West Sweden, Texas. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

In 1905 a flock of Swedish immigrants transmigrated from their farms in Travis and Williamson County, led by their pastor Ernest Severin. The town's name carried on a tradition (after New Sweden in Travis County and nearby East Sweden, Texas) but the town never prospered and it is believed the residents returned to their previous homes. The community remained on highway maps in 1948 but by the 1980s it was just a memory.

A letter to Texas Escapes from former resident Jim Johnson includes this information (as well as detailed directions to the former town):

"West Sweden is almost entirely gone. About 7 miles west of Brady on US 87, north of the highway at the T intersection of 2 gravel roads there is sign on the highway pointing to the cemetery and it is grown over pretty bad unless somebody has done something.

I remember only the Methodist Church and the school. The school was vacant as the students [were transfered] to Brady. (My memory goes back to the last year or so of WWII.) The church burned down pre-1950. There probably was a store but I don't know anything about it."

"Just for [additional] information; the town of Melvin also had a lot of Swedish settlers. In the 1940s it was probably one third Swedish, one third of other Europeans and one third Hispanic. We went to the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the older Sunday School classes were conducted in the Swedish language. Several would still pray in Swedish during the services." - Jim Johnson, Bridgeport, Texas

Editor's Note:
Our thanks to Mr. Johnson for suggesting the McCulloch County towns of West Sweden, Whiteland and Marco for inclusion in Texas Escapes.