One of the largest surviving display artifacts of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition sits in a park in Geneva, Illinois. The Viking ship, a replica of the ancient Viking ship Gokstad, was built in Norway in 1892 and sailed to Chicago in 1893, surviving a long and dangerous non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1995, the ship has stood in Good Templar Park in Geneva, Illinois, and now is managed and preserved by the Friends of The Viking Ship (FOVS).
A newly restored nine-foot-tall dragon head and tail of the ship will be on display for the first time in a new exhibit opening at the Geneva History Museum on September 4, 2023. “Viking’s Voyage” runs through December 23 at the museum, located at 113 South Third Street in Geneva. Admission is free for museum members, $5 per adult, $2 for children (3-10), seniors (65+), and students and includes the Main Gallery, “Geneva’s Story.”
“The Viking Ship” from Picturesque World’s Fair. W.B. Conkey, 1894.
Photos from the exhibition:
The entrance to the exhibit hall features original pine deck boards from the Viking.
The beautifully restored decorative dragon head ansd tail of the Viking ship are the centerpiece of the exhibit. Guests are invited to offer a name for the piece. (“Dragnus Anderson” perhaps?)
A wall display describes how the “Star of the World’s Fair” was a constant attraction during the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and memorialized in sheet music.
A stereoscope card depicts the Viking ship during its voyage.
Among the countless mementos sold at the 1893 World’s Fair were this lovely handkerchief depicting the Viking ship.