Leif Erikson Plaque 

Right behind Mount Auburn Hospital near the Charles River and along the busy U.S. Route 3, is a stone slab next to the sidewalk. Historic markers are common throughout the Cambridge area, but this one is unique as it’s dedicated to Norse explorer Leif Erikson, who lived more than half a millennium before the arrival of English settlers and the formation of the U.S. 

Within mainstream archaeology, it’s generally accepted that Norse explorers such as Erikson were the earliest known Europeans to visit North America before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Archaeological sites such as L'Anse aux Meadows on the edge of northern Newfoundland prove Scandinavian explorers reached North America about 500 years before other navigators from continental Europe. While there’s conclusive evidence of Viking settlement in Canada, some believe Erikson traveled farther south, even reaching as far as Massachusetts. One such proponent of this theory was Eben Norton Horsford. 

Horsford was a scientist who taught agricultural chemistry at Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard from 1847 to 1863. He’s best known for his reformulation and improvement of baking powder, but in his spare time he developed a fierce fascination with Viking history, particularly the idea Erikson visited present-day New England.

He believed several Algonquin place-names such as Naumkeag, Namskaket, and Amoskeag were actually of Norse origin. In particular, he thought the legendary city of Norumbega in Vinland was derived from “Norvega,” meaning Norway.

Horsford commissioned numerous works dedicated to Erikson and marking various locations connected to Vikings throughout Massachusetts, despite having essentially no archeological evidence for his claims.

There is a statue of Leif Erikson in Boston, and there was Norumbega Amusement Park in Auburndale before it closed in 1963. In Weston, there is Norumbega Tower, which Horsford believed marked the location of the legendary fort and city. The plaque in Cambridge is a simple display that reads: “On this spot in the year 1000 Leif Erikson built his house in Vineland.” 

Horsford’s theory of Erikson and Vikings settling in Massachusetts received little academic support during his life and has been dismissed by most archaeologists ever since. However, the broader idea that Vikings may have traveled farther south than Newfoundland remains a topic of scholarly interest. Artifacts such as the Maine Penny, an 11th-century Norwegian coin found in Maine, have fueled speculation and added to the possibility of this theory.

If you have an interest in Leif Erikson, Viking history, or pre-Columbian exploration theories, the plaque and other areas near Boston are worth a look.