Where in the United States did the Swedish Immigrants Settle?

There were areas in the United States that were more popular than others for the Swedish immigrants. The State of Minnesota was the state where most Swedes settled. With a Swedish-American population of 13% in 1910 Minnesota was the number one “Swedish” state. The county in Minnesota with the highest population density of Swedes was Chisago County northeast of St. Paul. The State of Illinois was also a popular state for Swedes, not the least the City of Chicago. In 1910 Chicago had about 110,000 Swedish inhabitants. Minnesota was in other words the most popular state among the Swedes. However, Swedes were not the majority among the immigrants in Minnesota. In the 1890’s the state had about 25% German-Americans while the Swedish-Americans constituted 13% in 1910. During the 1800’s the majority of Swedish immigrants in the United States settled in the countryside. In 1910, however, about 60% of the Swedes were living in cities. This figure was 75% in 1950. The average number of immigrants living in cities was then 84% which means that the Swedes to a greater extent lived in the countryside. It is more myth than truth that Swedish immigrants settled in areas where the natural scenery reminded them of home. They settled where there were available homestead lands and gladly where other Swedes had settled. When the Swedish emigration speeded up during the mass emigration era it was this area in the Upper Midwest that offered the best homestead land, i.e. primarily Minnesota. This was the decisive factor. The frontier constantly expanded westward as the free homestead land was taken. Minnesota is a relatively flat state without any major mountains and thereby not like Sweden. Naturally it depends which province in Sweden you compare with. However, the climate in Minnesota is similar to the climate in Central Sweden; Stockholm and the provinces around Lake Mälaren (Mälardalen west of Stockholm) with cold winters with snow and beautiful summers. However, Minnesota has longer summers with its continental climate compared to the one in the Lake Mälaren area. The climate mattered in the greater perspective though. There was free land available in the much warmer American South too. However, this hotter climate seems to have had a deterrent effect to the Swedish settlers because very few Swedes settled in the South. Not all Swedes settled in the well-forested Minnesota but went farther west and settled on the prairie. The terms were often tougher on the prairie. Here, the availability of lumber was low and often they had to build dwellings of sod, so-called ”sod huts”. These huts were made of cut out pieces of sod in the size of bricks. The prairie settlers also had more problems with noxious insects, snakes, etc. However, it was easier and faster on the prairie to make the ground arable. These settlers didn’t have to spend hard labor on felling trees and stumping the land. The crops grew faster compared to woodlands. Indeed, winters were troublesome for the settlers on the prairie but the summer conditions were more propitious for the crops. The chart below shows the distribution of Swedish-Americans into regions and States in the USA in 1910.

The Emigration from Sweden to the USA (5b)

The map above shows the distribution of Swedish-Americans in the US according to the 2000 US Census. Free image Wikipedia. As we can see above, Minnesota still has the highest density of Swedish-Americans. About 9.9% of the inhabitants in Minnesota were Swedish-Americans (586,507 people) in 2000. The State that follows Minnesota in total numbers of Swedish-Americans is California with 559,897 Swedes. However, since California is such a populous state the Swedish-Americans are few expressed as a percentage. The State following Minnesota in numbers, expressed as a percentage, is North Dakota with 5% Swedish-Americans.

Swedish Names of Places in USA

The Swedish immigrants have made many imprints in the United States, not the least in names of places in the “Swedish” areas. There are many examples of Swedish sounding names of places. It could be a name matching a place with an identical name in Sweden or it can be derived from the person who first established the place. The state with most places carrying Swedish names is Minnesota but they also exist in many other states. The State of Washington, for example, has about 50 places with Swedish names. Washington was the largest coherent area of Swedish settlements west of the Rocky Mountains. The Swede Otto R. Landelius has made a statistical survey of the existence of Swedish place names in the United States. He has identified about 800 places with names connected to Sweden or Swedes. About a fourth of these are in Minnesota. Even if the Swedish language is no longer spoken in the Swedish settlements in the United States, the names of places still remind us of the times that had been. Below are a few examples of places with Swedish names that I have found:

The chart shows the distribution of Swedish-Americans into regions and States in the USA in 1910. The second column shows respective State's population in 1910 while the third column shows the number of Swedish-Americans in respective State. The fourth column shows the number of Swedish-Americans expressed as percentage of the population in respective State. Source: United States Census Reports 1910/1960. The term Swedish-American in the chart is defined as a US immigrant born in Sweden or a person born in the USA where either one or both parents were born in Sweden. In other words, the two first generations of Swedish- Americans. Chart: Hans Högman

Source References

• Source references Top of page

Minnesota was, as shown in the chart above, the State with the highest population of Swedish-Americans, both in total numbers as well as expressed in percentage in 1910. In total numbers Illinois was the runner up. Expressed in percentage Nebraska, Washington State, North Dakota and Utah had relatively large shares. The map below shows United States of America with its States. Minnesota is located in the Upper Mid-West by the Great Lakes.

Number of Swedish-Born in the United States in 10 Year Periods During

the Immigration Period

The chart below shows the number of Swedish-born immigrants in the United States according to the US Census. The following states are a selection of the states with large numbers of Swedish immigrants.

Above, Swedish-born immigrants in the US distributed per US States. As we see in the chart it is in the 1910 Census we find the peaks of Swedish-born people in the US. Hans Högman.

United States Census

Since 1790 a Federal Census has been taken, by law, every 10 years, therefore it’s called a decennial census. Most of the 1890 census' population schedules were badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department Building, Washington, D.C. in January 1921. In addition, a few States disputed the Federal Census since it is used to determine the number of Representatives each State can send to the House of Representatives in Washington, taxes, Federal programs in the State, etc. Some States took their own Census on “off years” usually 5 years after. New York was one such State that took a State Census in 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915 and 1925. The State of Illinois was the first state where most Swedes settled. The State of Minnesota didn’t pass Illinois as the number one “Swedish” state until the 1880 Census. In other words the majority of the Swedish immigrants settled in Minnesota during the 1870’s. The chart above shows the number of Swedish-born in the respective census, i.e. people born in Sweden but had emigrated to the United States. As we see in the chart above it wasn’t Minnesota but Illinois where the early Swedish immigrants settled. However, in the 1880 Census and henceforth Minnesota is the major state for the Swedish immigrants. It is interesting that the 1850 Census has relatively many Swedes in Louisiana, in the American South, compared to many other states. However, while the number of Swedes in the Upper Midwest increases, the numbers for Louisiana remain practically constant. The chart below shows the total number of Swedish-born per 10-year periods, all states. The Census with the greatest number of Swedish-born people in the United States was the 1910 Census: 675,560. See chart below:

Above, Total population of the United States, the number of Swedish-Americans and the Swedish-American share of the total population expressed as a percentage. Chart Hans Högman 2013. The figures above are from a compilation made by Lars Ljungmark which is based on the Emigrant Report and Statistical Yearbook by Statistics Sweden (SCB). The term Swedish-American in the compilation is defined as a United States immigrant born in Sweden or a person born in the USA where either one or both parents were born in Sweden. In other words, the two-first generations of Swedish-Americans. As common among immigrant groups, they primarily married fellow-countrymen and established their own communities. Swedes married Swedes or Norwegians or other Scandinavians or in exceptional cases Germans. The sermon language in the Swedish churches in the United States was Swedish for a long time, also in the beginning of the 20th century. Below is a map showing the areas where the Swedish-Americans’ are living according to the 2000 Census. The darker color the higher density of Swedish-Americans.

Above, Total number of Swedish-born people in US Census per 10-year periods. Chart Hans Högman 2013. The chart below shows the total population of the United States, the number of Swedish-Americans and the Swedish-American share of the total population expressed as a percentage.

The chart above is compiled by Hans Högman, 2013. There are about a dozen places in the United States carrying the name Stockholm (Capital of Sweden). A cross-country ski race is arranged in February in Mora, Kanabec County, MN, every year called Vasaloppet. The origin is Vasaloppet held in Dalarna province, Sweden, on the first Sunday of March every year and goes between Sälen village and Mora town and is about 90 km (56 mi.) long. There are about 15,000 skiers in the race. There is also a giant “Dala Horse” (Dalahäst) as well as a large Mora Clock in Mora, MN, which reminds the city of its Swedish roots. The Dala Horse is a symbol of Dalarna province, Sweden. A Mora Clock is a typical grandfather clock (long-case clock), made in Mora, Sweden. The State of Maine in the North-East of the United States is a well-forested state. The spruce is the dominant tree with its 90% of the forest stand. Most provincial Swedes were experienced loggers and many Swedish emigrants went to Maine to work as loggers.

The map above is from the Otto R. Landelius's study of Swedish place names in the United States and shows the distribution of the Swedish names. Emigrantinstitutet, Växjö, Sweden.

Swedes in the Cities

The American cities also received a great deal of Swedish immigrants. About every other Swedish immigrant lived in cities. During the 1800’s the majority of Swedish immigrants in the United States settled in the countryside. In 1910, however, about 60% of the Swedes were living in cities. In 1910 Chicago had about 110,000 Swedish inhabitants. Other large groups of Swedes were found in New York (NY), Minneapolis (MN) and Seattle (WA). Even if the Swedes were many in these cities they were a minority among the immigrants. However, in small towns Swedish- Americans could dominate the picture. In Worcester, Massachusetts, there was a district called Skåne (Skåne is a province in southern Sweden). In Rockford, Illinois, the Swedish language was so common that even non-Swedes spoke it. Another typical "Swedish" town was Jamestown, New York State. Besides the many Swedish immigrants that worked in industry there were also a few who became successful. Many Swedes managed to set up in business within building and construction. Andrew Lanquist, an immigrant from Västergötland province, Sweden, constructed for example the Wrigley Building in Chicago, MN. About a third of all new buildings in Chicago in the 1920’s were erected by Swedish-American master builders. There were many prospering Swedish industries in Rockford, IL. In 1893, all furniture and cabinet factories in Rockford were in the hands of Swedish-Americans and in 1925 there were 54 furniture factories employing about 8,000 Swedish descendants. Stores and eating-places were often run by Swedes and this was advertised through signs, for example Swedish bookstore, Swedish tobacconist's shop with snus from Jönköping and Göteborg,etc. Snus is Swedish moist snuff. The image to the right is from 1878 and taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the image we find, to the far right in the front row, the hatter Knut Johan Theodore Segerdahl (1856 - 1904). He emigrated from Sweden in 1876 to Phildadelphia and adopted the name John Segerdell in the United States. In 1879 he settled in Brooklyn, New York City. The image to the left shows John’s brother, the hatter Johan Ludwig Segerdahl (1860 - 1912) and was taken at the end of the 19th century. He emigrated from Sweden in 1879 and settled in Brooklyn, New York City. He adopted the name Ludwig Segerdell in the United States. Prior to his emigration he worked in his father’s milliner shop in Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm, Sweden. In New York he worked for the Knox Hat Factory. The Segerdell brothers were born in Ulricehamn, Västergötland province; John on July 1, 1856, and Ludwig on May 21, 1860. The family moved to Stockholm in 1863. The photos are shown with consent of Judith Segerdell-Langston, Texas. Ludwig Segerdell is her great grandfather (farfars far). In many cases the cities became centers for the Swedish culture. It was easier in the cities than in the sparsely built-up countryside to meet for traditional Swedish gatherings which maintained Swedish traditions and way of life. As common among immigrants, Swedes gathered primarily with Swedes. The Swedish language, Swedish customs and Swedish religion kept the groups together. Even if they outwardly had American customs, among themselves they kept their Swedish traditions. New York: New York was the major port of immigration and it was from here the Swedish immigrants headed west, for example, to Illinois or Minnesota. However, not all immigrants left New York but settled in the city. Brooklyn was the New York City Borough that the Swedes who didn’t continue on to other areas of the country were drawn to. Not only were there Swedes in the Scandinavian grouping but Norwegians, Danes and Finns. Today, their bakeries, delicatessens, newspaper (Nordstjernan - The North Star) and weekly radio programs are all gone from Brooklyn. Brooklyn abounded with rooming houses, the early ones, small buildings of 2 or 3 floors where the single immigrant could rent a room and use the common or shared bathroom for all rooms on that floor. Later, as the immigrants married and became more settled, they were able to move within the same neighborhood or area to somewhat larger quarters and start families. Many clubs were formed during that era that provided social activities for them. A number of these clubs built summer club houses in the other Boroughs to “get out into the country” during the hot summers. They too are virtually non-existent today however one such club does still survive in The Bronx on the waterfront– The Mannheim Club.

New York City Boroughs

New York City Boroughs. 1=Manhattan, 2=Brooklyn, 3=Queens, 4=The Bronx, 5=Staten Island. The three major airports in the New York Metropolitan area are marked on the map. LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is located in northern Queens and Kennedy Airport (JFK) in southern Queens. Newark Airport (EWR) is located on the Jersey side, west of Hudson River. Free image, Wikipedia.

The Bronx

The Bronx, NY, is named after a Swede by the name Jonas Jonsson Brunk. He was born circa 1600 in Komstad, Småland province, Sweden, and went into service in the Danish and later the Dutch merchant navy. In 1638 he married in Amsterdam and in the Dutch sources his name is spelled Jonas Jonsson Bronck. In 1639 he was a captain on a Dutch vessel with destination to New Amsterdam (New York) in North America. Here he left the sea life and settled in the city. He soon bought 264 ha (652 acres) land east of the northern part of Manhattan from the native population (Indians). On this land he had a large manor built in stone material for him and his wife. Bronck called the manor Emaus. He also built living quarters for his farm laborers and buildings to dry tobacco in. Bronck seems to have made tobacco and used tenant farmers for this purpose. He died only a few years later, in 1643. The estate inventory after his death showed that he was a wealthy man. The Bronck estate and the Bronck land were well known at the time. However, the Dutch and later the English pronounced his name Brunk as Bronck. So, his land became The Bronck’s land which later became The Bronx (definite article). Bronck's manor was located on the other side of the Harlem River (from Manhattan) at the lower point of The Bronx where Third Avenue Bridge and Wills Avenue Bridge are today. The area is called Mott Haven nowadays.

The Swedes' Names in the USA

Common Misunderstanding

There is a widespread myth that family names were changed at the US immigrant stations. They were not. The legend goes that officials at Ellis Island, unfamiliar with the many languages and nationalities of the people arriving at Ellis Island, would change the names of those immigrants that sounded foreign, or unusual. However, inspectors did not create records of immigration; rather they checked the names of the immigrants against those recorded in the ship's manifest. The manifests were made up by the steamship companies and presented to the officials at Ellis Island when the ships arrived. Immigrant inspectors at Ellis Island simply accepted the names as recorded in the ship's manifests and never altered them unless persuaded that a mistake had been made in the spelling or rendering of the name. Immigration authorities had numerous interpreters to question immigrants if necessary to satisfy any question they might have. They were more concerned with the truthfulness of answers than the actual spelling of names. Although it is always possible that the names of passengers were spelt wrong, perhaps by the ship’s officers when the manifests were drawn up, it is more likely that immigrants were their own agents of change. So, in most cases, when a name of a Swedish immigrant does not match his or her name in Sweden, it was changed by the immigrant to “Americanize” it or maybe for some other reason. Swedes with patronymics (father names) often adopted a family name and then chose a name that also would work in English. Patronymic names could be misunderstood in the United States since the children then do not carry the same surname as the parents. Thereby there was a risk that the children would be regarded as illegitimate children which was as bad in the United States as in Sweden. Further, married couples with patronymics do not carry the same surname either which could create problems in the United States. Therefore it was common that the wives adopted the same surname as their husbands when they emigrated from Sweden.

Examples of Americanizations

Some adopted typical English surnames in USA, for example: Wilson, Rodgers, Brown, Harrison etc. "-son" names are normally spelled with two "s" in Sweden. However, almost all "-son" names are spelled with one "s" in USA; in other words Andersson became Anderson, etc. More information: • Swedish naming practices in earlier times • About first and middle names in Sweden

Changing Your Name in the United States

During the great Swedish Immigration era to America there was nothing to changing your name. Just start using the new one and that became you, no registration or recording. However, there was an exception if you can call it that, if you wanted to become a citizen. The name an immigrant came in under (that is: the name on the manifest) was the name under which you had to file your Declaration of Intention and Petition for Naturalization under to become a citizen. That was one of the checks the authorities made, making sure you were the person who came in – otherwise they didn’t care what your name was. There are numbers that were added in later years to the manifest sheet when the immigrant applied for naturalization (overwritten in one of the first columns). Those numbers were the number assigned or given the Declaration of Intent. There were some variations in requirements but in general US citizens were not required to have a passport for travel before 1941. When a Naturalized citizen applied for a Passport, citizenship was proved by your Certificate of Citizenship and that name became your Passport name.

The chapter “In the USA” is divided into several subpages:

Contents this page:

xxxxx Swegen xxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Made with Xara

Where in the United States did

the Swedish Immigrants Settle?

There were areas in the United States that were more popular than others for the Swedish immigrants. The State of Minnesota was the state where most Swedes settled. With a Swedish- American population of 13% in 1910 Minnesota was the number one “Swedish” state. The county in Minnesota with the highest population density of Swedes was Chisago County northeast of St. Paul. The State of Illinois was also a popular state for Swedes, not the least the City of Chicago. In 1910 Chicago had about 110,000 Swedish inhabitants. Minnesota was in other words the most popular state among the Swedes. However, Swedes were not the majority among the immigrants in Minnesota. In the 1890’s the state had about 25% German-Americans while the Swedish-Americans constituted 13% in 1910. During the 1800’s the majority of Swedish immigrants in the United States settled in the countryside. In 1910, however, about 60% of the Swedes were living in cities. This figure was 75% in 1950. The average number of immigrants living in cities was then 84% which means that the Swedes to a greater extent lived in the countryside. It is more myth than truth that Swedish immigrants settled in areas where the natural scenery reminded them of home. They settled where there were available homestead lands and gladly where other Swedes had settled. When the Swedish emigration speeded up during the mass emigration era it was this area in the Upper Midwest that offered the best homestead land, i.e. primarily Minnesota. This was the decisive factor. The frontier constantly expanded westward as the free homestead land was taken. Minnesota is a relatively flat state without any major mountains and thereby not like Sweden. Naturally it depends which province in Sweden you compare with. However, the climate in Minnesota is similar to the climate in Central Sweden; Stockholm and the provinces around Lake Mälaren (Mälardalen west of Stockholm) with cold winters with snow and beautiful summers. However, Minnesota has longer summers with its continental climate compared to the one in the Lake Mälaren area. The climate mattered in the greater perspective though. There was free land available in the much warmer American South too. However, this hotter climate seems to have had a deterrent effect to the Swedish settlers because very few Swedes settled in the South. Not all Swedes settled in the well-forested Minnesota but went farther west and settled on the prairie. The terms were often tougher on the prairie. Here, the availability of lumber was low and often they had to build dwellings of sod, so-called ”sod huts”. These huts were made of cut out pieces of sod in the size of bricks. The prairie settlers also had more problems with noxious insects, snakes, etc. However, it was easier and faster on the prairie to make the ground arable. These settlers didn’t have to spend hard labor on felling trees and stumping the land. The crops grew faster compared to woodlands. Indeed, winters were troublesome for the settlers on the prairie but the summer conditions were more propitious for the crops. The chart below shows the distribution of Swedish- Americans into regions and States in the USA in 1910.

The Emigration from

Sweden to the USA (5b)

The chart shows the distribution of Swedish- Americans into regions and States in the USA in 1910. The second column shows respective State's population in 1910 while the third column shows the number of Swedish-Americans in respective State. The fourth column shows the number of Swedish- Americans expressed as percentage of the population in respective State. Source: United States Census Reports 1910/1960. The term Swedish-American in the chart is defined as a US immigrant born in Sweden or a person born in the USA where either one or both parents were born in Sweden. In other words, the two first generations of Swedish-Americans. Chart: Hans Högman

Source References

• Source references Top of page

Above, Total population of the United States, the number of Swedish-Americans and the Swedish- American share of the total population expressed as a percentage. Chart Hans Högman 2013. The figures above are from a compilation made by Lars Ljungmark which is based on the Emigrant Report and Statistical Yearbook by Statistics Sweden (SCB). The term Swedish-American in the compilation is defined as a United States immigrant born in Sweden or a person born in the USA where either one or both parents were born in Sweden. In other words, the two-first generations of Swedish-Americans. As common among immigrant groups, they primarily married fellow-countrymen and established their own communities. Swedes married Swedes or Norwegians or other Scandinavians or in exceptional cases Germans. The sermon language in the Swedish churches in the United States was Swedish for a long time, also in the beginning of the 20th century. Below is a map showing the areas where the Swedish- Americans’ are living according to the 2000 Census. The darker color the higher density of Swedish- Americans.

Number of Swedish-Born in the

United States in 10 Year Periods

During the Immigration Period

Above, Swedish-born immigrants in the US distributed per US States. As we see in the chart it is in the 1910 Census we find the peaks of Swedish- born people in the US. Hans Högman.

United States Census

The map above shows the distribution of Swedish- Americans in the US according to the 2000 US Census. Free image Wikipedia. As we can see above, Minnesota still has the highest density of Swedish-Americans. About 9.9% of the inhabitants in Minnesota were Swedish-Americans (586,507 people) in 2000. The State that follows Minnesota in total numbers of Swedish-Americans is California with 559,897 Swedes. However, since California is such a populous state the Swedish-Americans are few expressed as a percentage. The State following Minnesota in numbers, expressed as a percentage, is North Dakota with 5% Swedish-Americans.

Swedish Names of Places in USA

Minnesota was, as shown in the chart above, the State with the highest population of Swedish- Americans, both in total numbers as well as expressed in percentage in 1910. In total numbers Illinois was the runner up. Expressed in percentage Nebraska, Washington State, North Dakota and Utah had relatively large shares. The map below shows United States of America with its States. Minnesota is located in the Upper Mid-West by the Great Lakes.

The map above is from the Otto R. Landelius's study of Swedish place names in the United States and shows the distribution of the Swedish names. Emigrantinstitutet, Växjö, Sweden.

Swedes in the Cities

The American cities also received a great deal of Swedish immigrants. About every other Swedish immigrant lived in cities. During the 1800’s the majority of Swedish immigrants in the United States settled in the countryside. In 1910, however, about 60% of the Swedes were living in cities. In 1910 Chicago had about 110,000 Swedish inhabitants. Other large groups of Swedes were found in New York (NY), Minneapolis (MN) and Seattle (WA). Even if the Swedes were many in these cities they were a minority among the immigrants. However, in small towns Swedish-Americans could dominate the picture. In Worcester, Massachusetts, there was a district called Skåne (Skåne is a province in southern Sweden). In Rockford, Illinois, the Swedish language was so common that even non-Swedes spoke it. Another typical "Swedish" town was Jamestown, New York State. Besides the many Swedish immigrants that worked in industry there were also a few who became successful. Many Swedes managed to set up in business within building and construction. Andrew Lanquist, an immigrant from Västergötland province, Sweden, constructed for example the Wrigley Building in Chicago, MN. About a third of all new buildings in Chicago in the 1920’s were erected by Swedish- American master builders. There were many prospering Swedish industries in Rockford, IL. In 1893, all furniture and cabinet factories in Rockford were in the hands of Swedish- Americans and in 1925 there were 54 furniture factories employing about 8,000 Swedish descendants. Stores and eating-places were often run by Swedes and this was advertised through signs, for example Swedish bookstore, Swedish tobacconist's shop with snus from Jönköping and Göteborg,etc. Snus is Swedish moist snuff. The image to the right is from 1878 and taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the image we find, to the far right in the front row, the hatter Knut Johan Theodore Segerdahl (1856 - 1904). He emigrated from Sweden in 1876 to Phildadelphia and adopted the name John Segerdell in the United States. In 1879 he settled in Brooklyn, New York City. The image to the left shows John’s brother, the hatter Johan Ludwig Segerdahl (1860 - 1912) and was taken at the end of the 19th century. He emigrated from Sweden in 1879 and settled in Brooklyn, New York City. He adopted the name Ludwig Segerdell in the United States. Prior to his emigration he worked in his father’s milliner shop in Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm, Sweden. In New York he worked for the Knox Hat Factory. The Segerdell brothers were born in Ulricehamn, Västergötland province; John on July 1, 1856, and Ludwig on May 21, 1860. The family moved to Stockholm in 1863. The photos are shown with consent of Judith Segerdell-Langston, Texas. Ludwig Segerdell is her great grandfather (farfars far). In many cases the cities became centers for the Swedish culture. It was easier in the cities than in the sparsely built-up countryside to meet for traditional Swedish gatherings which maintained Swedish traditions and way of life. As common among immigrants, Swedes gathered primarily with Swedes. The Swedish language, Swedish customs and Swedish religion kept the groups together. Even if they outwardly had American customs, among themselves they kept their Swedish traditions. New York: New York was the major port of immigration and it was from here the Swedish immigrants headed west, for example, to Illinois or Minnesota. However, not all immigrants left New York but settled in the city. Brooklyn was the New York City Borough that the Swedes who didn’t continue on to other areas of the country were drawn to. Not only were there Swedes in the Scandinavian grouping but Norwegians, Danes and Finns. Today, their bakeries, delicatessens, newspaper (Nordstjernan - The North Star) and weekly radio programs are all gone from Brooklyn. Brooklyn abounded with rooming houses, the early ones, small buildings of 2 or 3 floors where the single immigrant could rent a room and use the common or shared bathroom for all rooms on that floor. Later, as the immigrants married and became more settled, they were able to move within the same neighborhood or area to somewhat larger quarters and start families. Many clubs were formed during that era that provided social activities for them. A number of these clubs built summer club houses in the other Boroughs to “get out into the country” during the hot summers. They too are virtually non-existent today however one such club does still survive in The Bronx on the waterfront– The Mannheim Club.