The Norumbega Tower is a stone memorial tower erected in 1889 in what is now Weston, Massachusetts, along the Charles River. It bears an elaborate plaque claiming the site was once a Viking fort visited by Leif Erikson around the year 1000 and that the surrounding area formed part of Vinland. The tower was commissioned during a period of intense Norse Revival enthusiasm in New England, when prominent Bostonians became convinced that Vikings had settled the region centuries before Columbus. Visitors today see a picturesque granite structure that functions more as a monument to 19th-century wishful thinking than to any confirmed medieval Norse presence. Gates stopped here during his road trip through New England to examine one of the most prominent physical artifacts of that Viking myth-making era — and to ask the pointed question of whether any actual evidence backs up the plaque's bold claims.
Leif Erikson's alleged visit to the region, as claimed on the tower's plaque — a claim not supported by archaeological evidence
A Viking statue was erected on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston during the Norse Revival period, reflecting widespread public enthusiasm for Viking origin stories in New England
Norumbega Tower constructed, primarily associated with Harvard chemistry professor Eben Horsford, who theorized that the area's name derived from 'Norvego,' meaning Norway
Gates investigates the tower as part of his broader search for Viking evidence in New England in Expedition Unknown S04E02, 'Vikings in America'
The Norumbega Tower stands as a monument less to Viking history than to 19th-century American identity politics. As Gates explains in the episode, the Norse Revival was a cultural moment when New England's Protestant establishment became, in his words, 'consumed with this idea that the Vikings had discovered America.' The most prominent advocate was Eben Horsford, described in the episode as a Harvard chemistry professor, who built the tower and championed the theory that local place names were evidence of Norse settlement.
Mainstream archaeology has not found credible support for a Viking presence at this specific site. The etymology connecting 'Norumbega' to 'Norvego' (Norway) is not accepted by modern linguists, and no physical artifacts — tools, structures, or organic remains — have been excavated near the Charles River that would indicate medieval Norse habitation. The only confirmed Norse settlement site in North America remains L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, which is located far to the north.
What is worth taking seriously, as Gates' episode acknowledges, is the broader question of how far south Viking exploration might have extended. The episode uses the Norumbega Tower as a launching point for examining other New England sites and artifacts — including a reported skeleton found in Fall River and the Newport Tower in Rhode Island — that have all, at various points, been claimed as Viking evidence. Each turns out to be either lost, disputed, or better explained by later colonial activity.
Gates' episode is most useful as a clear-eyed tour through the archaeology of wishful thinking. He neither mocks the romantic impulse behind the Norse Revival nor pretends the evidence is stronger than it is. The Norumbega Tower, in his framing, is an honest artifact of a specific cultural moment — just not the Viking moment it claims to commemorate.
The tower's elaborate plaque claims Leif Erikson visited the site around the year 1000 — but the plaque itself dates only to 1889, nearly nine centuries after the alleged visit.
Eben Horsford, the Harvard chemistry professor behind the tower, was better known in his day as the co-inventor of baking powder — an unusual background for an amateur Viking historian.
The Norse Revival movement that inspired the tower also led to the erection of a Viking statue on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston in 1887, which Gates notes is 'lorded over' the city's main road.
Gates describes the Norse Revival partly as a cultural and religious statement: Boston's Protestant elite reportedly preferred a Viking — rather than Catholic Italian Columbus — as the true discoverer of America.
The Norumbega Tower is believed to be generally accessible to visitors as an outdoor landmark along the Charles River in Weston, Massachusetts. Visitors can view the tower and read the historic plaque, though the interior may not be open to the public. Checking with the local Weston town offices or the Charles River reservation authorities for current access conditions is advisable before visiting.
Boston, Massachusetts, approximately 12 miles to the east.
Late spring through early fall offers the most pleasant conditions for visiting, with mild temperatures and full foliage along the Charles River. The site can be particularly atmospheric in autumn when the surrounding New England landscape is at its most scenic.
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is another Gates investigation into a foundational American historical mystery involving a lost or misidentified settlement, paralleling the Norumbega story of contested colonial origins.
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain features in Gates' investigations of legendary or disputed historical claims in the northeastern United States, thematically linked to the Norse Revival mythology explored at Norumbega.
Neahkahnie Mountain
Neahkahnie Mountain involves Gates investigating a contested historical narrative about pre-Columbian or early contact-era visitors to North America, echoing the broader question of who really arrived on these shores first.