Several restored harbourside buildings have been turned into a museum exploring the reasons behind Icelanders’ emigration to North America, their hopes for a new life and the reality of conditions when they arrived. Incredibly, this small country lost 16,000 emigrants from 1870 to 1914, leaving behind a 1914 population of only 88,000.
The main exhibition, ‘New Land, New Life’, follows the lives of emigrating Icelanders through carefully curated photographs, letters and displays.
The centre provides an absorbing history lesson, even if you’re not of Icelandic descent, and it’s a fine place to start if you’re tracing roots.
