The Kalmar Nyckel

The Milford Museum American History Series continues with a program titled The Kalmar Nyckel presented by Bill Hutchison on Saturday, September 14, 1:00 p.m. at the Milford Public Library in Milford, Delaware. This program will present the story of two ships. One ship, the Kalmar Nyckel, left Sweden in 1637 to establish the first permanent European colony in the Delaware Valley, the present site of Wilmington, Delaware. The original ship would make eight crossings of the Atlantic, more than any other colonizing ship. Its demise at the hands of the British in 1652, ended the story of this vessel, but its legacy led to another. In 1998, the second ship of this story slid into the waters of the Christina River. It sails today as the official Tall Ship of Delaware. This replica, also named the Kalmar Nyckel, has been sailing for 26 years to tell the story of the founding of the colony of New Sweden and the heritage of the early Swedish and Finnish colonists in America. Because of this second ship, thousands of school children and the public have had the opportunity to live history by sailing on the Kalmar Nyckel.