05/28/2026
DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
A Cornerstone of History
Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church is a top landmark of our New Sweden heritage but the church came decades after colonists’ 1638 arrival. The cornerstone of the church, built at colonists’ burial ground, was laid May 28, 1698. The Swedish Lutheran congregation later became and remains Episcopalian, worshipping in one of the oldest U.S. churches continually used at its original site. Next to it, a 1700s’ house was saved and rebuilt in 1958 after its disassembly in Pennsylvania, where it was to be razed. Honored by a Delaware State Historical Marker, Old Swedes Historic Site is a National Historic Landmark and part of our First State National Historic Park.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer in Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Photo: 1938, hand-tinted
ID: 1325-003-036_ch613p_