Swedes' Landing is the warehouse road found along the Minquas Kill in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

that is close to the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

. This was the site where the initial

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

landing took place and marks the spot where the

New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...

colony began. The first Swedish expedition to North America, under the command of

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Wallonian merchant from Tournai, in present-day Belgium. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New N ...

, embarked from the

port of Gothenburg The municipally-owned Port of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs hamn) is the largest port in the Nordic countries, with over 11,000 ship visits per year from over 140 destinations worldwide. As the only Swedish port with the capacity to cope with the ...

in late 1637. The members of the expedition, aboard the ships ''

Fogel Grip ''Fogel Grip'' (''Bird Griffin'', Swedish: ''Fågel Grip'') was a Swedish sailing ship originally built in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. She was used on the first Swedish expedition in 1638 together with '' Kalmar Nyckel'' to establi ...

'' and ''

Kalmar Nyckel ''Kalmar Nyckel'' (''Key of Kalmar'') was a Swedish ship built by the Dutch famed for carrying Swedish settlers to North America in 1638, to establish the colony of New Sweden. The name Kalmar Nyckel comes from the Swedish city of Kalmar and nyc ...

'', sailed into

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inlan ...

, which lay within the territory claimed by the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...

and anchored at a rocky point on Swedes' Landing on March 29, 1638. They built a fort on the site which they named

Fort Christina Fort Christina (also called Fort Altena) was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Queen Christina of Sweden, it was located approximately 1 mi (1.6 ...

after

Queen Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...

. Today Swedes Landing Road is a short stretch from 4th Street to 7th Street and ends at a long two-story mural depicting the area from the time before the Swedes came through the modern Wilmington waterfront. At the far end of the mural is the entrance to

National Historical Site, a part of the

First State National Historical Park First State National Historical Park is a National Park Service unit which lies primarily in the state of Delaware but which extends partly into Pennsylvania in Chadds Ford. Initially created as First State National Monument by President Barack O ...

System.

References

* Johnson, Amandus ''The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664'' (The Swedish Colonial Society. International Printing Company. 1911) * Shorto, Russell ''The Island In The Center Of The World'' (Part I; Chapter 4; Page 88, Vintage. 2005) * Weslager, C. A. ''New Sweden on the Delaware 1638-1655'' (The Middle Atlantic Press, Wilmington. 1988)

Other sources

* Jameson, J. Franklin ''Willem Usselinx,: Founder of the Dutch and Swedish West India Companies ''(G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1887) *Mickley, Joseph J. ''Some account of William Usselinx and Peter Minuit: Two individuals who were instrumental in establishing the first permanent colony in Delaware'' (The Historical Society of Delaware. 1881

" Fort Christina-Mural"

External links

"The Landing of the Swedes" (New Sweden Centre. Wilmington, Delaware)
New Sweden Geography of New Castle County, Delaware Swedish-American history Swedish migration to North America Swedish-American culture in Delaware {{US-hist-stub