Kingsburg, CA

The Dala Horse restaurant in Kingsburg, Calif., opens at 6 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., more than half the seats are filled as local residents drop by for a platter of light Swedish pancakes topped with powdered sugar and traditional lingonberry sauce, a cup of strong Swedish coffee and—most of all—an hour or two of good conversation.

The sign near the door, in Swedish, reads “Tack sa mycket” (Thanks so much), but it’s mostly aimed at locals. Visitors to the town generally come during one of the five yearly festivals when residents wear the customary dress and celebrate the time-honored traditions of Scandinavia.

Yet it doesn’t take a festival for a display of homeland pride. Downtown streets are decorated year-round with bright Swedish and American flags on posts topped with Dala horses, a symbol of central Sweden. Buildings, some in Swedish style, are painted with provincial flags and emblems; outdoor murals depict Scandinavian scenes. A chain-saw carved statue of a Viking sits on one street corner, while a rune stone (words etched on stone in a language secret to Vikings) commemorating the 1,000-year anniversary of the Norsemen’s discovery of North America occupies another. In the afternoons, recorded accordion music plays over loudspeakers.

The most striking sign of Scandinavian heritage is the giant coffeepot that serves as the town’s water tower. Rising 122 feet into the sky, the 60,000-gallon container is painted with Swedish folk-art flowers. It is said to be big enough to hold 1.5 million cups of Swedish coffee, more than enough for most Scandinavians, who average a whopping 26.4 pounds per person each year.

The Nordic immigration to central California traces back to 1886, when Andrew Ericson, a Swede who had originally immigrated to Michigan, moved to the San Joaquin Valley south of Fresno and encouraged others to follow. By 1921, Kingsburg was 94 percent Swedish.

The town flourished. “What we can’t grow in this soil ain’t worth growing,” says longtime resident Stan Ahlstrand, rattling off a long list of local crops that include “just about all the fruits and nuts mentioned in the Bible.”

“We promote ourselves as a Swedish town,” says June Hess, generally considered the force behind Little Sweden. “But we’re not cutesy. We’re a real town with farmers in coffee shops discussing their crops.”

Hess, who usually wears Swedish garb, owns Svensk Butik (Swedish Gifts), a shop that probably has more things Scandinavian than any store this side of Stockholm: imported clogs, sweaters, crystal, books, toys, cookie cutters, lingonberry jam, trolls—and, of course, Dala horses.

Today, about half of Kingsburg’s residents link their ancestry back to Scandinavia. Newcomers attracted by low crime, good schools, family values, and friendly atmosphere have doubled the population in the last 10 years.

To ensure that the community remains small, the town—whose population now pushes 9,000—caps growth at 3 percent and limits commercial growth within its boundaries. Chain stores and fast-food restaurants are restricted to areas along the highway; Kingsburg’s two major employers—Del Monte Cannery and the Sun-Maid plant—are located outside city limits. Downtown businesses must be locally owned. “If you have too much growth,” says Mayor John Wright, “you outstrip the uniqueness.”

“People don’t want to leave Kingsburg,” says Kathryn Lack. “Even twenty-somethings, who normally want to test big-city life, try to stay if they can.”

The accolade that most pleases residents comes from their most famous native son, Rafer Johnson, a two-time Olympic decathlon medalist. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t lived in Kingsburg,” he says.

That, say the folks in Kingsburg, makes them a gold medal town—10 times over.

Andrea Gross is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article