Editing Solvang, California (section)

==History==

===Beginnings===
[[File:Mission StInes.jpg|thumb|Mission Santa Inés in Solvang]]

The [[Santa Ynez Valley]], in which Solvang lies, was originally inhabited by the [[Chumash Indians|Chumash]], identified by Father Pedro Font, chaplain of the 1776 [[Anza Expedition]], and were described as an ingenious and industrious people who are good fishermen and hunters, with an excellent astronomical system.<ref name="mission1">[http://www.missionsantaines.org/home.html "Mission History"], ''Old Mission Santa Inés''. Retrieved July 12, 2010.</ref>{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=16}}

As part of the expansion of the mission system established in California by Spanish missionaries, Father Estévan Tapís founded Mission Santa Inés, now located near the center of Solvang, in order to relieve overcrowding at [[Mission Santa Barbara]] and [[Mission La Purísima Concepción]] since it was located midway between the two. It also served as a gateway to the Chumash Indians living east of the Coast Range.<ref name="mission2">[http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/American_Latino_Heritage/Mission_Santa_Ines.html National Park Service], "Mission Santa Inés California". Retrieved September 16, 2014.</ref>

After the [[Mexican War of Independence]], the Mexican Assembly passed the Secularization Laws which confiscated Mission lands, along with other property, and transferred them to the control of local ranchers, with Solvang being later founded on what became known as the [[Rancho San Carlos de Jonata]]. With secularization, Mission Santa Inés began to decline and the Chumash Indian population in the area along with it.<ref name="mission2"/> For a time, the mission was a [[seminary]] but soon began to deteriorate; it was repaired by the Donahue family in 1884 and renovated by Fr. Alexander Buckler in 1904.<ref name="mission1"/>

===Danish settlement===
Between 1865 and 1914, 300,000 Danes had immigrated to United States, some of which headed West into California.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=19}} Three men: Benedict Nordentoft, Jens Gregersen, Peder Hornsyld sought and found land to  grow a Danish settlement.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=23}} Initially the settlement was like any other pioneer town in California.<ref name="PCH" /> In 1910, Danish-Americans created the Danish-American Colony Company in San Francisco. Later that year, suitable land was found in the Santa Ynez Valley northwest of Santa Barbara, and in 1911, they acquired almost {{convert|9000|acre|km2}} of the [[Rancho San Carlos de Jonata]] land grant, paying an average of $40 per acre.<ref name="syvguest.com">Pat Murphy,[http://www.syvguest.com/pastIssues/2004/spring/rememberwhen.html "Remember When?"], ''Santa Ynez Valley Guest Magazine'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716181347/http://www.syvguest.com/pastIssues/2004/spring/rememberwhen.html |date=July 16, 2011 }}, Spring 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2010.</ref> 

Solvang was established in 1911{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=16}} for cultural, educational, and religious purposes.<ref name="PCH" /> A hotel was built close to the Mission where new arrivals could be housed, and a school opened in 1911, with 21 students.<ref name="kolding.dk"/><ref name="syvguest.com"/>

===Expansion and development===
[[File:Tivoli Square Solvang.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Tivoli Square, Solvang]]
[[File:Solvang 8048.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Main Street, Solvang. Alisal Road]]

In 1912, when it became difficult to sell any more plots of land, developers from Solvang travelled to [[Iowa]] and [[Nebraska]] to persuade Danish immigrants to buy land in the town. This attracted new settlers. The early settlement had a store, a bank, a lumber yard, a barbershop and a post office.<ref name="kolding.dk">[http://www.kolding.dk/pdf/20091111120327.pdf Rolf Buschardt Christensen, "Benedict Nordentoft".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718201322/http://www.kolding.dk/pdf/20091111120327.pdf |date=July 18, 2011 }} {{in lang|da}} Retrieved July 12, 2010.</ref> During the 1920s, civic amenities such as electricity were installed in the town.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=109}}

===Folk high school===
In 1914, Atterdag College opened, named after [[Valdemar IV of Denmark]]. The school taught Danish-speaking students in their late teens a curriculum that emphasized lectures, singing, gymnastics, folk dancing and fellowship; teaching both Danish and American curriculum.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=44}} There were no examinations or degrees, and learning was mutual with teachers and students living, eating, and studying together.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=44}} Among the popular recreation and sports that were taught were folk dance and gymnastics.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=86,91}} During World War I, enrollment dropped due to reduced Danish immigration, and a rise in nationalism. The school was sold to the Solvang Lutheran church in 1921.<ref name="elverhoj"/><ref name="kolding.dk"/> Atterdag College continued to be used as a folk school, community meeting hall, performing arts venue, gymnastics center, summer school, and boarding house until it was demolished in 1970, and then replace by the Solvang Lutheran Home.<ref>[http://everything2.com/title/Bethania "Bethania"], ''Everything.com''. Retrieved September 16, 2010.</ref>

===Danish church===
[[File:Solvang Bethania Lutheran Church.JPG|thumb|upright|200px|Bethania Lutheran Church]]

The Bethania Evangelical Lutheran Church opened in 1928, designed as a Gothic-styled, 14th century rural Danish church.<ref>[http://www.visitdenmark.com/irland/en-ie/menu/turist/inspiration/detkulturelledanmark/kunst/churces-and-cathedrals.htm#SubHeader3 "Churches and cathedrals"] ''VisitDenmark'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717215248/http://www.visitdenmark.com/irland/en-ie/menu/turist/inspiration/detkulturelledanmark/kunst/churces-and-cathedrals.htm |date=July 17, 2011 }}. Retrieved August 7, 2010.</ref> Originally, the services were mainly in Danish, but are now in English.<ref>Sally Cappon,[http://www.syvnews.com/articles/2010/08/12/news/valley/news19.txt  "Picturesque church honors traditions"], ''Santa Ynez Valley News''. Retrieved September 10, 2010.</ref>

===Danish-styled architecture===
Initially, most of Solvang's buildings were built in the same style as others in the area.<ref name="Dale">{{Cite news|last=Dale|first=Judith|date=March 6, 2020|title=Judith Dale: 1920s Solvang - Becoming Danish Capital of America|work=Santa Ynez Valley News|url=https://syvnews.com/b/judith-dale-1920s-solvang---becoming-danish-capital-of-america/article_7e8ef804-48b7-5cda-966b-36d8ec665f91.html|access-date=December 20, 2020}}</ref> The Lutheran church was the first to be based on Danish architecture and bears a close relationship to Danish equivalents. In 1931 [[Earl Petersen]], a local architect, gave the older buildings a new look, adding façades in so-called "Danish Provincial" style.<ref>Poul Husted,[https://archive.today/20120716004600/http://tgt.dk/guide/nordamerika/usa/californien/article67765.ece?page=1 "Er Solvang Danmark eller Disney?"], ''Turen går til''. {{in lang|da}} Retrieved September 13, 2010.</ref><ref>David and Marlere Macbeth,[http://www.macbethrealestate.com/Solvang/page_2182786.html "Solvang — Danish-Inspired".] Retrieved September 13, 2010.</ref> It was a Danish medieval [[:nb:Bindingsverk|bindingsverk]] design.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=155-156}} The pioneer of the Danish Provincial style was Ferdinand Sorensen, originally from Nebraska. In the mid-1940s, after returning to Solvang from a trip to Denmark, he first completed Møllebakken, his Danish-styled home, and then went on to build the first of the village's four windmills. But after World War II, interest grew in the concept of a "Danish Village". Buildings in the half-timbered style of Danish rural houses proliferated, creating a new tourist attraction.<ref name="elverhoj"/> While much was done to create an "authentic" Danish atmosphere in the town center, it has been pointed out by Scandinavians that fake thatched roofs and artificial timbering are largely a result of local interests in general rather than those of the Danish immigrants themselves. The older buildings have simply been restyled to look Danish even if there was nothing Danish about them originally.<ref>Irene Berg Sørensen,[http://videnskab.dk/content/dk/kultur/det_rigtige_danmark_skuffer_i_solvang "Det rigtige Danmark skuffer i Solvang"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705184346/http://www.videnskab.dk/content/dk/kultur/det_rigtige_danmark_skuffer_i_solvang |date=July 5, 2009 }}, ''Videnskab.dk'', {{in lang|da}}. Retrieved September 18, 2010.</ref>

===Subsequent development===
During the 1920s, the proportion of non-Danish residents rose substantially and local businesses and churches began providing services in English, in addition to traditional Danish.<ref name="Dale"/>  In the 1930s, Solvang became the largest town in the [[Santa Ynez Valley]] and a commercial hub for the local region.<ref name="Dale"/>  By the late 1940s, Solvang's growth stagnated as the town's economic activity focused predominately on agriculture, prompting younger residents to leave in search of more diverse job opportunities.<ref name="Dale"/>  In 1947, the town was featured in an article in ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'' entitled "Little Denmark", which praised Solvang's quaint rural charms and sparked a tourism boom prompting residents of Los Angeles and San Francisco to take weekend trips to Solvang.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=161}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hodgson|first=Mike|date=January 17, 2017|title=Saturday Evening Post article put Solvang on the map 70 years ago|work=Santa Ynez Valley News|url=https://syvnews.com/news/local/saturday-evening-post-article-put-solvang-on-the-map-70-years-ago/article_6834142a-0275-54d6-9eb5-3faefda732c3.html|access-date=December 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jennings |first=Dean |date=January 18, 1947 |title=Little Denmark |work=Saturday Evening Post |pages=29, 60–68}}</ref> 

Solvang subsequently developed a tourism industry focused on emphasizing the town's Danish heritage.<ref name="Dale"/> Up to the 1980s, all changes to downtown occurred without city government, mainly by businessmen and selling bonds.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=170-171}} In 1985, Solvang became incorporated as California's 440th city and afterwards made the town look uniformly with Danish-Provinvial style.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=172}} Numerous older buildings were demolished.{{sfn|Dittmer|Bates|2020|pp=176-177}}

The 2004 film ''[[Sideways]]'' brought attention to the vineyards in the surrounding Santa Ynez Valley and tasting rooms have opened.{{r|ELA 2020-05-13}} Restaurants are also part of the revitalization of Solvang as it becomes a destination for locally sourced fare.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pridgen |first=Andrew |date=September 24, 2022 |title=Could this small tourist town become the next Carmel? |url=https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/can-solvang-become-next-carmel-17462507.php |access-date=September 24, 2022 |work=SFGate |language=en-US}}</ref>