Beyond Mountain and Gardar: The Lost Icelandic Communities of North Dakota

by Sunna Olafson Furstenau

Continuing the North America Icelandic settlement theme, Sunna addresses the many areas of North Dakota our ancestors called home, even temporarily. Many towns and villages, although mostly abandoned or forgotten, uphold an enduring legacy binding their past to our present.

When people think of Icelandic settlements in North Dakota, they usually think of Mountain and Gardar first. Perhaps Akra and Cavalier come to mind as well. But the Icelandic story in North Dakota stretches far beyond those familiar names.

I grew up on a farm in the Eyford area surrounded by these settlements. The churches, cemeteries, community halls, and family farms were not historical landmarks to me, they were simply part of everyday life. They remain an important part of our shared heritage today.

From Pembina on the Canadian/Minnesota border to the Pembina Hills and beyond, Icelandic immigrants established one of the largest and most successful Icelandic settlement regions in North America. Communities with names such as Pembina, Hallson, Akra, Svold, Backoo, Andvari, Vidalin, Mountain, Eyford, Gardar, Fjalla, Stokesville, Milton, Crystal, and Cavalier became connected through family, faith, language, and community.

Historic map of Pembina County showing the main settlement area. The story reaches beyond this boxed area and will be shared in more detail below.

Many of these places still preserve visible reminders of that history, especially the new storyboards at Vikur Lutheran Church in Mountain, Gardar's two historic churches, the Hallson Church at the Icelandic State Park, the Thingvalla memorial at Eyford, the memorial at Svold/Peters, at Vidalin, and Fjallakirkja in the Pembina Hills all of which tell part of the story. Their cemeteries continue to hold generations of Icelandic pioneers and descendants.

The Pembina Icelandic Church, built in 1885 remains the second oldest Icelandic church in North America. The Ukrainian Church added the silver dome in 1937.

The story extends even farther west. Icelandic families also settled around Melankton, Upham, Bottineau, and Minot, carrying their traditions and faith into new communities while maintaining close ties to the original settlements in the northeast.

Melankton Church, Upham, North Dakota

What ties all of these places together is not simply geography; it is the role churches, cemeteries, and community gathering places played in preserving Icelandic identity. These were the centers of community life, where people worshipped, celebrated milestones, and supported one another through both good years and difficult ones.

When we look at a map today, it is easy to see only dots and names.

But these were never just places. And the settlement spanned a far greater area than any single map can show. Icelanders filled the farms across the vast land. Early settlers also lived near Little Salt, Park River, and Grafton in Walsh County, and in other corners of eastern North Dakota. By 1880, northeast North Dakota held the largest Icelandic population in the entire United States.

These were communities built by people who left everything behind and started over on the northern prairie. They built homes, churches, schools, community halls, and cemeteries. They endured blizzards, isolation, grasshoppers, failed crops, and hard years no one would wish on anyone.

And still, they created something remarkable: a whole network of Icelandic communities held together by faith, language, family, and a shared sense of purpose.

If there is one thread that ties every stop on this journey together, it is the churches and cemeteries. For our Icelandic settlers, the church was so much more than a building. It was the heartbeat of the community where they were baptized, educated, confirmed, married, and finally laid to rest. Worship services were held in Icelandic, and even today the congregations sing the first verse of Silent Night in Icelandic each Christmas Eve.

That, to me, is the whole lesson. When a community grew smaller and the school, then the store, and then the post office closed, it has been the church and the cemetery that has remained. They are the physical attestations that an Icelandic community lived, worshiped, and loved there. By caring for these churches and cemeteries, we are caring for the very places where our people marked every important moment of their lives.

Fjalla Church, Cemetery, and Monument

Today, dedicated volunteers continue to care for these historic places. Organizations such as the Icelandic Communities Association, the Icelandic State Park, local churches, community halls, and historical societies help ensure that the stories of our pioneers remain visible for future generations. In Gardar, that work has improved the historic community hall, including the addition of a modern kitchen. The old Gardar Store has even found new life as a bar and a nine-hole frisbee golf course.

At Svold, they have the annual Hunter's Breakfast. We have the Scandinavian Festival and the Leifur Eiríksson statue out in Minot. Across the Icelandic settlement sites, there is much pride and the community activities continue to bring people together and keep these stories alive.

Pastor Páll Þorláksson, the Father of the Dakota Settlement, is buried in the Vikur cemetery in Mountain. The church and cemetery are on his homestead, directly across Main Avenue from where our Icelandic Rootshús Interpretive Center will soon rise. The groundbreaking is at the annual Deuce of August / 2nd of August Icelandic Heritage Celebration.

Vikur Lutheran Church and Cemetery - across from the Icelandic Rootshús

The communities may be smaller today, but they are not forgotten.

Their churches still stand.

Their cemeteries are still cared for.

Their descendants are still here.

And every year, descendants come home to remember, to reconnect, and to stand where their story began. The Icelandic settlements of North Dakota were never just a collection of farms and churches. They became a crossroads for thousands of Icelandic immigrants and their descendants. From these communities, families spread across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, California, and throughout North America. Yet for many, the trail still leads back here.

Back to the churches where ancestors worshipped.

Back to the cemeteries where pioneers rest.

Back to the communities that helped shape generations of Icelandic North Americans.

That is why this history matters.

And that is why we invite you to come home.

This is why Icelandic Roots exists and we will soon have the Rootshús, too.

Through the work of more than eighty volunteers in Iceland, Canada, and the United States, we at Icelandic Roots preserves family histories, photographs, cemetery records, church records, emigration information, and genealogical connections that help descendants discover where they came from. We educate others daily through the database, biweekly newsletters, Samtal Hour, Book Club, seminars, webinars, podcasts, and other social media channels. Soon, the Icelandic Rootshús in Mountain will provide a permanent home where visitors can experience these stories not only online but also in person at the Rootshús. Walk the cemeteries. Visit the churches. Meet cousins. Share stories. Stand on the very ground where our pioneers built their lives. In the database, search for the name of a place ... Mouse River, Melankton, Bottineau, Little Salt, Milton, Olga, Svold, Andvari... the list goes on and on. We have almost 30,000 places mapped in the Icelandic Roots Database and 776 of them are in North Dakota.

This heritage belongs to all of us and this is how a heritage endures.

And its next chapter is just beginning.