 Välkommen to Andersonville!
For groups who have already enjoyed the city’s downtown attractions, a quick trip to a much-loved northside neighborhood offers a different kind of Chicago adventure. Andersonville – one of the most concentrated areas of Swedish culture in the United States - still embraces the traditions of the Swedish immigrants who settled here in the mid-19th century and provides a unique cultural experience. Easily accessible by major highways and public transportation, this inviting northside community near the lakefront calls itself “a quaint village in the middle of a world class city.”
Chicago Neighborhood Tours or a DMC will make sure your group members see all points of interest in this area, including such attractions as the Swedish American Museum. Officially opened in its original location by His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, the museum – which later moved to a new 24,000-square-foot building – preserves and interprets Swedish-American history through an art gallery, permanent exhibit “The Dream of America – Immigration to Chicago,” Brunk Children’s Museum of Immigration, library, and genealogy center. The Kerstin Andersson Museum Store offers Swedish cookbooks, folk art, crafts, gifts, language and travel resources and more.
Several local eateries serve traditional Swedish fare, including the Clark Street location of popular Ann Sather Restaurant where diners enjoy the Swedish Sampler: roasted duck with lingonberry glaze, Swedish meatball, Swedish potato sausage, buttered noodles, sauerkraut, and Swedish brown beans.
Swedish Bakery – established in the 1920s – is “the ultimate neighborhood sweet stop” with specialty pastries including marzipan logs, cardamom toast, tearolls and Sugar Ring, and (available seasonally) hot cross buns, Lucia Kattor, Semlor, and many other items.
Browsing the many retailers in this area, shoppers will find artwork, antiques and collectibles, books, clothing for men, women and children, furniture, gifts and home accessories, jewelry, kitchenware, pet goods, shoes, stationery, and much more.
Traditional festivals including Midsommarfest - which attracts tens of thousands of people each June for entertainment ranging from cutting-edge bands to ethnic dancing, kids activities, traditional foods, and more - and such holiday celebrations as St. Morten’s Gos Day in November and the December St. Lucia Festival of Lights showcase this area’s roots and make Andersonville a lovely place to visit throughout the year.
You can easily combine your group’s visit to Andersonville with an excursion to nearby Lincoln Square, which was featured in the September 2009 issue of Travel Update. Along the way, you’ll pass Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago’s oldest and largest non-sectarian cemetery. Established in 1859, Rosehill Cemetery grounds contain the gravesites of hundreds of Civil War soldiers, politicians including U.S. Vice President Charles Gates Dawes and several Chicago mayors, and such mercantile pioneers as Oscar Mayer and Montgomery Ward. Contact Rosehill’s family service counselors to tour the facility’s 350 acres with 24 miles of winding roads and remarkable planting and grave decorations. |