[3] Bergh felt that the availability of good farm land at reasonable prices and the temperate climate in eastern Virginia would be attractive to Scandinavians who had settled in northern and Midwestern states, as he was aware of their problems with the difficult winters there.
He printed and distributed brochures in English, Norwegian, and German describing the climates and opportunities in James City County, Virginia, purchasing a home for his own family in 1896.
He built a large Victorian farm house on the remains, which still stands at the end of Farmville Lane in Norge and is privately owned.
Beginning in 1898, immigrant Norwegians, Swedes and Danes came to Norge from the Midwest, especially the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
Carl Martin Bergh died in 1906; he fell into a hotel air well and suffered severe head injuries, and his body was discovered four days later.