Chisago Lakes is an area of Chisago County,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, along Highway 8. The Chisago Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce includes the combined areas of Shafer, Center City, Chisago City, Almelund, Taylor's Falls, and Lindström.

History

The Chisago Lakes Area is named from two Chippewa words "Kichi" meaning large, and "Saga" meaning fair or lovely. The Swedish called it "The Big Lake", as many of today's lakes were once one large lake. Swedish immigrants settled in the Chisago Lakes area in the mid-19th century. The area became a popular tourist area, with the lakes and railroad coming through. The Depression years dried up the lakes and the tourists. There was a growth of tourism in the late 1940s, as the lakes began to prosper once again.

Cities

Chisago City

Originally platted in 1855, Chisago City was replatted at another location in 1892 and incorporated in 1906. Chisago City became a tourist resort destination after the 1880 railroad was built. Chisago City was home to

Vilhelm Moberg Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg (20 August 1898 – 8 August 1973) was a Swedish journalist, author, playwright, historian, and debater. His literary career, spanning more than 45 years, is associated with his four‑volume series ''The Emigrant ...

during the summer of 1947, while he rode his bike through the area researching for what would become his four-volume saga of Swedish Immigrants in North America, The Emigrants suite: ''The Emigrants'', ''

Unto a Good Land ''Unto a Good Land'' () is a Swedish novel by Vilhelm Moberg. It is the second of his four-novel ''The Emigrants'' series. It was translated into English in 1954 and was also published in other languages. Together with the first novel, it was ...

'', ''The Settlers'' and '' The Last Letter Home''. The city has dedicated a park and a statue, housed in the park, to

. Chisago City is

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

Algutsboda, Sweden Algutsboda is a community in Algutsboda District, Kalmar County, Sweden. Author Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) was born and grew up in Algutsboda, which is in the region called Småland. In the mid-20th century, Algutsboda had a shop, bank, post ...

Center City

Center City was founded in 1851 and was the first permanent Swedish settlement in Minnesota. It became the county seat in 1875. The Chisago Lakes Lutheran Church was the first Swedish settled church in the area, being organized in 1854 in the barn of Per Berg. Highway 8 follows much of the old railroad bed through the city of Center City. Today, two blocks along Summit Avenue, including 18 homes, form a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

listed on 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 ...

. Center City is sister city to Hassela, Sweden.

Lindström

Lindstrom, the biggest city in the Chisago Lakes region, has a sister-city relationship with Tingsryd, Sweden. The city was established in 1894 after being planned in 1880 and named after Daniel Lindström, who hailed from Hassela,

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to by the Latin name Helsingia, is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of ...

, Sweden. The city commemorates its history through celebrations that revolve around Karl Oskar and his wife, Kristina, fictional characters that represent the numerous immigrant families that settled in the "land of kichisaga" during the mid-19th century. These families had escaped from hardships in their native

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

, Sweden, to rebuild their lives in an unclaimed territory in America. A statue of Karl and Kristina serves as a symbol for the Swedish peasants who migrated over a century ago and settled in the Chisago Lakes region. Lindström is sister city to Tingsryd, Sweden.

Shafer

Shafer Schaefer is an alternative spelling and cognate for the German word ''schäfer'', meaning 'shepherd', which itself descends from the Old High German '' scāphare''. Variants "Shaefer", "Schäfer" (a standardized spelling in many German-speaking ...

is a farming community and was once a potato hub. Shafer was first organized as part of Taylors Falls. In 1853 the town was renamed after a transient farm worker, Jacob Shafer, from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The Shafer community is proud of its heritage. Throughout the year, events are held in a "town square" type of atmosphere. Shafer is sister city to Nöbbele,

Taylors Falls

Taylors Falls was the location where the main characters of

's Swedish novel ''The Emigrants'' first settled. It was adapted into a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, and later a musical called

Kristina från Duvemåla ''Kristina från Duvemåla'' ''("Kristina from Duvemåla")'' is a Swedish musical written by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus (lyrics) and Benny Andersson (music). It is based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg detai ...

Almelund

The village of Almelund was founded in 1887 by Swedish immigrant John Almquist.

References

External links

Chisago Lakes Chamber of CommerceChisago Lakes
{{Coord, 45, 23, N, 92, 51, W, display=title Geography of Chisago County, Minnesota History of Minnesota