Svea Land Colony
The Idea
Swedish Dream
After the 1895 founding of the Swedish settlement of Thorsby, Alabama, Oscar Johnson visited with the intention of moving his family there and opening a small machine shop. On his return to Chicago, he discussed his plans with two members of the Svea Building and Loan Association, Charles O. Carlson and Carl A. Vallentin. Both men, having experience in lending money and selling real estate, considered Johnson's idea and began a discussion with him on working together to make their own plans for a Swedish settlement.
Many of the Swedes in Chicago were unhappy with the bad working conditions and cramped housing. The dream of living in the country, growing their own food, and farming for their income was a strong desire among them.
The Svea Land Colony concept from 1896 through 1907 was to attract only the Swedish-speaking population to form a pure Swedish colony. The group bought up large pieces of land in central Baldwin County. They wanted to form a town in the center of this land with larger parcels of land around the town for farms.
Silverhill promotional pamphlet about 1907 - click to enlarge page.
Go here to see all pages of the pamphlet.
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With no laws on false advertising, the Land Colony could print any information. The pamphlet here states the colony was founded in 1890. In truth, it was 1896. The map shows the railroad extended all the way to Fort Morgan, although it ended in Foley. It bragged on no fevers or contagious diseases, even though yellow fever had just quarantined the area in 1897. It states cool summers, but summers in Silverhill can never be described as cool!
After the hurricane of 1906, many of the Swedes left. Those who were paying on time just let the property go back to the company. Others sold their property when they could. The group stopped using the name Svea Land Colony, and took a different direction in their real estate advertising.
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Bohemian Project
One group that responded to the new advertising was immigrants from Bohemia. On March 6, 1909, Karel Josef Hanak led a group of settlers to the southwest of Silverhill where he founded the first Czecho-Moravian Colony in the state of Alabama, which he named Cechie.
Visit the pages below to continue reading about the Svea Land Colony.
Written by Debbie Owen
December 2022
Resources
Ernst Wilhelm Olson, History of the Swedes of Illinois, Part II. (Engberg Holmberg Pub. Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908)
U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, The Official Federal Land Records Site. Images of federal land title records issued since 1820.
https://glorecords.blm.gov/
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