Swedesboro, New Jersey

History

Originally populated by the Lenape Native Americans, Swedesboro was settled as part of New Sweden around 1650. The Swedes and Finns were fishermen, hunters and farmers.

Swedesboro, initially named Sveaborg by the Swedish settlers, along with Bridgeport (Nya Stockholm) and Finns Point (Varkens Kill), was one of only three settlements established in New Jersey as a part of the New Sweden colony. The oldest extant log cabin in the U.S., C. A. Nothnagle Log House (c. 1640) was built by Antti Niilonpoika (Anthony Neilson/Nelson) in Swedesboro. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as is Trinity Episcopal "Old Swedes" Church, which was established as a Swedish Lutheran Church in 1703; the present building dates to 1784.

As a result of the Second Northern War, New Sweden passed into Dutch hands in 1655. In 1667, the English subsequently annexed the region along the Delaware River after the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The English Colonial government needed a road between the communities of Burlington and Salem and built the Kings Highway in 1691, which opened the southern portion of Gloucester County to more settlers, who were drawn to the area by the fertile sandy soil, prime farmland and vast tracts of oak, birch, maple and pine trees. Originally, the community was called Raccoon until it was changed to Swedesboro in 1765.

From the History section of Swedesboro, New Jersey on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.