The Rich History of Wiley Heights
From a Swedish Covenant settlement on Swede Hill to the church family we are today.
In the Beginning
Fridolf Nelson and Fingal Gothberg, two young Covenant men from Chicago were prospectors in the Alaskan “Gold Rush” and returned with funds to establish a Swedish Covenant community. Irrigation was brought to this desert area in the early 1900’s and a land boom ensued. The two men bought land in Wiley Heights suitable for orchards and advertised in the “Mission Friend”, an early newspaper of the Covenant Church. Families started moving to the area west of Yakima shortly after. Services began in 1915 and a church was erected in 1920.
The current structure was built in 1963 and sits on what became known as “Swede Hill” surrounded by the original orchards. Some descendants of the early Swedish immigrants are still part of the church, but since those early days many others have come to find a family within this congregation.