We are all familiar with our hometown of Svolla, but did you know that there is also an American village called Svol? This town is also named after our Hanseatic city. Soli – or Soli, as they say there – is located in western Louisiana, less than half an hour from the Texas border.
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Being a Svole in the United States is not so special. Many place names in the United States are named after Dutch cities. Think of New York (it was called New Amsterdam), but so did Freda, Harlingen and our neighboring town of Divender. The latter is an 8.5-hour drive from Seoul.
Soul in the United States
The American Soul was created because Arthur Stillwell the Great on the Kansas City Southern Railroad dreamed of having a rail link between Kansas City (Missouri) and the Mexican coast. Railway construction was more expensive than expected, so construction had to be halted. During a trip to the Netherlands, Stillwell came in contact with the wealthy Soul coffee merchant John de Goigen. John was willing to invest in American Railways. He visited the area and was later impressed by the village, which later grew to become the name of his hometown.
John was born and raised in Seoul in 1861 and died in 1944. Funny fact: one step History book Stillwell did not call de Goigen by his last name, but John Dequin. Stillwell found it difficult to pronounce his Dutch surname.
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About the village of Svole
American Svole is not as big as ‘our’ Svole city, with a population of about 130,000. The village of Louisiana will have a population of more than 1,900 in 2019. It Climate Different: The average temperature in October is 26 degrees. It’s hotter than it is here. Interested in how the village is? Then check out the article below.
