I've lived in Clifton Heights my whole life and when I was a kid we used to hang out and party at the trestles on creek road. There was about 20 of us. We always went in the swedish cabin too. The cabin used to be rundown and you could go into it. It was so small inside. You couldn't stand up in there and had to crawl around, and it had two stories inside. There was a hole cut in the upper floor in a corner of the cabin to climb into the second floor. It was really neat. I can't believe a family lived there. It's cool that they restored it because I thought it was just going to rot away. I still go down there now a days to walk my dog. I'm glad you made a video of this place. Not many people know the cabin is even there. Keep up the good work my friend 👍🏻🍻
This is the best video on the Swedish Cabin yet. I haven't seen it in over 20 years. We use to fish downstream in the trout stocked waters near the train bridge. There was a mongoose bike in the creek where we were fishing and a kid went in the creek and got the bike out and then sold it to me for $20. Lol I bought it for my nephew. Later as we packed up our gear and stringers of trout, the kid told me he stole the bike! Hahaha
I happened upon your video this morning. I'm glad I did. I also joined your rapidly growing You Tube family of subscribers. I was born and raised immersed in history via my dad and his friend, Dr. Henry Bisbee of Burlingon NJ. I'm always delighted to find someone like yourself ,who dives in and shares our history. Best of luck growing your channel.
I did some archaeology at the Swedish Cabin many years ago. People lived in it all the way up into the 1970s, so there was a lot to find there. There are some great books, mostly out of print that you can find on Ebay, about the colony of New Sweden. There is also a fascinating book called King of the Movies about Sigmund Lubin and how he played such a huge part in creating the movie industry filming mostly in Philly and Valley Forge. Another great video! Keep up the good work.
This video surprised me, well done and you made me laugh talking about the Swedes and the Finns. I am 77 and my maiden name is Nordblom. My Swedish Grandfather was Johan Arthur Nordblom born in Aland, Sweden and my Finnish Grandmother was Aina Aurora Jernval. They immigrated here and settled in Norwood, MA, married and had 13 kids. My family traveled from IN to MA to visit them every two years to visit them. Their house had no electricity or plumbing ever even though my Grandfather and Dad's older brothers worked in construction building homes. You showed the interior of this cabin and that how dark inside their home was with a big cast iron cookstove. My father told me years later their home was actually a barn his father converted into their home. I was always getting confused about their nationality, Swedish, Finnish or maybe Norwegian since they lived in Norwood, MA, lol??? Winters in MA were brutal and my Grandfather never learned to drive. He walked to work. It was always puzzling to my Dad and his siblings why not make life easier and modernize?? Aland Sweden is a beautiful island and coming from a fishing family, maybe he had some homesickness?? Or the Depression they endured in 1930s and WWII made him realize some serious truths about the "American Dream"??? A history teacher friend of mine told me years ago, "be careful about romanticizing the past"!
I love your channel ! You’re doing great. I love the Pa, history . My family is from that area , my 8x GGrandfather was one of the founding forefathers of the new Swedish colony. It so fun seeing the places you are showing . I have so much information but have never been able to visit all the sites . Anyway just wanted to let you know I enjoy the channel and look forward to your videos
From what I understand, the Swedes built their fireplaces in the corner and the Finns built them in the center of the wall. Also, the Finns squared thier logs with an adze and the Swedes did not. A carbon test of the logs was done in '89 and the results showed they were from the period stated on the historical marker. A classmate of mine at Williamson Trade School, Norman Glass, restored the cabin in '90-'91 and I was involved in the dig there in '89.
Great job on your history channel ! Its so nice to see someone your age take interest. I would like to introduce you to Keith Lockhart - the chief DELCO historian ! he is a friend of mine and you must meet him soon - he lives in Ridley Park (leedom estates section). Keep up the good work !! Your appreciated !
Grew up as a kid doing fun nefarious things at cool spots like this in newegland. Some of us stones started to really enjoy the historical aspects of theses great spots and will allways fight to keep em nice and treat em well
I live in Lenni in a home where the original room was an old log cabin. There is a stone dated 1691 in the fireplace, but I haven't traced it way back. People added onto it over the years. There used to be a barn that had cut log walls with pieces of logs facing ends in and out , as if the logs were stones. The old outhouse was still here when we moved in. Oakum is made from twisted fibers like jute or even flax.
Do you know any history about those cute Victorian like houses that are boarded up behind new development on valleybrook road across from the Psot office? Behind Wilson’s auction house.
A great-uncle of mine (born around 1895, and grew up on Edmonds Avenue) took me for a walk along that section of creek in the early 1960s, and mentioned seeing silent cowboy films being made there when he was a kid. Siegmond Lubin was a Polish immigrant who set up shop in Philly as an opthamologist, and later went into the fledgling world of cinema. One of his final silent shorts featured Oliver "Babe" Hardy. Sadly, cellulose on which films were produced was flammable to the point of sometimes causing spontaneous combustion. Lubin's warehouse and production facility (in North Philly) went up in smoke, and most of his work destroyed. A few of his silent shorts can still be found on youtube. Check out Meet Me At The Fountain.
Thanks for that information. I looked for the film with the cabin in it but came up empty. Too bad it was lost in a fire. So much early film has been lost that way what a shame.
Very nice video Sean! Like the walk and talk and historical background of the area. Maybe in the future you can edit in some video or voiceover on old artifacts, sketches, documents about the Swedes, Dutch, English and Leni Lenape First Peoples. That would be cool!!! Keep up the great work. I think you've got a great channel and communication style!!
The Lenape DID have semi-permanent settlements in the form of favorite creek/river junctions that would have stone-lined caches for corn, pots, gourds, etc.
If you like log cabins, you should take a trip out to Medford Lakes, NJ. It’s a community of modern log cabins, and then go a bit down the road to the Batsto Village. It’s a historic community with a mill where they produced bog iron and glass.
It's great that the cabin is being preserved. Good to remember that lots of different cultures built America even during the earliest colonial times. The Scots Irish were pretty much known as the pioneers. They were adaptable and tough. They borrowed the idea of the log cabin from Scandanavians, the rifled gun from the Germans and the crops and ways of subsistence from the Native Americans. It's amazing the cabin has survived as it has. Maybe partially from a well drained and sunny location, maybe from the wood in its construction. It was built with the bark on probably because it was not meant to be a permanent thing. It was quick shelter.
Thanks for Sharing! This is not too far from me.And yes the area is sketchy for sure ! There used to be another Swedish cabin not too far away that stood near the woods behind my house, but sadly it was burnt down by vandals in the 70's or 80's there's still a chain link fence surrounding where it once stood and there were people doing a digs there for the historical society. I'm not sure what they found though but they were there for a few days back in the early 2000's. It was neat to see! Years ago they had a little festival at that cabin ! It was really cool! I'm not sure if they still have it!
That’s a shame about the vandals, but super interesting that a festival was held there! Thanks for sharing. I definitely want to check out the second cabin site sometime. Is it in Dennison playground?
Yes there is a small playground nearby ! Its Right behind the row homes on Dennison Ave , you can get there by the playground too or the alleyway behind the rows. There's a chain link fence to mark where it once stood. The St. Charles cemetery is pretty cool too if you like older cemeteries! Some dating back to civil war times.😎
Another spot in the area is sycamore park in lansdowne where a gigantic sycamore tree older than the US resides. And the Underground Railroad walking tour which can be found on the Upper Darby website!
The oldest continuously occupied building in the United States is, “The Palace of the Governors” located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, built in 1610. But the oldest known building in the America’s is in Old San Juan Puerto Rico, built in 1521 “La Casa Blanca”
Coming from England I want to correct you. England has always had forest's neolithic times even more so. They were more likely to build a round house though during the Saxon time rectangular homes became common. Most clearing of the land happened when farming was introduced by the breaker people. England at the time of settling the Americas had moved to more finished timber so a log cabin was not something that they had in England. I did enjoy your video and being in Maryland will definitely make the trip to see the cabin myself.
@@ericwood9598 thanks for the clarification. I love the UK. My experience in the UK is part of what inspires this channel. I'm a big fan of Time Team. Have a blast in Maryland!
Also on a side note, not sure if you’ve tried the door but I was able to walk in before, it was unlocked - it was also spring so I’m not sure if that made a difference
The first American Revolution was a movement by the Swedes in South Jersey to return to Swedish Rule under the King of Sweden. My ancestor was fined 25 guilders for participating.
William Penn was a Quaker from Wales who did not believe in slavery or war, also paid the Indians for their land. As well as moved the remaining Swedes further west giving them land in exchange for leaving. The area was to be the Welsh Barrony
Sweden ruled Finland in that era. Swedes adopted the log cabin from Russia during the Viking age. This one has been touted as the oldest log cabin in the U.S.
Not too far down the creek is St Charles Catholic Church. It’s the second oldest parish in Delco built by Charles Kelly for the Irish that worked the mills
That cabin. There, if that's the one that's across from Hoffman park in Drexel Hill is not the original cabin? It was rebuilt because I was there back in the late 90s early 2000s and I called the number a guy came out gave us a tour gave us a whole bunch of books covers. And one of the other commenters, his description or her description is more accurate. What the original cabin look like. It was probably destroyed in that real bad flood that the pizza guy got killed in right by K mart. And that's probably why there's bark on the logs because it was repelled
@@alexo1226 I have considered it yeah. but I feel conflicted about digging up archeological sites like this. I have to think more about the ethics of it.
@solguud well , you are doing something positive and bringing hidden history back to life . We need to get you the Indiana Jones Hat 🤣🤣🤣 whatever decision you make. It is the right one. Take care
It would have been a biblical flood to move a rock that size down the creek. Maybe some gold behind it way down at the base; if there ever was gold in darby creek.
POOR LENAPE, WHEN THE WHITE PPL ARRIVED AND STARTED BUILDING THEIR HOMES, PROBABLY WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT KNOWING THEY HAD TO LEAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER PLACE THEIR HOME! 😔❤️🩹
The oldest building in the US is the Taos Pueblo. The Spanish built the St Francisco de Asis Catholic Church just south of Taos. Close to the Spanish morada built for the Penitentes. Can’t stand it when people trying to teach history don’t even know the history they are trying to share. So now I’m not going to bother watching the video because idk what other facts you might get wrong.
I've lived in Clifton Heights my whole life and when I was a kid we used to hang out and party at the trestles on creek road. There was about 20 of us. We always went in the swedish cabin too. The cabin used to be rundown and you could go into it. It was so small inside. You couldn't stand up in there and had to crawl around, and it had two stories inside. There was a hole cut in the upper floor in a corner of the cabin to climb into the second floor. It was really neat. I can't believe a family lived there. It's cool that they restored it because I thought it was just going to rot away. I still go down there now a days to walk my dog. I'm glad you made a video of this place. Not many people know the cabin is even there. Keep up the good work my friend 👍🏻🍻
This is the best video on the Swedish Cabin yet. I haven't seen it in over 20 years. We use to fish downstream in the trout stocked waters near the train bridge. There was a mongoose bike in the creek where we were fishing and a kid went in the creek and got the bike out and then sold it to me for $20. Lol I bought it for my nephew. Later as we packed up our gear and stringers of trout, the kid told me he stole the bike! Hahaha
Thank you for the kind words. And wow! What a story 😂
I happened upon your video this morning. I'm glad I did. I also joined your rapidly growing You Tube family of subscribers. I was born and raised immersed in history via my dad and his friend, Dr. Henry Bisbee of Burlingon NJ. I'm always delighted to find someone like yourself ,who dives in and shares our history. Best of luck growing your channel.
I did some archaeology at the Swedish Cabin many years ago. People lived in it all the way up into the 1970s, so there was a lot to find there. There are some great books, mostly out of print that you can find on Ebay, about the colony of New Sweden. There is also a fascinating book called King of the Movies about Sigmund Lubin and how he played such a huge part in creating the movie industry filming mostly in Philly and Valley Forge. Another great video! Keep up the good work.
It's really amazing that people lived in the cabin up until the 70s. I'm going to have to look for those books!
Oakum is typically hemp rope saturated in oil and was used as caulking in shipbuilding, cabins, and even early plumbing.
@@lisawatts2600 ah ok yes thank you for the clarification. I wasn't sure what textile the rope was made from.
Thanks dude. Born and raised and went to Bonner. Delco is a hidden gem being blurried out
@@tomcruise1578 I played against bonner many times in the sports ball competitions ;) welcome
This video surprised me, well done and you made me laugh talking about the Swedes and the Finns. I am 77 and my maiden name is Nordblom. My Swedish Grandfather was Johan Arthur Nordblom born in Aland, Sweden and my Finnish Grandmother was Aina Aurora Jernval. They immigrated here and settled in Norwood, MA, married and had 13 kids. My family traveled from IN to MA to visit them every two years to visit them. Their house had no electricity or plumbing ever even though my Grandfather and Dad's older brothers worked in construction building homes. You showed the interior of this cabin and that how dark inside their home was with a big cast iron cookstove. My father told me years later their home was actually a barn his father converted into their home. I was always getting confused about their nationality, Swedish, Finnish or maybe Norwegian since they lived in Norwood, MA, lol??? Winters in MA were brutal and my Grandfather never learned to drive. He walked to work. It was always puzzling to my Dad and his siblings why not make life easier and modernize?? Aland Sweden is a beautiful island and coming from a fishing family, maybe he had some homesickness?? Or the Depression they endured in 1930s and WWII made him realize some serious truths about the "American Dream"??? A history teacher friend of mine told me years ago, "be careful about romanticizing the past"!
I adore your enthusiasm!!! I'm also from Delco born and raised 🥰 keep up the interesting and informative videos. I greatly appreciate all your work!!!
Thank you so much! Delco pride! 💪
I love your channel ! You’re doing great. I love the Pa, history . My family is from that area , my 8x GGrandfather was one of the founding forefathers of the new Swedish colony. It so fun seeing the places you are showing . I have so much information but have never been able to visit all the sites . Anyway just wanted to let you know I enjoy the channel and look forward to your videos
Nice little tour and great information about the history and early settlers! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it
Love your channel and videos. Delco born and raised.
Great job Sean!!! Keep the material coming! Great job in the details in this one. Love it!
@@LaskMaestro Thank you so much!
From what I understand, the Swedes built their fireplaces in the corner and the Finns built them in the center of the wall. Also, the Finns squared thier logs with an adze and the Swedes did not. A carbon test of the logs was done in '89 and the results showed they were from the period stated on the historical marker. A classmate of mine at Williamson Trade School, Norman Glass, restored the cabin in '90-'91 and I was involved in the dig there in '89.
@@johnrhoads923Thank you so much for sharing that information about the cabins. Who ran the '89 dig? I'd be curious to learn what was found.
Love your channel. I'm from Ridley Park. I've been here
Thanks!
@@kidcard1264 wow thank you!!!
Thank you for posting
You're very welcome!
Great job on your history channel ! Its so nice to see someone your age take interest. I would like to introduce you to Keith Lockhart - the chief DELCO historian ! he is a friend of mine and you must meet him soon - he lives in Ridley Park (leedom estates section). Keep up the good work !! Your appreciated !
@@keithboyd1857 please do connect us!!!
Swede with some Finnish roots here. Thanks! Will have to check this out!
If you go on the weekends there is a man there that will happily tell you all about it while giving a tour.
Grew up as a kid doing fun nefarious things at cool spots like this in newegland. Some of us stones started to really enjoy the historical aspects of theses great spots and will allways fight to keep em nice and treat em well
Pleeeeease come back for a tour! I love how old this place is!
I can't get over how different that place looks.
I live in Lenni in a home where the original room was an old log cabin. There is a stone dated 1691 in the fireplace, but I haven't traced it way back. People added onto it over the years. There used to be a barn that had cut log walls with pieces of logs facing ends in and out , as if the logs were stones. The old outhouse was still here when we moved in.
Oakum is made from twisted fibers like jute or even flax.
Do you know any history about those cute Victorian like houses that are boarded up behind new development on valleybrook road across from the Psot office? Behind Wilson’s auction house.
@cosmicopalscrystalsandwell8218 No, I don't offhand. The folks at Parastudy might know something.
Great American history !! 🇺🇲Thank you for sharing . Can't wait for your next history video.😍
@@alexo1226 thank you for the kind words!
@@solguud Thank you for sharing 💥🙌🏻💥
A great-uncle of mine (born around 1895, and grew up on Edmonds Avenue) took me for a walk along that section of creek in the early 1960s, and mentioned seeing silent cowboy films being made there when he was a kid.
Siegmond Lubin was a Polish immigrant who set up shop in Philly as an opthamologist, and later went into the fledgling world of cinema. One of his final silent shorts featured Oliver "Babe" Hardy.
Sadly, cellulose on which films were produced was flammable to the point of sometimes causing spontaneous combustion. Lubin's warehouse and production facility (in North Philly) went up in smoke, and most of his work destroyed.
A few of his silent shorts can still be found on youtube. Check out Meet Me At The Fountain.
Thanks for that information. I looked for the film with the cabin in it but came up empty. Too bad it was lost in a fire. So much early film has been lost that way what a shame.
Wow the cabin has had a lot of work done to it since I was a kid/teen playing and hanging out around it in the late 80’s
Very nice video Sean! Like the walk and talk and historical background of the area. Maybe in the future you can edit in some video or voiceover on old artifacts, sketches, documents about the Swedes, Dutch, English and Leni Lenape First Peoples. That would be cool!!! Keep up the great work. I think you've got a great channel and communication style!!
Thank you for the suggestion and encouragement!
The Lenape DID have semi-permanent settlements in the form of favorite creek/river junctions that would have stone-lined caches for corn, pots, gourds, etc.
You’re right, thank you for pointing that out!
Bark only would have been left if they were in a hurry. It did provide a little insulation. Normally bark would not be left.
If you like log cabins, you should take a trip out to Medford Lakes, NJ. It’s a community of modern log cabins, and then go a bit down the road to the Batsto Village. It’s a historic community with a mill where they produced bog iron and glass.
Love this place! Nearby and fascinating....
There’s a 1701 log cabin in downingtown. I used to take my kids to see Santa there. ❤
Thank you!
It's great that the cabin is being preserved. Good to remember that lots of different cultures built America even during the earliest colonial times. The Scots Irish were pretty much known as the pioneers. They were adaptable and tough. They borrowed the idea of the log cabin from Scandanavians, the rifled gun from the Germans and the crops and ways of subsistence from the Native Americans. It's amazing the cabin has survived as it has. Maybe partially from a well drained and sunny location, maybe from the wood in its construction. It was built with the bark on probably because it was not meant to be a permanent thing. It was quick shelter.
Nice! Love our local history
Thanks for Sharing! This is not too far from me.And yes the area is sketchy for sure ! There used to be another Swedish cabin not too far away that stood near the woods behind my house, but sadly it was burnt down by vandals in the 70's or 80's there's still a chain link fence surrounding where it once stood and there were people doing a digs there for the historical society. I'm not sure what they found though but they were there for a few days back in the early 2000's. It was neat to see! Years ago they had a little festival at that cabin ! It was really cool! I'm not sure if they still have it!
That’s a shame about the vandals, but super interesting that a festival was held there! Thanks for sharing. I definitely want to check out the second cabin site sometime. Is it in Dennison playground?
Yes there is a small playground nearby ! Its Right behind the row homes on Dennison Ave , you can get there by the playground too or the alleyway behind the rows. There's a chain link fence to mark where it once stood. The St. Charles cemetery is pretty cool too if you like older cemeteries! Some dating back to civil war times.😎
Another spot in the area is sycamore park in lansdowne where a gigantic sycamore tree older than the US resides. And the Underground Railroad walking tour which can be found on the Upper Darby website!
@@MeganRostien I love old trees! I'll definitely go look for that one sometime. Thanks for the recommendation.
Have you been to Ipswich MA? It as tons of first period houses, though they are not in original condition.
The oldest continuously occupied building in the United States is, “The Palace of the Governors” located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, built in 1610. But the oldest known building in the America’s is in Old San Juan Puerto Rico, built in 1521 “La Casa Blanca”
Coming from England I want to correct you. England has always had forest's neolithic times even more so. They were more likely to build a round house though during the Saxon time rectangular homes became common. Most clearing of the land happened when farming was introduced by the breaker people. England at the time of settling the Americas had moved to more finished timber so a log cabin was not something that they had in England.
I did enjoy your video and being in Maryland will definitely make the trip to see the cabin myself.
@@ericwood9598 thanks for the clarification. I love the UK. My experience in the UK is part of what inspires this channel. I'm a big fan of Time Team. Have a blast in Maryland!
Also on a side note, not sure if you’ve tried the door but I was able to walk in before, it was unlocked - it was also spring so I’m not sure if that made a difference
I tried it but no luck this time.
The first American Revolution was a movement by the Swedes in South Jersey to return to Swedish Rule under the King of Sweden. My ancestor was fined 25 guilders for participating.
@@Elizabeth-foolishmortal that's a wild story! I'll have to look that up.
That's an amazing story! I'm a 100% Swede, daughter of an immigrant. I love learning about Swedes in America. Thank you.
Awesome!
William Penn was a Quaker from Wales who did not believe in slavery or war, also paid the Indians for their land. As well as moved the remaining Swedes further west giving them land in exchange for leaving. The area was to be the Welsh Barrony
Sweden ruled Finland in that era. Swedes adopted the log cabin from Russia during the Viking age. This one has been touted as the oldest log cabin in the U.S.
I'll look into that history. Thanks for sharing!
I wonder if the wall was to protect it from the creek flooding?
the cabin was restored in the late 1980s
Not too far down the creek is St Charles Catholic Church. It’s the second oldest parish in Delco built by Charles Kelly for the Irish that worked the mills
The photos you inserted about 33:22 are of the log cabin. I don’t see any of the stone cabin?
The stone house is behind the cabin in the background.
@~15:10...was the rope made from hemp?
Check out Lawrence Cabin. Looks just about the same but was relocated for historical preservation reasons, so I was told.
Thanks for the recommendation. I might do a series on cabins. I'll add it to my list!
Oakum was made by untwisting old rope. Modern oakum is made from virgin hemp or jute.
That cabin.
There, if that's the one that's across from Hoffman park in Drexel Hill is not the original cabin? It was rebuilt because I was there back in the late 90s early 2000s and I called the number a guy came out gave us a tour gave us a whole bunch of books covers. And one of the other commenters, his description or her description is more accurate. What the original cabin look like. It was probably destroyed in that real bad flood that the pizza guy got killed in right by K mart. And that's probably why there's bark on the logs because it was repelled
We think of the Swiss-German in PA too
Yes there are real experts on colonial cabin building methods
So where is it? How do you get there?
Lower Swedish Cabin
Creek Road
North side of Darby Creek
Drexel Hill, PA
Roof is newer
Have you considered using a metal detector on these historic sites ?
@@alexo1226 I have considered it yeah. but I feel conflicted about digging up archeological sites like this. I have to think more about the ethics of it.
@solguud well , you are doing something positive and bringing hidden history back to life . We need to get you the Indiana Jones Hat 🤣🤣🤣 whatever decision you make. It is the right one. Take care
@@alexo1226 haha the hat would be funny 😆 thanks for the support!
I wonder if Sweden would have any record of this or this area of New Sweden? Sweden has old records of Kyiv- Rus, Ukraine.
They probably do
Ropes back then were probably made of hemp
Check out Finnish log cabin expert work of Frank W Eld .
When it was bilt, Finland was Sweden! The now Finland was Swedish until 1809 when we lost it to Russia. So it’s essentialy the same
👏
It would have been a biblical flood to move a rock that size down the creek. Maybe some gold behind it way down at the base; if there ever was gold in darby creek.
I wish they’d fence it off.
POOR LENAPE, WHEN THE WHITE PPL ARRIVED AND STARTED BUILDING THEIR HOMES, PROBABLY WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT KNOWING THEY HAD TO LEAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER PLACE THEIR HOME! 😔❤️🩹
💚👏Ty
Dude- stop picking at the bark
They would have used slaked lime not paint.
Rope=hemp.
spend the night?
@@SAELIOSMUSIC bring a ouija board
During the summer lots of out of state vehicles park there and swim
The oldest building in the US is the Taos Pueblo. The Spanish built the St Francisco de Asis Catholic Church just south of Taos.
Close to the Spanish morada built for the Penitentes.
Can’t stand it when people trying to teach history don’t even know the history they are trying to share. So now I’m not going to bother watching the video because idk what other facts you might get wrong.
😂😂
Is this where Swiss Farms got its name?😂