Around Swedish America in 548 Days - Day 47

Day 47 - Alexandria

The Vikings most likely did not make it to Minnesota, even though many Scandinavians would like to believe that. This was especially true for Swedish immigrant Olof Ohman on whose Kensington farm near Alexandria (Day 46) the so-called Kensington runestone was found in 1898. Even though it was proved a fake early on by Professor Erik Wahlgren and others, many people are still ardent believers in its authenticity. There are also many who wonder if there isn't a connection between the Vikings and the fair-haired and blue-eyed local Mandan Indians.

The Runestone Museum, 206 Broadway(320-763-3160; www.runestonemuseum.org), houses the Kensington Runestone. Above the display is a map showing the alleged route taken by visiting Scandinavians in 1362. Other displays include memorabilia that have been excavated, including a battle-ax found near Mora in 1933. One mile east of the Runestone Museum on State Highway 27 is a large replica of the Kensington Runestone, erected in 1951 by the local Kiwanis Club. Near the museum is a twenty-eight-foot Viking statue, weighing 12,000 pounds, which the town considers to be the world's largest Viking statue. The claim that Nordic people visited Minnesota in the fourteenth century is highly controversial.

There are also other Swedish memorials in Alexandria. In front of the Douglas County Courthouse is a plaque honoring Theodore A. Erickson (1871 - 1963), Douglas County superintendent of schools from 1907 to 1915 and founder of the 4-H movement in Minnesota. Another plaque outside the Calvary Lutheran Church, at 605 Douglas (320- 767-5178), commemorates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Svea Swedish Evangelical Lutheran congregation by six Swedish couples. Although the church's current building dates from the 1950s, a stained-glass window from the first church built in the i880s is displayed in the church library's lounge. The altar and baptismal font from the 1909 church are in the chapel. The church changed its name in 1948.