National Register Listing

Little Creek Methodist Church

Main St., Little Creek, DE

The Little Creek Methodist Episcopal Church is significant to the architectural history of Delaware as an outstanding example of Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture. Erected in 1883, at the cost of $3,500.00, this church was dedicated in 1884 after a year of occupation and is the third in a succession of Methodist churches in the immediate vicinity. Prior to the construction of this church, services were held in the Gum Swamp Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1820, and originally sited approximately one-half mile north of town. It also functioned as a public school by 1832. In February of 1875, the building was moved into Little Creek and placed on the site of the present church. In 1878, it was again moved; this time to Bell Street in Little Creek, where it was converted into a private residence that exists today.

Architecturally, the church is notable for its bold expression of the Gothic idiom of style. There is an aspiration to style the decorative elements of this church which are typical of the folk architectural expression of the residential structures in the town. Elements of style in this church include the Gothic, stained glass windows and fanlights, the decorative engaged buttresses, the doors with recessed panels, and the simple, but elegant, bell tower. The aspiration to style extends to the decorative brackets and Gothic cutouts supporting the shed roof over the stoop on the side wing, the decorative Victorian latticework around the openings of the dome, and the tapered, pyramidical roof over the cupola. In essence, the small decorative features of the Gothic idiom of architectural style make a public statement about the relative wealth of the congregation and the vernacular perception of what a proper folk church, contemporary to the period, should look like.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1982.