The settlement of Scandia by members of the Scandinavian Agriculture Society, of Chicago, Illinois was in the fall of 1868. The town was named new Scandinavia and most of the early settlers were Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. The Scandia museum houses many relics from the early settlers to the present. It features a replica of the original colony house, a soda fountain from the Haggman Wires Drug Store, a large collection of military items and farm machinery, hand-carved wagon train displays, buggies, primitive tools and genealogy.
P.T. Strom was just a boy when his family settled in the colony house and he continued to live a very interesting life. On his death in 1947, he donated over 200 artifacts from his world travels and thus began the foundation of the Scandia Museum. The Museum is open from Memorial Day through September from 1-4 p.m. or by appointment. Contact numbers are 785-335-7077, 785-335-2384, or 785-275-1939.
