A Clifton Christmas

My younger sister has recently taken a job in a small central Texas town called Clifton, population: 3,397. Until moving to Thailand in 2013, I had lived in Texas for all of my life. I had spent four years in Waco, just twenty minutes or so from Clifton. Still, I had never heard of the little town before my sister lived there.

Clifton, it turns out, is the "Norwegian Capital of Texas". It was settled in the 19th century by a group of Norwegian immigrants, and even today, the town tries to maintain some of its Norwegian heritage. I visited my sister, and saw Clifton for the first time, sometime around Thanksgiving for the annual Norwegian Country Christmas festival put on by the town.

Viking ship in the town's Christmas parade

We arrived on a Friday evening, just in time to kick off the weekend's festivities with the annual Parade of Lights! My family found a comfortable spot along the already crowded Main Street, picked up a few hot cups of native pecan coffee (a Texas specialty) from the famous Corner Drug Cafe (historic pharmacy turned cafe) and settled in to watch the parade.

Santa on an old firetruck

at the Clifton Parade

The next morning, after avocado toast and more pecan coffee at the Corner Drug Cafe, we set off on a self-guided tour of the historic sites around Clifton. A map led us across the hill country from site to site and a special write-up in the Clifton Record explained the history of each destination.

St. Olaf's Kirke

The first stop on our little tour was the "Old Rock Kirke", St. Olaf's Lutheran Church, which stands out in the countryside a bit of a drive from Clifton itself.

St. Olaf Cemetery

The Rock Church was built in 1886 to serve the community of Norwegian immigrants who settled the Clifton region. Today, the congregation has outgrown the tiny church and has moved to a bigger nearby building, however the Old Rock Church is still used for special occasions, and is one of the most famous historical sites in Clifton.

Rock Kirke

The church was recognized as a very special historical site in 1982, when King Olaf V himself paid a visit to the small Texas town, officially sealing Clifton's reputation as the "Norwegian Capital of Texas".

inside the church

Next up, we visited the nearby Our Savior's Lutheran Church of the Norse. Although it looks newer than St. Olaf's, the caretakers were quick to inform us that Our Savior's is actually the oldest original Norwegian Lutheran church in the area.

Our Savior Lutheran Church of the Norse

inside the Lutheran Church

As we toured the church, the caretaker (or maybe he was the priest) turned to us with a grin.

"Do you want to ring the bell?" he asked.

Of course we said "yes"!

ringing the bell

The church has two bells. The first, which we got to ring, was the regular church bell that made a deep, rich clanging sound. The other, the caretaker explained to us, was the funeral bell. During a funeral held at the church, the bell, which sounds in a rich minor tone, is rung once for every year that the deceased was alive.

in the bell tower

There was a wide variety of Norwegian delicacies for sale in the church hall. The church is famous for their annual smorgasbord, which is held each year around Christmas. It's so popular that the tickets are awarded by a lottery system! I bought their smorgasbord cookbook. Maybe next year I'll cook a Christmas smorgasbord of my own. I also picked up some delicious potato bread to snack on during our drive around the countryside.

delicious Norwegian treats for sale

We visited several old Norwegian farmhouses and got to learn all about the history of the Scandanavian settlers in the central Texas region. Just before lunch, we visited the local car museum, which boasted an amazing collection of classic and antique cars, all decked out for Christmas.

classic car museum

awesome old cars

Afterwards, we visited the local museum. The people in Clifton are very proud of their Norwegian history, and for good reason! It's amazing how this cool little town has really worked hard to preserve its history and to keep its heritage. I'm glad to know about Clifton.

at the history museum

I thought I knew my home state pretty well, but then again, I guess Texas is pretty big. There are tons of small town out there with interesting festivals and fascinating heritage. Maybe I've got to spend more time traveling in the US.

Norwegian Christmas gnomes

Merry (late) Christmas!

lunch