|
Texas
| Architecture
| Churches
“The Most Photographed
Church in Texas”
New Sweden
Evangelical Lutheran Church
New
Sweden
If you haven’t
seen it in person, you should.
Services are every Sunday at 10:30
By Johnny Stucco |
| 2000
Photo by J. Griffis Smith, courtesy TXDoT |
The
original church was organized in 1875 and the first building was constructed
alongside the Lutheran Cemetery on the corner of New Sweden Church
Road and FM 973. Coming from Austin,
you will turn right at that intersection and follow New Sweden Church
Road to the church.
The church was said to have appeared in the 1971 movie The Great
Waldo Pepper (other scenes were shot in Martindale
and Seguin).
But a rented copy of the movie showed not a trace. It may have been
“left on the cutting-room floor.” A crime if true.
You’ll have another chance to see the building on film with the (much
anticipated) release of The Tree of Life, a movie written and
directed by Terrence Malick, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
The Tree of Life was filmed in several other central Texas
locations including a brief scene in La
Grange, but the lion’s share of the movie was filmed in the delightful
town of Smithville,
Texas, a town where cast and crew lived for six months back in
2008.
We were escorting visiting Florida restoration carpenter Max Zurko
around Austin when we remembered
the craftsmanship of the New Sweden church and headed east, racing
the setting sun. Zurko, a retired professor was on a busman’s holiday
visiting notable Texas wooden structures. We arrived at dusk, but
were fortunate enough to find Pastor Hans Lillejord walking between
the parsonage and church just as we pulled up.
Pastor Lillejord graciously offered to open the church for us and
escorted us inside. He gave us a brief history and told us about Tree
of Life and how the church was standing-in for a “Midwestern location.”
It was also Pastor Lillejord that told us that it was the “most photographed
church in Texas,” a claim we don’t doubt for a New Sweden minute.
When we commented that the recent paint on the building was an improvement
over our last visit, we also learned just how expensive church upkeep
can be. (You don’t want to know.)
The photos on this page credited to TxDoT were originally published
in Texas Highways Magazine. The one with the truck was a full page
back cover image. Texas Escapes photographer Barclay
Gibson has visited the church at least thrice (that we know of)
on his “Steeplechase”
road trips. |
 |
| 1983
Photo by Randy Green, courtesy TXDoT |
New Sweden Lutheran
Church organ keyboard
Photo courtesy Justin
Parson, 2006 |
Driving Directions:
From Austin:
Take highway 290 East for until you come to FM-973. Turn left (watching
traffic) and drive 4 and 8/10ths to New Sweden Church Road. Here you’ll
see the cemetery and a historical marker. (This was the site of the
first church.) Turn right and follow the road for the remaining 2
miles. Just keep the steeple in sight. At 104 feet tall, it’s easy
to do.
From Elgin:
Take highway 290 W and turn right onto FM1100. After 5 miles, turn
left onto Manda Road and drive for about a mile until you see Manda
Carlson Road. Turn right and drive 6 /10ths of a mile to New Sweden
Church Road and drive the remaining mile and one tenth. Don’t forget
to take a photo. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact
us. |
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