Editing Fort Christina (section)

== Legacy and Commemoration ==

Today, Fort Christina State Park in Wilmington, Delaware, commemorates the site of the first Swedish settlement in the Americas. The park features a monument erected in 1938 to mark the 300th anniversary of the colony's founding, with a statue of the ''Kalmar Nyckel'' that brought the first colonists. A replica of the ''Kalmar Nyckel'' sails from Wilmington as an educational vessel, offering modern visitors a tangible connection to the Swedish colonial period. The site is a National Historic Landmark and receives visitors interested in the early European history of the Delaware Valley.<ref name="fortchristina">{{cite web |url=https://history.delaware.gov/fort-christina/ |title=Fort Christina |publisher=Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs |access-date=December 29, 2025}}</ref>

Though Fort Christina lies outside Philadelphia's boundaries, its history is integral to understanding the European settlement of the region. The Swedish colonists who landed here in 1638 were the first Europeans to establish permanent homes along the Delaware River, predating Philadelphia by nearly half a century. Their descendants, who remained in the area through Dutch and English rule, formed the existing European population that William Penn incorporated into his new colony. The [[Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church]] in Philadelphia's [[Queen Village]] neighborhood stands as a direct link between Fort Christina's founders and the modern city, built by the grandchildren of those first Swedish colonists.<ref name="johnson"/>