Whatever happened to the Viking boat tree house?

By Diane Dretske, curator at the Dunn Museum in Libertyville, provided by Kim Mikus.

• Diana Dretske is a historian curator at Libertyville-based Dunn Museum, operated by the Lake County Forest Preserves. She writes the Lake County History blog for the Forest Preserves. This is her latest post. Contact her at ddretske@LCFPD.org.

To a kid in Waukegan, the Viking boat tree house felt like something out of a storybook. I was one of those kids, standing at Shirl’s Drive-In with an ice cream cone in my hand, staring in awe at the ship perched high in a tree.

In 1963, Gerald W. Lyons (1931-2022) of Waukegan created a tree house for his four children. It was no ordinary tree house, but one that sparked the imagination of an entire community.

The Viking boat tree house project began when Gerald and Margaret Lyons’ children asked for a “treetop house like the one on television.”

It’s likely they had seen Disneyland’s Swiss Family Treehouse on NBC’s Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in the 1960s. Disney’s film “Swiss Family Robinson” introduced treehouses to a wide audience and inspired a popular attraction at Disneyland’s Adventureland.

During this era, children throughout the United States built tree houses in local woodlots — some with the help of their parents — but always with the goal of having a place of their own where their imaginations could run wild. These treehouses were often made simply with plywood and cardboard in a tree’s canopy, creating a place to sit and dream.

For Gerald Lyons, the dream took a different shape. While carving a “dragon head” for a friend’s boat, his children asked for the “treetop house.” When the friend’s boat never materialized, Lyons turned the unused into inspiration for something extraordinary: a Viking boat tree house.

The inspiration may have been close to home. Vikings in Waukegan were a somewhat familiar presence. Not actual Vikings, of course, but their Swedish descendants.

The earliest wave of Swedes arrived in Waukegan in 1891 with the opening of the Washburn & Moen Wire Mill. Their community gatherings featured music, food and a “Swedish Glee Club.”

In 1949, the club built a sprawling clubhouse on Belvidere Road next to Roosevelt Park. It offered entertainment, music and fish dinners that were open to the public. The clubhouse became a local favorite; and the Gerald Lyons family may have enjoyed fish dinners there.

Lyons, who worked in Waukegan for the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway as a yardmaster, considered himself a “jack of all trades, master of some.” Though he had no experience building a Viking boat, he had watched ship builders in Portugal while serving as a U.S. Navy photographer.

“Boats in the water are more trouble than they’re worth,” Lyons told News Sun staff writer Carl Luomala. He decided to build the 24-foot Viking boat perched on top of a 20-foot-tall stump of an old poplar tree in the family’s backyard at 17 Washington Park. It was as impressive as it sounds.

Perhaps Lyons’ Irish ancestors had a bit of Viking blood in their veins. After all, the Vikings invaded Ireland in the 9th century. His paternal grandfather, Edward J. Lyons (1877-1963), immigrated from Ireland in 1895, and opened a plumbing shop in Waukegan.

The Lyons’ backyard sat next to an alley that led to the Shirl’s Drive-In parking lot. Shirl’s, at 1535 Washington St. (today’s Poppy’s), had a direct view of the neighborhood curiosity as it was taking shape in July 1963.

Lyons’ Viking boat tree house was built for his family, but its towering presence made it a cultural icon the entire community enjoyed. His creativity and imagination brought the community together.

Those who stopped at Shirl’s Drive-In to enjoy a soft-serve ice cream cone with family or friends would stand in the parking lot marveling at the towering Viking boat next door. The more adventurous walked a short distance to the alley for a closer look.

As one of those adventurers, I can attest to how our imaginations ran wild as we pondered that glorious oddity. Thanks to a newspaper story, “He Builds His Boat … In a Tree!” from Nov. 28, 1963, we have a record of this marvelous creation. What became of the Viking tree house, however, remains unknown.

If you have memories of it — or know what eventually happened to the boat — I’d love to hear from you.

• Kim Mikus is a communications specialist for the Lake County Forest Preserves. She writes a bimonthly column about various aspects of the preserves. Contact her with ideas or questions at kmikuscroke@LCFPD.org. Connect with the Lake County Forest Preserves on social media @LCFPD.