Three Swedish-American places to visit in the US

Guest writer: Ann-Louise Paulsson

There are several Swedish-American sites in the US that bear the memory of the Swedes who once emigrated to America. Here are three interesting places to visit.

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Chicago - Sweden's second largest city

At the beginning of the 20th century, Chicago was Sweden's second largest city in terms of the number of Swedes living there. More than 100,000 Swedes had settled in Chicago and only Stockholm had more inhabitants.

When you visit the Windy City, I can almost guarantee that sooner or later you will come across buildings, streets and neighbourhoods related to Swedish emigrants. Since many Swedes have relatives who emigrated to Chicago, chances are you'll be walking the same streets where your relatives once walked.

The Swedes who settled here often worked in the construction industry and it used to be said that it was the Swedes who built Chicago. There are reasons for this claim as almost half of Chicago's buildings were built by emigrants from Sweden. One example is the beautiful Wrigley Building on the Magnificent Mile, which was built by Andrew Lanquist from West Sweden. Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, was also built under the direction of Mr Lanquist.

Andersonville is a neighbourhood in Chicago where many Swedes settled and here on Clark Street there is now the Swedish American Museum which is well worth a visit. The area has also had a Swedish bakery and several Swedish shops and restaurants, but unfortunately many of them have closed in recent years.

There is still Svea Restaurant where you can eat Swedish pancakes and Swedish fruit soup, for example. If you come to Andersonville at midsummer, you can join the "Midsommarfest", one of Chicago's biggest street parties.

Just west of Andersonville is North Park University and Swedish Covenant Hospital, which was also founded by Swedes. Tips for things to do to do in Chicago can be found here.

The Swedish state of Minnesota

Minnesota is the US state most associated with Swedes and emigration. It is the state where most Swedes settled and there are many small towns with Swedish-sounding names, such as Lindstrom, Borgholm, Malung, Mora, Scandia, Karlstad, Upsala, Ronneby, Viking and Strandquist.

It was in Scandia that the very first Swedish emigrants settled and today Gammelgården Museum is located here with a number of historic houses where you can see how the Swedish emigrants lived in Minnesota. There is also a souvenir shop if you want to buy Swedish-inspired souvenirs from your visit.

In the state of Minnesota, you will of course also find Stillwater, Taylor Falls, Chisago Lake and Glader Cemetery, all famous from Vilhelm Moberg's novels about Karl Oskar and Kristina from Duvemåla.

There are traces of Vilhelm Moberg around Minnesota, including in Chisago City where there is a statue of Vilhelm Moberg and the bicycle he used to get around Chisago while researching his books. Fittingly, the statue is located in Moberg Park.  

In Lindstrom there is a statue of Karl Oskar and Kristina where Karl Oskar looks towards the Minnesota wilderness while Kristina looks longingly back towards Sweden. In the summer, Karl Oskar Days are celebrated here and this summer is the 60th anniversary of the festival.

In the big city of Minneapolis, you can visit the American Swedish Institute in the magnificent Turnblad Mansion on Park Avenue. There is a museum here where you can look at the 33 rooms in the house but also take part in various exhibitions.

There is also a collection of more than 7,000 artefacts related to Sweden and Swedish-Americans, but this is only available to visitors who have booked an appointment in advance. The same goes for the library and archives, where you also need to make an appointment to view the collections.

Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, New York

If you've been to New York and taken a boat out to the Statue of Liberty, you've probably passed by Ellis Island. This is where Swedes who emigrated to the US between 1892 and 1924, travelling third class across the Atlantic, arrived on the island. In total, more than 12 million emigrants from different countries passed through here and underwent a thorough inspection in Ellis Island's Great Hall before hopefully being allowed into the country.

Not all were approved, with around two per cent of emigrants returning home. The most common reason for not being admitted to the United States was that the doctors at Ellis Island detected an infectious disease in the person concerned.

In addition to a medical examination, the 3-5 hour inspection also included an interrogation and the emigrants had to pass an intelligence test in the form of a puzzle. A picture of such a puzzle can be found in the this post about the House of Emigrants in Växjö.

On Ellis Island, you can also see the cramped dormitories where emigrants were allowed to stay if for some reason they were not allowed to enter the country immediately.

The island also has a Wall of Honour with the names of 775,000 people who all have in common that they came to the US as immigrants. If you want to look for your emigrants locally, there is a Family History Centre with passenger lists and pictures of the ships that carried them across the Atlantic.

I can really recommend a visit to Ellis Island. To walk around the rooms where the emigrants were gathered while waiting to know if they would be admitted or not is a very special experience, especially if you have relatives who were here more than a hundred years ago.

Bringing a handkerchief is recommended. I cried my way through the entire tour, but I also kept thinking about my great-grandfather's brother who travelled to America by himself in 1913 and came to Ellis Island when he had just turned 15 and didn't know a single word of English.

Tips for more Swedish places to visit in the USA

• Kingsburg, California
• Lindsborg, Kansas
• New Sweden, Maine
• Bishop Hill, Illinois
• Swedesboro, New Jersey

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Ann-Louise Paulsson

Ann-Louise runs the travel blog Från Stad till Strand, which is mainly about travelling in Sweden, Europe and the USA. Guides and experiences from the different destinations are mixed with tips on good coffee shops and a small dose of Disney. The trips are usually made together with her partner and son, so if you want tips on destinations that suit the whole family, you will find it in her blog.

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