New Sweden
Eddystone, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
In 1643 the colony's Governor, Johan Printz, established its capital here on Tinicum Island. Earlier, in 1638, New Sweden had been founded at the site of present Wilmington. Although the colony was captured by the Dutch in 1655, many Swedish and Finnish settlers remained. This was the region's first permanent European settlement, some four decades before William Penn's 1681 founding of Pennsylvania.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Decades before William Penn arrived, Sweden planted a colony along the Delaware. Founded in 1638 at the site of present Wilmington, New Sweden moved its capital in 1643 to Tinicum Island, where Governor Johan Printz took charge. The Dutch seized the colony in 1655, but the Swedish and Finnish families who had settled here stayed on, becoming part of the region's foundation.
Why it matters
New Sweden was the region's first permanent European settlement, a reminder that the Delaware Valley's roots reach back to Scandinavian and Finnish immigrants who came a generation before Penn's Pennsylvania.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Bridgette Mayer11.0 mi away · 709 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Hill-Physick House11.1 mi away · 321 South 4th Street
- Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial11.1 mi away
- Congress Hall11.2 mi away · Philadelphia, PA
- Independence Hall11.2 mi away · 520 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Philosophical Hall11.2 mi away · PA
Attractions
- Commandant's Quarters8.3 mi away
- American Bandstand9.1 mi away
- Philadelphia Zoo10.4 mi away
- Italian market10.5 mi away · Christian Street
- One Liberty Observation Deck10.5 mi away
- The Universal Sphere10.6 mi away
Food & drink
- Talula's Garden11.0 mi away · 210 West Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA
- Talula's Daily11.0 mi away · 208 West Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA
- Fat Salmon11.0 mi away · 719 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Cafe Walnut11.0 mi away · 703 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Maya's Pizza & Grill11.0 mi away · 716 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Munchie’s Cafe11.0 mi away · 728 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places to stay
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Center City10.5 mi away · 237 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Cambria Hotel Philadelphia Downtown - Center City10.6 mi away · 219 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Fairfield Inn & Suites10.6 mi away · 261 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Alexander Inn10.6 mi away · 301 301 South 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, Philadelphia, PA
- Holiday Inn Express10.7 mi away · 1305-11 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City10.8 mi away · 1 East Penn Square, Philadelphia, PA
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Related people
- · Johan Printz
Related events
- · Founding of New Sweden
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Governor Printz Park
Tinicum Township, PA · est. 1948
On this low island in the Delaware, Swedish colonists founded New Sweden's foothold in 1643, the first permanent European settlement in what is now Pennsylvania. Here stood the Printzhof, the fortified residence and capitol of Governor Johan Printz, the imposing leader who governed the tiny colony. Though New Sweden was short-lived, this ground marks where organized European settlement in Pennsylvania began, decades before William Penn's arrival.
Lazaretto Quarantine Station
Tinicum Township, PA · est. 2008
Established in 1799 after a devastating yellow fever epidemic, the Lazaretto stood as Philadelphia's line of defense against imported disease. For nearly a century, ships bound for the port stopped here first so that cargo could be inspected or fumigated and passengers examined; the sick were hospitalized and held until they recovered — or died. For countless arriving immigrants, this quarantine station was their very first taste of America.
Morton Homestead
Prospect Park, PA · est. 1966
This riverside homestead was begun around 1654 by Morton Mortonson, part of the Swedish and Finnish settlement of New Sweden along the Delaware, and it is among the oldest European-built structures in the region. The family line ran forward to John Morton, the Pennsylvania delegate who cast a decisive vote and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Tinicum
Tinicum Township, PA · est. 1947
In 1643 Colonel Johan Printz, the imposing governor of New Sweden, established his seat at Tinicum, founding what is recognized as the first permanent European settlement in present-day Pennsylvania. For a dozen years the Swedish colony held this ground along the Delaware, until the wider contest for the river swept it away — first to the Dutch in 1655, then to the English in 1664. Tinicum's brief Swedish chapter left a lasting mark on the region's earliest colonial identity.