03/21/2026
In 1859, Norwegian immigrants Jens and Kari Ringness constructed a six-room rock house on the frontier of Bosque County where they raised their family and welcomed untold new arrivals from Norway. The couple were gracious hosts for many gatherings in the growing Norse community. The first Lutheran churches services in Bosque County were held in the parlor of their home in 1867, which was the origin of Our Saviors Lutheran Church, established in 1869. On Friday, March 20, the house was filled once more with the voices and laughter of children as 72 Clifton ISD fourth graders, along with teachers and staff, filled every room of the historic house on a field trip to earning more about Bosque County history. The children were delighted by the stories of days gone by as presented by a host of Ringness House Museum volunteers, most of whom had a personal connection to the house or the Norwegian settlement.
The students, who arrived by bus in two groups, are enrolled in teacher Shelley Townley’s fourth grade Texas History class, which also delves into Bosque County history. Only one student had previously been inside the house, though several had passed by it traveling Highway 219 midway between Clifton and Cranfills Gap and were anxious to visit. The students were taken in small groups to each room of the two-story house and told about the family who once lived there and what pioneer life was like on the Ringness farm and for the early settlers in the "Norwegian Capital of Texas." Nine Ringness House Museum volunteers were on hand to talk about everything from agriculture to meal preparation and social the social life of the immigrants. The women tour guides were each dressed in the traditional Norwegian bunad, a special folk costume worn for special occasions like weddings and christenings and which represent the region the women come from in Norway.
In the ground floor central hallway, Betty Tindall told the children about the family who lived there and pointed out interesting artifacts and features of the house, including nails used in its construction and the sole original ceiling beam featured in the house. At 88, Tindall is the oldest Ringness House volunteer and has devoted the past twenty years of her life to preserving the house and its heritage, even though she is not related to the Ringness family. On the tour, she was joined by her two daughters, Michele Fox and Stephanie Goedecke, along with her son-in-law, Keith Goedecke, a Clifton Elementary Assistant Principal who was instrumental in organizing the tour.
The children were greeted in the east dining room by Stephanie Goedecke, who talked about meal preparation in the large fireplace and wood burning kitchen stove. Here the children learned that cows were milked twice daily (not five or six times) and what typical meals of the day were and how food was grown and prepared. In the west parlor, Virginia Richards spoke about the Ringness family, shared vintage photos, and showed students the tiny bedroom where the parents slept. She also pointed out the pump organ, which was a part of many pioneer homes, and a favorite part of the tour for many of the children. Elaine Bakke Bell, 83, sat quietly in a chair in the parlor before talking about education on the Bosque County frontier. She said children sometimes walked miles to nearby one-room schoolhouses or rode a horse or buggy if they were lucky.
Upstairs, Paula Ringness, a great-great-great granddaughter of Jens and Kari Ringness, showed the children the two bedrooms where children and guests slept. The students learned what a chamber pot was (one child guessed a dog bowl) before indoor plumbing and bathrooms. Ringness shared a story book about how the immigrants came to America in ships, and her own family who lived in the house for several generations.
Outdoors Jim Canuteson, who grew up near the Ringness house, spoke about agriculture and farm implements used in the settlement and how the water well worked. He told the children that the disk plow, which revolutionized farming, was invented by Ole Ringness in the blacksmith on the Ringness farm. Betty Tindall explained the importance of the cast iron kettle and how it was used to boil water, wash clothes, render fat when hogs were butchered and for making lye soap.
Jens and Kari Ringness, one of the first eight Norwegian couples to arrive in Bosque County in 1854, first lived in a log cabin along Neils Creek. But the need for more room for their growing family led to the construction of this six room dobblehus in 1859. Dobblehus meaning "double house,” with a central breezeway with a mirror image on either side on both floors, much like the familiar Texas "Dog Trot" houses. The family hosted (and housed) scores of Norwegian families arriving to the area until they could construct homes of their own.
For those who would like to see the Ringness House Museum themselves, one of the most unique and memorable opportunities is annual Spring Fling Fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, May 16. The event will include candlelight tours of the house, delicious Norwegian appetizers, wine and beer. Cost is $25 and all proceeds benefit the operation of the Ringness House Museum. Please follow our page for details.
~Bryan Davis
