Fort Christina

Timeline

1. 1638The Rocks on the Christina River · WilmingtonThe New Sweden Company fleet, the Kalmar Nyckel and the Fogel Grip, arrived at Delaware Bay. Minuit purchased land from the Lenape, built an earthwork fort at the natural rock outcrop, named it after the underage Queen Christina, and launched Sweden's only permanent colony in North America.
2. 1643–1653Fort Christina and the Delaware Valley · DelawareAfter Johan Printz took office as governor, he expanded the settlement, ran the beaver pelt trade, and added downstream outposts; Swedish and Finnish immigrants increased. The Dutch viewed the Swedes as encroaching on the southern wing of New Netherland, and conflict over control of the Delaware River intensified; Fort Christina remained the colony's ceremonial and supply center.
3. 1654The Fort Christina–Fort Casimir line · DelawareThe new governor Johan Rising arrived with reinforcements and forced the Dutch to hand over Fort Casimir, built in 1651, renaming it Fort Trinity. This broke the fragile balance of power and directly prompted the New Amsterdam authorities to prepare to retake the Delaware by force.
4. 1655–1664Fort Christina · WilmingtonPeter Stuyvesant led a fleet to besiege the fort; Fort Christina surrendered, ending the New Sweden colonial government; the Dutch at times renamed it Altena. Swedish and Finnish residents were allowed to remain. After English forces took over the Delaware in 1664, the settlement expanded along the river and became the urban core of later Wilmington.