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Anyone interested in exploring
Swedish heritage, is sure to find Wilmington, Delaware a choice location and
now is an ideal time to visit because 2013 marks the 375 anniversary of the founding of the New Sweden Colony right here in what is Delaware's
largest city.
The city boasts the Kalmar Nyckel, a
seaworthy, full-size recreation of the ship that carried the first Swedish
settlers and a few Finns to Wilmington in 1638. When the Kalmar Nyckel is in port, it is
available for tours and day sails. The
New Sweden Centre, currently located in the Kalmar Nyckel Shipyard, provides
fascinating insights into the lifestyles of these early colonists.
Less than a block away, are Old Swedes or Trinity Church and Hendrickson
House. Originally built in 1698, the
church has the distinction of being the country's oldest religious institution
still in use for its original purpose.
Hendrickson House is located on the church property. This Swedish farm house was originally built
in Pennsylvania on property that now belongs to Lockheed Martin. Moved to its current site in Wilmington during
the 1950's, Hendrickson House is filled with original colonial artifacts.
Rebecca Wilson, Executive Director of the Old
Swedes Foundation which includes both Old Swedes Church and Hendrickson House,
explains that the Swedes purchased land from the Lenni-Lenape Indians and
set up a thriving community based on fur trading and farming. Wilson says visitors from all over the world seek out Old Swedes
Church to see the only surviving structure from the Swedish settlement. Some come to view the church building; others
come to explore the burial grounds and early church records searching for
ancestors. Others want to learn about Reverend Dr. Ericus
Bjork, whose sheer will power and determination insured the construction of Old
Swedes in an eleven month period.
The Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau is a
non-profit organization founded in 1978, chartered by the Governor of
Delaware, the New Castle County Executive and the Mayor of
Wilmington. Its mission is to serve as the community's customer-focused
destination marketing organization, generating economic growth
through leisure travel and meetings development by aggressively
marketing attraction, facilities, amenities and services for visitors.
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