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TheNorumbega Tower is a stone tower erected byEben Norton Horsford in 1889 to mark the supposed location ofFort Norumbega, a legendaryNorse fort and city.[1][2] It is located inWeston, Massachusetts at the confluence ofStony Brook and theCharles River. The tower is approximately 38 feet (12 m) tall, composed of mortared field stones with a spiral stone staircase. There is no evidence, archaeological or otherwise, to support the assertion that there were Norse settlements anywhere in New England.
Eben Norton Horsford was convinced that theEastern Algonquian word 'Norumbega', which has been taken to mean the general region that is now coastalNew England, was derived from 'Norvega', meaningNorway. A prominent stone plaque on the tower relates toNorse explorers from theIcelandic sagas. Horsford believed Norumbega to beVinland, which he had no physical evidence to prove. The construction of the tower was accomplished four years before Horsford's death.
Horsford's beliefs and tower influenced the naming ofNorumbega Park, a well-known recreational complex located across the river inNewton that operated from 1897 to 1964. The addition of the tower also altered the way Americans viewed Norse history and its impact on North America.
42°21′12.20″N71°15′43.6″W / 42.3533889°N 71.262111°W /42.3533889; -71.262111
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