Trinity Profile - 2026

HISTORY

History

History of Trinity Old Swedes Parish, Wilmington, DE In 1638, Swedish and Finnish settlers arrived on the Kalmar Nyckel, built a forti cation on the banks of the Christina River, and claimed the area for Sweden naming it New Sweden. Between 1638 and 1698 the land the church was constructed on was used as a burial ground for the nearby Fort Christina and surrounding settlements. While the Swedish government handed over the colony to the Dutch in 1655 who subsequently surrendered to the British, the area remained a stronghold of Swedish speaking residents. The Swedish Lutheran Church sent a young missionary, Rev. Erik Bjork, to the area to build a larger church to accommodate the growing Swedish speaking congregation and in May 1698, the cornerstone for Holy Trinity Church was laid in the center of the burial grounds next to Fort Christina. It was o cially consecrated on Trinity Sunday, 1699. The burial ground houses approximately 10,000 graves and over 1,200 markers. By the end of the Revolutionary War and the establishment of the United States of America, the Church of Sweden began withdrawing from its missionary work in the new American republic. It o cially became Episcopal in 1791. Old Swedes Church, as it is known today, is the oldest church in the U.S. holding services in its original building. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1961, shortly after the creation of the National Historic Registry. In 2015, the grounds became a unit of the First State National Historic Park. More information regarding the history of Old Swedes can be found at www.oldswedes.org. With a growing population in Wilmington and the congregation, Trinity Old Swedes Parish built a new larger church at 5th and King Streets, called Trinity Chapel. From 1830 to 1842, Old Swedes was abandoned and fell into

disrepair until a group of women banded together and raised funds to renovate and re-open Old Swedes. In 1890, Trinity Episcopal moved from Trinity Chapel to its current structure located at 12th and Adams Street. It is also on the National Historic Registry. Both churches hold services regularly.

Julia Dooley describes the 325th commemorative banner she designed and made for Old Swedes: “The basic structure of the banner is inspired by the church’s stained glass windows – paintings in glass framed in rich dark tones. Colors for the banner are in keeping with the blue and gold tones that de ne all things Delaware and Wilmington’s ties to its Swedish colonial history.”

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