Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad, 1907. Alabama Who was the first Norwegian in Alabama is not known. For a long time Mobile has been visited by rather many seamen of Norwegian ancestry but they are of an indeterminable nature, they come and go unendingly. There are also a number of Norwegian businessmen and tradesmen, a Norwegian Seaman's Home with a reading room and a Norwegian Seaman's Church in Mobile. In Thorsby, Chilton County there is a little Norwegian colony. The first Norwegian here was Andrew Wamben from Hardanger, he settled there in 1896 and still lives there. In 1897 a Norwegian congregation was established that belongs to The United Church. Pastor H. Engh was its first priest. Its church was built in 1902. In Cleburne County there is also a small Norwegian settlement and a congregation belonging to The United Church. Thorsby is the only Norwegian place name in the State. The main sources of income in Alabama are mining (iron and coal) and growing cotton, grapes and sugar cane.