Blog 2 : Ethnic Swedish Landscape

    

     I decided to look at Lindsborg, KA also known as "Little Sweden".  Apart from being 1/4 Swedish I am interested in their culture and music.  I felt it would be cool to examine the landscape of a town dedicated to recreating Sweden.

History of Immigration              

I first looked at the history of Kansas settlement and how it relates to Swedish immigrants.  The town of Lindsborg was actually established in 1869 by 100 Swedish immigrants.  The pioneers initially emigrated from Sunnemo and the surrounding parishes of Värmland Province in Sweden in hope of finding the land of the future.  They came to the state of Kansas for a variety of reasons: changing economic conditions in Sweden which produced hardships, occasional crop failures, and desire for freedom of religious expression.   Many of them were hunters, carpenters, musicians and writers who kept the culture of Sweden at heart while developing their new community.  Over the years schools, homes, churches, businesses and restaurants were created in Lindsborg, KA in common Swedish traditions.

Present Lindsborg

The schools in the town of Lindsborg have the look of a traditional Swedish schools.  They also wear clothes that would be commonly seen in Sweden by students.  The playground of the middle school has an authentically built play area for the children as seen below.

They have many old structures that were created in the early 1900’s that are still standing and were built exclusively to Swedish traditions. Cornonado Heights is the most famous one in the town and is one of the biggest tourist attractions of the town.

     There are also numerous old mills and farm houses that were used by the first immigrants in the late 1800's and the early 1900's.

The town follows many Swedish traditions such as music festivals and creating art and sculptures that would be found in modern Sweden.  Fields of sunflowers are planted annually and are a trade make of the town just as they are in Sweden.

The Churches in Lindsborg Kansas have a very import role as they do in European Sweden.  The songs, clothes worn, and archetechure of the outside are almost identical to ones you would find over seas.