Viking or Hamberg? Hamberg or Viking? Early in the last century, Scandinavian and German residents of what is now Hamberg, North Dakota, were at odds over the name. The townsite sprang up after The Great Northern Railroad ran the “Surrey Cut-Off” through Wells County in 1910. Early Scandinavian residents called the town “Viking.” The town quickly grew to include a general store, post office, pool hall, blacksmith and bank.