We will begin by inviting you to come a half-hour earlier, at 11:30, to our Swedish Farmstead in Governor Printz Park to decorate the cabins for the Holiday. We will then proceed to our Annual Luncheon at the Corinthian next door, starting at noon.  We have several activities planned including raffles, the presentation of our Fellowship award, and entertainment provided by the duo “Last Chance” of Ingrid Rosenback and Jack Scott who specialize in Swedish Folk Songs!

The cost of our event will be $50.00 per person!  Please reserve by emailing or calling Linda Alexy by December 6th. Then send your check payable to The Swedish Colonial Society to arrive by December 15th. Send it to SCS, c/o Linda Alexy, 438 Regina Street, Philadelphia, PA  19116-2405.  Linda’s email is treasurer@colonialswedes.net and her phone is 215-677-2046. Please indicate all names of your party so that we can make up your name tags. Inquiries can be addressed to Linda as well.

Donated gifts for our Raffle are greatly appreciated!

Please consider supporting the Swedish Colonial Society’s educational programs by donating as a Sponsor ($50) or Benefactor ($100).  Sponsors and Benefactors are listed on our Program!

The Corinthian Yacht Club is located at 300 West 2nd Street, Essington, PA 19029.  From I-95 take Exit 9 to Wanamaker Ave (PA Route 420), east toward the Delaware River.  Turn right at West 2nd Street.  Governor Printz Park, with parking, is on your left, two blocks down.  The Corinthian Yacht Club is further on and adjacent to the Park. It also has its own parking area.

The Swedish Farmstead at Governor Printz Park, Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania

By Joe Mathews / July 12, 2022

The Swedish Farmstead was originally built in 1988 as a living history museum in Bridgeton, New Jersey, in order to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of New Sweden and to show how a Swedish settler family lived. Seven log cabins were built and maintained for about a decade by the NJ nonprofit, the New Sweden Company, many of whose members were descendants of colonial Swedes. The builder was the Swedish craftsman, Gunnar Zetterqvist, who derived his ideas about 17th century log construction from the many well-preserved historical log cabins that stand in his native land. The Farmstead was for years a popular destination for schoolchildren and adults. However, by 2015 the Farmstead had long been closed and in a state of dilapidation. The New Sweden Company decided to try to find a new home for it. Serendipitously, Tinicum Township was in process of making extensive improvements at Governor Printz Park, the very site of Printz’s capitol that he established in 1643. Through the intercession of The Swedish Colonial Society, conversations took place and the township welcomed the idea of having the Farmstead as a fitting memorial of its illustrious colonial history.

The process of dismantling and moving the cabins out of Bridgeton began in 2015, funded by a $10,000 donation from Wade Sjogren, owner of the Bridgeton-based sand company, Whibco, Inc. Each log had to be tagged and so that each cabin could be reconstructed with precision. Then, in 2019, The Swedish Colonial Society stepped forward and pledged to rebuild the largest of the cabins, a 30′ X 16′ cabin called the Main Residence. Highline Construction, an Amish-owned log-building contractor, was hired and by May 2019 the building was up and officially opened on 1st of June of that year. The total cost was $45,000.

Then the Governor of The Swedish Colonial Society, John Tepe, estimated the cost of reconstructing the remaining 6 cabins. He came up with the figure of $177,250. John wrote a grant application to the Crystal Trust of Wilmington DE for this amount and–much to everyone’s amazement–success arrived by Christmas 2019. Highline began building in Spring 2020 and–with the park closed for Covid–by September of that year finished reconstructing all 6 remaining cabins.

Today all seven cabins of the Farmstead stand proudly in the park, embraced by the surrounding community of Tinicum and Delaware County. Volunteer docents–often in period clothing–hold an open house every first Saturday of the month, from 11 AM to 2 PM. In summer we open the Farmstead during the Tinicum Farmers Markets, held every other Wednesday, 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM. We anticipate holding many special events in the coming years, like the Rambo Family 375th Reunion that was held on June 12, 2022. Christmas-time, harvest-time, and midsummer are likely celebratory seasons as well. We are just starting out, but we are conscious of having a serious mission, that of representing the achievements of the colonial Swedes and Finns who first settled the Delaware Valley, brought the log cabin to North America, and carried on peaceful trading with Native Americans.