Historic Norwegian Grade was built by hand between 1900 and 1911 using picks, shovels, farm equipment, and $60 worth of dynamite provided by the County of Ventura. Members of the Norwegian Colony and their hired help constructed it to provide a safe way to move bales of hay and sacks of wheat and barley to farmers on the Oxnard Plain and to the Hueneme Wharf. Its route was chosen because it offered a gradual descent with no hairpin turns and was safer than existing routes to the Oxnard Plain and Moorpark. In the early 1900’s, before bulldozers and earth-moving equipment were available, workers used a star drill and a sledge hammer to pound holes into very hard volcanic rock, inserted dynamite, lit the fuses, and took cover while it blasted. The rocks and debris were then moved by hand and with a horse-drawn Fresno Scraper to build the narrow, one-lane roadway. Construction took place in winter and early spring because baling and harvesting took precedence in summer and fall, and the grade was later widened to two lanes. Original members of the Norwegian Colony were Ole Anderson, George and Lina Hanson, Ole and Elizabeth Nelson, Nils and Ellen Olsen, and Lars and Karen Pederson.