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40-415: A road following much of the same route had existed at least since the 1750s, but the area around the road only began to develop as the state constructed, or re-constructed, the road in the 1790s. The use of wagons on this road began as early as 1714 as it developed out of the earlier Great Minquas Path . Wagons on this road were the first to be called Conestoga wagons . A Native American path, known as

80-788: A Swedish log blockhouse located on Society Hill in Philadelphia in 1669. It was later used as a church until about 1700, when Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church of Philadelphia was built on the site. The start of the Third Anglo-Dutch War resulted in the Dutch recapture of New Netherland in August 1673. They restored the status which predated the English capture, and codified it in the establishment of three counties: Hoarkill County , New Amstel County , and Upland County, which

120-776: A member of the Königsmarck family, attempted to instigate a rebellion against the British to return New Sweden to Swedish rule. The rebellion, known as the Revolt of the Long Swede due to Jacobsson's height, failed. Jacobsson was sold into slavery in the Caribbean and the families that had supported him were fined for their participation in the revolt. New Sweden continued to exist unofficially, and some immigration and expansion continued. The first settlement at Wicaco began with

160-469: A new governor was selected and arrived from Sweden two years later. The colony expanded along the river under the leadership of Johan Björnsson Printz , governor from 1643 to 1653. They established Fort Nya Elfsborg on the east bank of the Delaware near what is now Salem, New Jersey , and Fort Nya Gothenborg on Tinicum Island . Printz built his manor house, The Printzhof , at Fort Nya Gothenborg, and

200-529: A proprietary colony, separate from the projected colony of New York . The invasion began on August 29, 1664, with the capture of New Amsterdam and ended with the capture of Fort Casimir in October. This took place at the beginning of the Second Anglo-Dutch War . In 1669, New Sweden was under British rule, but most of the population was still Swedish. A man named Marcus Jacobsson, posing as

240-534: A rocky point on the Minquas Kill that is known today as Swedes' Landing . They built a fort at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek which they named Fort Christina after their Queen. In the following years, the area was settled by roughly 600 Swedes and Finns , a number of Dutchmen, a few Germans, a Dane, and at least one Estonian . Minuit served as the first governor of

280-636: Is not used today east of West Chester except for a short stretch of road which branches off of the West Chester Pike going east, named "Strasburg Road". After about a mile, this road becomes Goshen Road, which goes east to Darby Paoli Road, in Radnor Township , Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Due to the commercial use of Strasburg Road during the Colonial and Early Federal periods, at least twenty-three buildings or historic districts along

320-510: Is now Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Lenape sachem Mattahoon later claimed that the purchase only included as much land as was contained within an area marked by "six trees", and the rest of the land occupied by the Swedes was stolen. The Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft , objected to the Swedish presence, but Minuit ignored him since he knew that the Dutch were militarily weak at

360-647: Is one of the few settlements in the area retaining a Swedish name, and Upland survives as Upland, Pennsylvania . Swedesford Road is still found in Chester and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania, although Swedesford has long since become Norristown . Swedeland, Pennsylvania , is part of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County . The American Swedish Historical Museum in South Philadelphia houses many exhibits, documents, and artifacts from

400-551: Is one of the oldest surviving log houses in the United States. The settlers came from all over the Swedish realm. The percentage of Finns in New Sweden grew especially towards the end of the period of colonization. Finns composed 22 percent of the population during Swedish rule, and rose to about 50 percent after the colony came under Dutch rule. A contingent of 140 Finns arrived in 1664. The ship Mercurius sailed to

440-750: The Great Minquas Path went through much of the same area as early as 1620. Confusingly, there were several branches of this path, and it and some other early roads are also called the Conestoga Path or Conestoga Road . From the Susquehannock village near the confluence of the Susquehanna and Conestoga Rivers the path travelled east to European traders and early settlers on the Delaware River . The path went east from

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480-720: The Paxton Boys massacred 20 of the Conestogas, and the tribe soon became extinct in Pennsylvania. Strasburg Road in Chester County and Lancaster County generally follows the route of the Great Minquas Path. The trail is marked by Pennsylvania State historical markers in Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, and Lancaster Counties. New Sweden New Sweden ( Swedish : Nya Sverige )

520-523: The Schuylkill River , opposite Philadelphia . The 80-mile (130 km) east-west trail was the primary route for fur trading with the Minquas (or Susquehannock ) people. Dutch, Swedish and English settlers fought one another for control of it. The Dutch began the fur trade in the 1620s, and named the trail "Beversreede" or "Beaver Road." Sometime after 1633, they built Fort Beversreede at

560-532: The port of Gothenburg in late 1637, organized and overseen by Clas Larsson Fleming , a Swedish admiral from Finland. Blommaert assisted the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit (the former Governor of New Netherland ) to lead the expedition. The expedition sailed into Delaware Bay aboard the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel ; territory that was claimed by the Dutch. They passed Cape May and Cape Henlopen in late March 1638 and anchored on March 29 at

600-613: The Company of New-Sweden) was founded in 1626 with a mandate to establish colonies between Florida and Newfoundland for the purposes of trade, particularly along the Delaware River. Its charter included Swedish, Dutch, and German stockholders. The directors of the company included Flemish/Dutch merchant Samuel Blommaert . The company sponsored 11 expeditions in 14 separate voyages to Delaware between 1638 and 1655; two were lost. The first Swedish expedition to America sailed from

640-486: The Conestoga to the area of the present day town of Willow Street , then Strasburg , and Gap , then entered present day Chester County . There it continued east via Atglen , Parkesburg , Mortonville, and West Chester, crossed into Delaware County and there led through Lima and Rose Valley , where it could go south to Chester or east to Darby , and finally to Philadelphia. Parts of Pennsylvania Route 741 follow

680-718: The Delaware River. Minuit landed on the west bank of the river and met with the sachems of the Lenape and Susquehannock . They held a conclave in Minuit's cabin on the Kalmar Nyckel , and he persuaded the Lenape to sign deeds which he had prepared to resolve any issue with the Dutch. The Swedes claimed that the purchase included land on both sides of the South (Delaware) River from the Schuylkill River down to Delaware Bay in what

720-589: The Delaware River. Fort Christina , located in what is now Wilmington, Delaware , was the first settlement, named after Christina, Queen of Sweden . The settlers were Swedes , Finns , and a number of Dutch. New Sweden was conquered by the Dutch Republic in 1655 during the Second Northern War and incorporated into the Dutch colony of New Netherland . By the middle of the 17th century, Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent and

760-436: The Dutch plundered houses and killed livestock in the vicinity of the fort. New Sweden was formally incorporated into New Netherland although the Swedish and Finnish settlers were allowed local autonomy. They retained their own militia, religion, court, and lands. This lasted until the English conquest of New Netherland, launched on June 24, 1664. The Duke of York sold New Jersey to John Berkeley and George Carteret to become

800-403: The Dutch was unsuccessful. Printz tried again at Fort Beversreede itself. In 1648, the Swedes built a blockhouse directly in front of the Dutch fort, rendering it useless for defense. The Dutch abandoned the fort in 1651. Under Peter Stuyvesant , the Dutch returned and conquered "New Sweden" in 1655, renaming the colony " New Netherlands ." The English in turn conquered the Dutch in 1664, and

840-577: The New Sweden colony. Perhaps the greatest contribution of New Sweden to the development of the New World is the log house building technique. The colonists of New Sweden brought with them the log cabin , which became such an icon of the American frontier that it is commonly thought of as an American structure. The C. A. Nothnagle Log House on Swedesboro-Paulsboro Road in Gibbstown, New Jersey ,

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880-652: The Swedish colony prospered for a time. New Sweden established a strong trading relationship with the Susquehannock and supported them in their war against Maryland colonists. In 1651, the Dutch West India Company abandoned Fort Nassau and established Fort Casimir on the west side of the Delaware River a few miles south of Fort Christina. In May 1654, soldiers from New Sweden led by Governor Johan Risingh captured Fort Casimir and renamed it Fort Trinity ( Trefaldigheten in Swedish). In November 1654,

920-567: The assimilation of New Sweden into New York was the extension of the Duke's laws into the region on September 22, 1676. This was followed by the partition of some Upland Counties to conform to the borders of Pennsylvania and Delaware, with most of the Delaware portion going to New Castle County on November 12, 1678. The remainder of Upland continued in place under the same name. On June 21, 1680, New Castle and Hoarkill Counties were partitioned to produce St. Jones County. On March 4, 1681, what had been

960-593: The colony in 1665, and 92 of the 106 passengers were listed as Finns. Memory of the early Finnish settlement lived on in place names near the Delaware River such as Finland (Marcus Hook), Torne, Lapland, Finns Point , Mullica Hill, and Mullica River. A portion of these Finns were known as Forest Finns , people of Finnish descent who had been living in the forest areas of Central Sweden. The Forest Finns had moved from Savonia in Eastern Finland to Dalarna , Bergslagen and other provinces in central Sweden during

1000-399: The colony of New Sweden was formally partitioned into the colonies of Delaware and Pennsylvania. The border was established 12 miles north of New Castle, and the northern limit of Pennsylvania was set at 42 degrees north latitude. The eastern limit was the border with New Jersey at the Delaware River, while the western limit was undefined. In June 1681, Upland ceased to exist as the result of

1040-400: The colony of New Sweden. He had been the third Director of New Netherland, and he knew that the Dutch claimed the area surrounding the Delaware River and its bay. The Dutch West India Company , however, had withdrawn its settlers from the area in order to concentrate on the settlement on Manhattan Island , leaving Fort Nassau on the east side of the Delaware River as the only Dutch outpost on

1080-643: The descendants of the early Swedish immigrants to New Sweden in the mid-18th century and documented their experiences with the Native American Indians who resided in those parts, in a book entitled Travels into North America . Historian H. Arnold Barton has suggested that the greatest significance of New Sweden was the strong and lasting interest in America that the colony generated in Sweden, although major Swedish immigration did not occur until

1120-467: The directors of the Dutch West India Company ordered the Director-General of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant , to "drive" the Swedes from the river. In the summer of 1655, Stuyvesant sailed to Delaware Bay with 7 ships and 317 soldiers and quickly retook Fort Casimir (Fort Trinity). Stuyvesant then proceeded to besiege Fort Christina which surrendered on September 15, 1655. During the siege,

1160-848: The late 19th century. From 1870 to 1910, more than one million Swedes arrived in America, settling particularly in Minnesota and other states of the Upper Midwest . Traces of New Sweden persist in the lower Delaware valley, including Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, Delaware , Gloria Dei Church and St. James Kingsessing Church in Philadelphia, Trinity Episcopal Church in Swedesboro, New Jersey , and Christ Church in Swedesburg, Pennsylvania . All of those churches are commonly known as "Old Swedes' Church". Christiana, Delaware ,

1200-551: The moment. Minuit completed Fort Christina, then sailed for Stockholm to bring a second group of settlers. He made a detour to the Caribbean to pick up a shipment of tobacco to sell in Europe in order to make the voyage profitable; however, he died on this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean. The official duties of the governor of New Sweden were carried out by Captain Måns Nilsson Kling , until

1240-752: The path in Lancaster County, and parts of Pennsylvania Route 162 follow the path in Chester County. These modern roads are generally named "Strasburg Road" and are connected by smaller roads carrying street signs of "Strasburg Road" or "West Strasburg Road." East of West Chester, the Minquas Path travelled well south of Pennsylvania Route 3 , the West Chester Pike, which today carries traffic between Market Street in Philadelphia and Market Street in West Chester. The name Strasburg Road

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1280-621: The reorganization of the Colony of Pennsylvania, with the Upland government becoming the government of Chester County, Pennsylvania. On August 24, 1682, the Duke of York transferred the western Delaware River region to William Penn, including Delaware, thus transferring Deale County and St. Jones County from New York to Delaware. St. Jones County was renamed Kent County , Deale County was renamed Sussex County , and New Castle County retained its name. Swedish explorer and botanist Pehr Kalm visited

1320-545: The road have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Chester County. From east to west, these are: In Lancaster County are located on Strasburg Road. Download coordinates as: Great Minquas Path Great Minquas Path , or The Great Trail , was a 17th-century trade route that ran through southeastern Pennsylvania from the Susquehanna River , near Conestoga , to

1360-459: The three counties which they created. After taking stock, the English declared on November 11 that settlements on the west side of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay were to be dependent on the Province of New York , including the three Counties. This declaration was followed by a declaration that renamed New Amstel as New Castle. The other counties retained their Dutch names. The next step in

1400-746: The tiny colony became part of the 1681 land grant to William Penn . The English called the Susquehannock " Conestogas ," after their main settlement on the Susquehanna River. The Susquehannock were decimated by smallpox , and by long conflicts with European settlers in the Chesapeake Bay region, 1642–52, and the Iroquois to the north, 1658–62. Many of them moved or intermarried with other tribes. A century later, in December 1763,

1440-507: The trail's eastern terminus, the confluence of the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River . A 1655 Swedish map shows the fort on Providence Island, on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, at its mouth, although Scharf and Westcott state that the fort was on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. In 1634, the Susquehannock used the Great Minquas Path in their conquest of the Lenape people. "Minquas," meaning "treacherous,"

1480-696: Was a colony of the Swedish Empire along the lower reaches of the Delaware River between 1638 and 1655 in present-day Delaware , Maryland , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania in the United States . Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great power , New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts to colonize the Americas . Settlements were established on both sides of

1520-409: Was later partitioned between New Castle County, Delaware, and the Colony of Pennsylvania. The three counties were created on September 12, 1673, the first two on the west shore of the Delaware River and the third on both sides of the river. The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 ended the second period of Dutch control and required them to return all of New Netherland to the English on June 29, including

1560-689: Was one of the great powers of Europe; it was the stormaktstiden ("age of greatness" or "great power period"). Sweden then included Finland and Estonia , along with parts of modern Russia , Poland , Germany , Norway and Latvia under King Gustavus Adolphus and later Queen Christina . Other European nations were establishing colonies in the New World and building successful trading empires at this time. The Swedes sought to expand their influence by creating their own tobacco plantation and fur-trading colony to circumvent French, English and Dutch merchants. The Swedish South Company (also known as

1600-514: Was the Lenni-Lenape name for the Susquehannock, their traditional enemy. The name was adopted by the Dutch, and later the Swedes. The Swedish colony, New Sweden , was founded in 1638, about 20 miles (32.5 km) south of Fort Beversreede, in what is now Wilmington, Delaware . In 1644, Governor Johan Björnsson Printz built Fort Nya Vasa where the Great Minquas Path crossed Cobbs Creek . This attempt to siphon off Native American trade from

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