

Saving the Knife River Depot

According to von Goertz, the project began not with the Viking ship, but with a much more modest goal: saving the community’s historic railroad depot.

In 2017, local residents, including campground owner Randy Ellestad and boatwright Larry Ronning, began restoring the aging structure. At the time, the depot was owned by Ellestad, who leased the land beneath it. Volunteers spent years transforming the building into a place where the community’s railroad, fishing, and immigrant heritage could be shared with visitors.

Ellestad, who grew up in Knife River, remembers when the deteriorating depot served as a gathering place for local teenagers and even a “spook house” during Halloween hayrides.

Today, exhibits, photographs, and artifacts help tell the story of Knife River’s past. Dioramas illustrate the railroad operations that once made the community a transportation hub on the North Shore. During special events, von Goertz sometimes dresses as a depot agent, helping visitors imagine what the building was like during its working years.

A Herring Tug: Crusader II

As work on the depot progressed, volunteers turned their attention to another local treasure: Crusader II, a 35-foot wooden herring tug built in 1938. Volunteers restored the vessel with help from Doug Hill, whose grandfather and great-uncle originally built it. Hill, who lives in Florida, visited Knife River during a family reunion and saw the boat’s deteriorating condition. An experienced woodworker, he returned the following summer and spent months helping restore the vessel, staying at the campground next door. Working under the direction of boatwright Ronning, Hill contributed hundreds of hours preserving the boat his family had built nearly 90 years earlier.

The Viking Ship

Then an unexpected opportunity appeared.

The nonprofit Save Our Ship had spent decades searching for a permanent home for the Leif Erikson Viking ship. The vessel had become a familiar landmark in Duluth, but exposure to the weather threatened its long-term preservation.

Knife River offered something few other locations could: a public site with strong Norwegian roots, room for visitors, and a growing heritage center dedicated to preserving local history.

Ellestad also serves as co-chair of Save Our Ship and immediately saw the possibilities.

“The Viking ship has been my passion,” he said. “To have it in our backyard is incredible.”

For Ellestad, the ship is only one thread in a much larger story—one that includes railroad workers, Norwegian immigrants, commercial fishermen, and generations of North Shore families.

“Every part of this place has a story,” he said. “They’re all connected.”

In November 2021, the ship was moved from Duluth to Knife River, where volunteers from both organizations continued restoration work and raised funds to construct a protective shelter.

“It lived under a lucky star,” Ellestad said of the vessel’s survival.

“It’s been a long road,” said Neil Atkins, co-chair of Save Our Ship. The organization spent more than 40 years searching for a permanent home for the vessel.

“We were welcomed by Knife River, and it’s quite an accomplishment,” Atkins said. “It’s pretty exciting to have a home where we are appreciated.”

For von Goertz, the work is ultimately about preserving stories as much as artifacts.

“We were very close to losing this history,” he said.

To learn more about the Knife River Heritage & Cultural Center, visit krhcc.org.