City of Lindstrom
Lindström (also spelled Lindstrom) is a city in Chisago County, Minnesota, United States, located 35 miles northeast of the Twin Cities. The population was 4,442 at the 2010 census. Lindström’s motto is America’s Little Sweden. U.S. Highway 8 serves as a main route for the community. One of the founders of Lindstrom was Emil Newlander.
History
Lindström was settled predominantly by Swedish (and a few Norwegian) immigrants and their families. In 1853, Daniel Lindström left Sweden in search of a nice piece of land to settle in the United States. Lindström was platted in 1880.[11] The town of Lindström was incorporated in 1894. Many other Swedish emigrants traveled with Daniel Lindström. Joris Per Anderson, half brother to Daniel Lindström, came in 1850 leading a party from Hassela, Sweden. In the party was Erik Norelius, whose personal journals in part formed the basis of Vilhelm Moberg’s novels of the Swedish emigration to the United States, The Emigrants. Moberg’s novels have two main characters, Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson. The novels depict the hardships Swedish emigrants endured en route to the United States. A bronze statue of the author, holding his bicycle as if ready to ride away, stands on a stepped platform in Chisago City’s town park. An image of Karl Oskar and Kristina remains Lindström’s logo today. Since 1990, anyone who has taken U.S. Highway 8 from north of Forest Lake to Lindström has driven on the Moberg Trail.
Lindström celebrates Karl Oskar and Kristina annually with Karl Oskar Days. This event takes place mid-July and includes such activities as the coronation of a “Karl Oskar Princess”, parades, a street dance, and fireworks. There are still statues of Karl Oskar and Kristina in Lindström, as a tribute to the early Swedish immigrants whose descendants continue to populate the area. These statues are the main attraction for tourists from all over the world who come to Lindström because of its Swedish heritage.
In April 2015, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed an executive order to restore the umlaut (¨) over the “o” on the Lindström city limits sign.[15] (However, both the USGS[16] and the US Census Bureau[17] record the city’s name as “Lindstrom”.)
Incorporated in 1894, Lindstrom MN was first settled by Daniel Lindstrom who left Sweden for America in 1853. Among the Swedish Emigrants was Erik Norelius, whose personal journals (documented in part) formed the basis of Vilhelm Moberg’s novels of the Swedish Emigration to America. Moberg’s fictional heroes, Karl-Oskar and Kristina Nilsson, are memorialized in statue at the west end of town as a tribute to the early Swedish immigrants whose descendents continue to populate our area.
References:
“Lindstrom, Minnesota” │ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindstrom,_Minnesota
“Welcome to Lindström!” │ https://www.cityoflindstrom.us/