Norwegian Lady statue (boardwalk)

Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States

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The Norwegian Lady is a nine-foot bronze statue on the Virginia Beach boardwalk at 25th Street. It replicates the wooden figurehead of the Norwegian bark Dictator, wrecked off Virginia Beach on Good Friday, 1891; seven of the 17 aboard died. The figurehead washed ashore and stood as a memorial at the oceanfront for about sixty years until Hurricane Barbara damaged it in 1953. With a grant from the Norwegian Shipping Association, sculptor Ornulf Bast made two bronze replicas in 1962, one for Virginia Beach and one for Moss, Norway, which became its sister city in 1974.

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Norwegian Lady statue (boardwalk)

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Site-level location · 36.8621° N, 75.9683° W

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The Norwegian Lady on the Virginia Beach boardwalk is a bronze copy of a ship's figurehead from a wreck in 1891, and a twin of her stands in Moss, Norway.

The city's public art page describes a nine-foot bronze statue at 25th Street and the Boardwalk, built in 1962. It commemorates the crew and passengers of the Norwegian bark Dictator, which ran aground off Virginia Beach on Good Friday 1891. Seven of the 17 people aboard died, and the city says the dead included the captain's pregnant wife and young son. Wikipedia says the ship was bound for West Hartlepool, England, with Georgia pine lumber, and went aground about 300 yards offshore near present-day 37th Street. It gives the date as March 27, while Visit Virginia Beach gives March 28.

The ship's wooden figurehead washed ashore. According to the city, the manager of the Princess Anne Hotel had it set up facing the ocean as a memorial. Wikipedia puts it near the boardwalk at 16th Street and says it was a local landmark for more than 60 years. Hurricane Barbara damaged it badly in 1953, and Wikipedia says city officials later could not find it.

A grant from the Norwegian Shipping Association paid for two nine-foot bronze replicas by Norwegian sculptor Ornulf Bast. One went to Virginia Beach and one to Moss, which became Virginia Beach's sister city in 1974. Wikipedia dates their unveiling to September 22, 1962, and both it and the city quote the pedestal inscription: "I am the Norwegian Lady. I stand here, as my sister before me, to wish all men of the sea safe return home."

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A statue on the Virginia Beach boardwalk. Admission, hours and access terms are not documented in the sources reviewed; check locally before visiting.

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Virginia Beach Boardwalk at 25th Street, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

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Giant Statue of Neptune

Virginia Beach, Virginia

King Neptune is a 34-foot cast bronze statue by Virginia sculptor Paul DiPasquale, at 31st Street and the Boardwalk in Virginia Beach. The sea god holds a trident. The City of Virginia Beach's public art page records its dedication on September 30, 2005.

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