Searching For The Wild Dala In Lindsborg, Kansas

While visiting Hutchinson, Kansas on our 50 state road trip, we took a mini-road trip for the day around central Kansas.

One of our stops was the city of Lindsborg which is known as Little Sweden. It’s a cute city which has embraced its Swedish heritage, with one of its most notable features being all the Dala horses you can find all around Lindsborg.

A Dala is a carved wooden statue of a horse that’s subsequently painted. Many of the homes and businesses in Lindsborg have a small Dala horse hanging outside, but that’s not all. The city also has dozens of larger Dala horses located around the city for residents and visitors alike to hunt down.

Shae and I love sculpture hunting (these are all the ones we’ve done so far on the road trip), so we decided to go searching for the wild Dala in Lindsborg, Kansas.

Our first stop was an unmanned visitor booth on Main St where we picked up a leaflet giving the locations of all the Dala. This was extremely helpful in finding them, but one or two addresses were incorrect, a couple aren’t currently on display (as they’re being fixed), plus there’s a brand new Dala for 2019 as Lindsborg is celebrating its 150th year.

As a result, I’ve created a Google Map below with all the Dala locations plotted on it. If you tap on a pin, it’ll let you know the name of the Dala that’s there; the number next to it corresponds with the number listed below. If you decide to go searching for the wild Dala, I hope the map will help you find them all.

The majority of the Dala can be found along Main St, although there are a few that are a little further afield, so you’ll probably want to drive to those.

Without further ado, here are all the wild Dala in Lindsborg, Kansas.

1) Blue Colla Dala

This can be found outside the Scott’s Hometown Foods grocery store at 215 N Harrison St.

2) Millie Gram

Millie Gram can be found outside the AuBurn Pharmacy at 216 N Harrison St, so opposite Scott’s Hometown Foods. The yellow leaflet the city’s produced about the Dala shows its correct location on the map, but lists an incorrect address of 321 N Chestnut St.

3) O’Lucky Dala

Located a little further up the road at the Cenex gas station at 102 S Cole St is O’Lucky Dala.

4) Generosity of Spirit

I’m not 100% sure of the correct name of this one. The name on the sculpture says it’s Generosity of Spirit, but the leaflet called it Spirit of Generosity.

It’s a little trickier to find as this one’s not outside. Instead, it can be found inside Bethany Home – an assisted living complex – at 321 N Chestnut St. They didn’t seem to have an issue with me coming inside to take a photo of the Dala, so I assume they frequently have visitors wanting to do the same thing.

5) Dala Räv

The Dala I’ve numbered 5-9 are all in fairly close proximity to each other. We parked our car next to Dala Räv and walked around to find the other four sculptures nearby.

The Dala Räv sculpture is outside the Seasons of the Fox bed & breakfast at 505 N 2nd St.

6) Dalalujah!

Lindsborg is home to Bethany College and the campus has the Dalalujah! Dala in the center of its small campus. If you need an address for the GPS, it’s 421 N 1st St.

7) Tryggare – The Dala Häst Päst

This Dala is located on the corner of N Main St and E Olsson St on the edge of Swensson Park.

8) Hans Oliver

Hans Oliver is a little harder to find. Although it’s outside, it’s inside the children’s playground area in Swensson Park.

9) Bethania Blanka

The last of this group of five Dala that are fairly close together is Bethania Blanka. This one is outside Bethany Lutheran Church at 320 N Main St.

10) Dalamation

The rest of the Dala sculptures can all be found downtown along Main St and its side roads. We therefore parked our car at one end of Main St and worked our way down one side and up the other to find them all.

On the corner of N Main St and W State St is a store called Hemslojd. It’s definitely worth stopping inside as they create all the small Dala horses you see outside homes and businesses. You can even buy your own one or a smaller ornament version of it.

Hemslojd also has two of the larger Dala sculptures outside. One is called Dalamation and features a firefighter riding it.

11) Holi-Dala

On the store’s porch is Holi-Dala.

12) Rörmokarens Vän / Plumber’s Friend

From Hemslojd, keep walking south down Main St and you’ll come across loads of other Dala sculptures. The first is Rörmokarens Vän which means Plumber’s Friend and is outside The Good Merchant at 135 N Main St.

13) Dalallama Telecomma

Next up is Dalallama Telecomma outside the Small World Gallery at 127 N Main St.

14) Freemount Filly

The Freemount Filly sculpture is at 113 N Main St outside Rendezvous Adventure Outfitters.

15) Blossom

You’ll find Blossom at 103 N Main St near the corner of W Lincoln St.

16) Dalahippus Lindsborgensis

After finding Blossom, take a right on W Lincoln St and you’ll soon come across Dalahippus Lindsborgensis.

17) Yankee Doodle Dala

Head back to Main St and cross over W Lincoln St and you’ll see Yankee Doodle Dala on the corner.

18) The Good Knight Dala

Having crossed over W Lincoln St, you’re now on S Main St rather than N Main St. Outside the Karpov School Of Chess at 106 S Main St is The Good Knight Dala, decorated in keeping with the chess theme.

19) Herd It Through The Grapevine

The names of some of the Dala sculptures were really fun, with Herd It Through The Grapevine being one of my favorites. This one is at 114 S Main St outside the Lindsborg News-Record.

20) Old Gray Dala Mare

Old Gray Dala Mare is named this way as she keeps the Lindsborg Senior Center company. Their address is 116 S Main St.

21) Salvador Dala

We had a really hard time finding Salvador Dala. We searched high and low, but apparently didn’t search low enough as it took a while before we noticed his base. It turns out that Salvador Dala had been removed to be repainted, so he’ll hopefully be back on display if you ever visit.

This Dala is normally sitting outside the Smoky Valley Public Schools building at 126 S Main St.

22) Methodist Mare

As its name suggests, Methodist Mare is located outside the Trinity United Methodist Church at 224 S Main St. This is a full block from Salvador Dala and is the last Dala found on this side of the road.

23) Queen Katarina Ditto

After finding Methodist Mare, cross over the road and head back up Main St. Walk about a block and a half until you get to the Peoples Bank & Trust building at 201 S Main St, then head inside. Queen Katarina Ditto will be waiting for you on the right as you enter.

24) Ambassadala

The next two Dala horses are inside the Lindsborg Community Library at 111 S Main St. Ambassadala is there to greet you as you walk in.

25) Uppsa Dala Airways

The second Dala in the library is Uppsa Dala Airways and can be found in the back right corner ready for takeoff.

26) Kronor, The Dolla Horse

Outside the American Family Insurance building at 109 S Main St is Kronor, The Dolla Horse.

27) Fala The Dala Brick Road

The next Dala is at 104 E Lincoln St outside the Lindsborg Convention and Visitors Bureau / City Hall building. Although the building’s address is E Lincoln St, the Dala is actually on Main St.

I’m not too sure what the correct name of this Dala is. The sculpture gave it as Follow The Dala Brick Road, but the leaflet said it’s Fala The Dala Brick Road. Given the punny name, I’m assuming the latter title is correct.

28) Dialing For Dreams

Take a right on E Lincoln St and walk a block to 118 E Lincoln St where you’ll find Dialing For Dreams. Dialing For Dreams is near the Dollar General, so Shae and I were a little disappointed that they didn’t call it Dala General 😉

29) Legacy

The next Dala might be harder to find when you visit as it doesn’t have a fixed location yet. Lindsborg is celebrating its sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) in 2019, so they commissioned a new Dala to commemorate the event which has been named Legacy. (Side note: is there a more fun word to say than sesquicentennial?!)

The lady we spoke to in Hemslojd advised that it’s currently a traveling Dala and that she hadn’t seen it yet. We got lucky though and spotted it in the window of the J.O. Sundstrom Conference Center at 102 N Main St.

30) Hello Dala

Continue heading up Main St and at 110 N Main St you’ll find Hello Dala near the China restaurant.

31) Hingst Ledare / Stallion Leader

118 N Main St is home to both the First Bank Kansas and Hingst Ledare which means Stallion Leader.

32) Dancer Dala

Only a few more to find by this stage. Dancer Dala is next and can be found at 128 N Main St outside the Nex-Tech Wireless building.

33) King Oscar

King Oscar is the penultimate Dala to find. He’s outside the Anderson Butik store at 134 N Main St.

34) Gyllene Dala / Golden Dala

Last but not least there’s Gyllene Dala which means Golden Dala in Swedish. Gyllene Dala is at 202 N Main St outside the Bank of Tescott.

Missing Dala

Those are all 34 Dala on display in Lindsborg. Well, 33 if you don’t count Salvador Dala which was away for repainting when we visited.

Another Dala that was missing was Two Bits, Four Bits, Six Bits, A Dala. This one used to be outside the Peoples Bank & Trust building at 201 S Main St which is where Queen Katarina Ditto is found inside. Apparently Two Bits, Four Bits, Six Bits, A Dala was damaged (possibly in a storm??), so it’s been removed from display. I think it’s being repaired, so hopefully it’ll be back on display if you ever visit.

Final Thoughts

We spent a couple of enjoyable hours searching for the wild Dala in Lindsborg, Kansas. They’re all fairly easy to find and it’s a great way to see more of the city. We definitely recommend visiting if you’ll be in central Kansas.

There’s all kinds of other fun stuff to do in Lindsborg and surrounding areas, so check out this post where we share everything else we did on this day trip around central Kansas.