SWEDISH

Dress of a Swedish immigrant.  In the background is a hand woven rug.  

Most immigrants from Sweden to Texas came between 1848 and 1910.  A man by the name of Swenson, who arrived in Texas in 1838, helped bring many other Swedish families to Texas.  He and his uncle operated an informal immigration company which paid the travel expenses in return for indentured labor. 

Although many early Swedish settlers were farmers, they eventually settled in cities.   In some areas of Texas, descendents of Swedish immigrants still speak and/or read Swedish and still prepare traditional foods. 

Visit a photo gallery on the Swedish heritage.