The Lower Swedish Cabin is a historic Swedish-style

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

which is located on Creek Road in the

Drexel Hill Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, an increase over 28,043 in 2010, and accounting for over one-third of Upp ...

section of

Upper Darby Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the township had a total population of 85,681, making it the state's sixth-most populated mun ...

, Pennsylvania, along Darby Creek. The cabin may be one of the oldest log cabins in the United States and is one of the last cabins built by the Swedish settlers that remains intact.

History

The house was likely built sometime between 1640 and 1650 by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

immigrants who were part of the

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

colony. During the early 1900s, film pioneer

Siegmund Lubin Siegmund Lubin (born Zygmunt Lubszyński, April 20, 1851 – September 11, 1923) was an American film, motion picture pioneer who founded the Lubin Manufacturing Company (1902–1917) of Philadelphia. Biography Siegmund Lubin was born as Zyg ...

filmed several movies at the site. Despite this being disputed, several local residents have evidence of being used as extras. The filming became such a distraction to the workers of the nearby mill, that the owner filed for an injunction to prevent Lubin filming during work hours. The house served as a private residence until 1937, when it was recorded by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. In 1941, the cabin became the property of the township of

. ''Note:'' This includes Afterwards, it was offered to local Girl Scouts who used it as a campsite for several years. Then, a series of Township-appointed tenants lived there until 1964. A partial attempt to fix-up the house was done for the Bicentennial in 1976. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. A full historical restoration and archeological excavation were completed in 1989. The site is now cared for by the Friends of the Swedish Cabin. It may be visited from April through October, on Sundays from 1 - 4 pm. Admission is free. Donations are accepted.

References

Ambrose, George. ''—'The Log Cabins of New Sweden.The New Sweden Centre, Wilmington, DE (2003). Smith, Thomas R. Drexel Hill 1875-1912. Life in Addingham and Garrettford/America's Clandestine Hollywood. Drexel Hill, PA (1980).

External links

Friends of the Swedish Cabin
* * * - survey from 1937 of a nearby log cabin of similar date and construction, since demolished {{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania Houses completed in 1700 Houses in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Museums in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Historic house museums in Pennsylvania New Sweden Swedish-American culture in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1700 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

See also

References

External links