Eliot Stein

New Sweden, a little-known 17th-century Swedish and Finnish colony in the Delaware Valley, influenced early American culture despite its small size and brief existence. Settlers introduced the log cabin, maintained peaceful relations with Indigenous peoples and shaped the region’s development before being absorbed by New Netherland. Remnants of the colony endure in historic sites, museums and cultural traditions across Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, revealing a largely forgotten chapter of US origins.