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Fort Nya Elfsborg


Fort Nya Elfsborg was a fortification and settlement established as a part of New Sweden. Built in 1643 and named after the Älvsborg Fortress off Gothenburg, Fort Nya Elfsborg was located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, between present day Salem and Alloway Creek.

At the time of European colonization in the 17th century, the Delaware was known as the South River and the Salem River was known as Varkens Kill, or Hogg Creek. The Dutch established a factorij at Fort Nassau on the east bank of the South River in 1626, and claimed the territory as part of New Netherland. Despite the claim, the colony of New Sweden was founded, in 1638, at Fort Christina on the west bank. In 1641, without having a patent, a group of 60 settlers (20 families) from the New Haven Colony (in today's Connecticut) purchased land along the kill and the Schuylkill from indigenous Lenape. In 1643, the Dutch forcibly disbanded their trading post on the Schuylkill opposite their fort.

Fort Nya Elfsborg was built shortly after Johan Printz, governor of New Sweden, arrived in the colony on 15 February 1643, allowing the Varkens Kill settlement to remain if they swore allegiance to Sweden. He also built Fort Nya Gothenborg on Tinicum Island (to the immediate SW of today's Philadelphia), where he built his own manor house which he called The Printzhof.


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