The Restauration ready to set sail again — and Seattle is ready to celebrate!

A replica of the sloop Restauration will depart from Stavanger, Norway, on July 4, 2025, exactly 200 years after its predecessor first set sail for the New World. Photo: restauration.no

As the Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association prepares to celebrate Crossings 200, the bicentennial commemoration of 200 years of organized Norwegian immigration to North America, our thoughts drift across the sea to Stavanager, Norway. It was from there that 52 brave Norwegians sailed away on a sloop bound for New York City on July 4, 1825. Their ship was called the Restauration, and on July 4, 2025, a replica boat will set sail again on the same course to the New World.

The Restauration has been called the Norwegian "Mayflower," for it, like its English predecessor, carried the immigrants in search of religious freedom. At a time when the Norwegian state church severely restricted religious practices, the sloop carried a group of Quakers and followers of the Norwegian pietist Hans Nielsen Hauge to the New World. Many of them sold their flourishing farms in Norway to finance the journey.

Cleng Peerson led the Sloopers of 1825 to a new life in the New World. Image: Cleng Peerson self-portairt / public domain

They were led by Cleng Peerson, a charismatic figure, who seemed to be filled with wanderlust and the spirit of Manifest Destiny. Peerson had gone ahead of the group to scout things out for the other Norwegians. He met the ship in New York and eventually led them to a Quaker settlement in upstate New York called Kendall, before heading westward on foot to greener pastures in the Midwest.

It was an arduous journey on the 54-foot Restauration, filled to overcapacity with the 52 passengers. The ship's captain even gave birth during their crossing, bringing the passenger total to 53. There was many adventures along the way, but there was almost no sickness, and no one died before they arrived in New York Harbor on Oct. 9, 1825. Because they traveled on a sloop, the group of immigrants became known as the "Sloopers."

The boat that will set sail from Stavanger this July was built to be historically accurate, although no one knows exactly what the ship looked like. Photography did not exist 200 years ago, and no drawings of the original ship remain. Yet, it was known to be a typical vessel for its day, and other remaining documents have provided valuable clues as to how it looked. The replica built outside of Stavanger was launched in 2010 and today is owned and maintained by the Restauration Friends Association (restauration.no), a group of dedicated volunteers.

An original painting by Sigmund Aarseth depicts the Restauration leaving Stavanger in 1825. Image: Sigmund Aarseth / wheelerfolk.org

Preparations for the new transatlantic crossing have taken many years, but plans are now in place for a sailaway event in Stavanger, starting with a banquet dinner on July 3, followed by the public celebration when the boat set sail the next day. King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway will be in attendance as well as veteran actor Liv Ullmann, the high protector of the journey.

Norwegian-American artist Jana Peterson more recently painted the Restauration to commemorate the bicentennial. For information on how to purchase the original painting or a high-quality print, visit her website at https://sites.google.com/view/jana-peterson-designs/scandinavian-paintings. Image: Jana Peterson, acrylic on canvas

Seattle will also be represented in Stavanger by Honorary Norwegian Counsel Viggo Førde and Lori Ann Reinhall, president of the Seattle-Bergen Sister Association. Reinhall has lectured and written extensively about Crossings and was the chief architect of the Crossings 200 website in North America, crossings.norwegianamerican.com, now maintained by Norway House after her recent retirement from The Norwegian American newspaper.

At the same time, Seattle is gearing up for its own Crossings celebrations. Sons of Norway and Daughters of Norway lodges have sponsored various guest speakers throughout the region as a prelude to a larger celebration at Leif Erikson Lodge this fall on Oct. 9, the day the Restauration arrives in New York. There will be an elegant full-course Slooper-inspired dinner, live entertainment, a silent auction, and a program sharing highlights from the big event in Stavanger and what is happening in New York with the arrival of the ship there that day.

The Seattle celebration is sponsored by our own Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association, the Sons of Norway Leif Erikson Lodge, and Norwegian Commercial Club. You may access more information and purchase your tickets on Eventbrite, but don't hesitate: only 200 tickets are available, and they are going fast.

PURCHASE YOUR TICKET ON EVENTBRITE TODAY

In the spirit of the Sloopers, we welcome you on board for Crossings 200!