Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

From the record

“Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church is a historic Methodist Episcopal church located near Bridgeville, Sussex County, Delaware. It was built in 1885, and is a two-story, frame church building in the Gothic Revival style.”
Wikipedia article Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church (Bridgeville, Delaware), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 136 National Register listings published here for Sussex County · listed in 1978 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. NW of Bridgeville on DE 31, Bridgeville, 19933
When was it listed? May 1978
Category. building
Census division. Bridgeville-Greenwood
National Register reference number. 78000916 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

16 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church between 2006 and 2020, burning about 20 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	6
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Arson/incendiarism	4
Natural	1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
22 September 2007	Equipment and vehicle use	2.6 acres	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	not named
15 September 2008	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	not named
6 August 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	HRYNKO ROAD
21 July 2007	Natural	5.5 acres	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	not named
16 June 2008	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	not named
10 June 2012	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	SMITHVILLE RD.
12 April 2019	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Delaware Forest Service	BLADES
12 April 2018	Debris and open burning	4.5 acres	Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service	not named

Every fire recorded in Sussex County

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Smithville Bank	Iron	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Sussex County

Storms near this property

41 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bridgeville, the town this property stands in, in 41 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 22 thunderstorm wind, 9 heavy rain, 5 flood, 2 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	$10,000	A severe thunderstorm knocked down ten utility poles on South Main Street in Bridgeville. About three hundred homes and businesses in Bridgeville were without power for eight hours.
April 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	$5,000	Thunderstorms associated with a strong cold front moving across the area during the late evening hours on the 2nd produced wind gusts strong enough to blow out the front windows of a grocery store in Bridgeville.
June 1995	Tornado (F0)	Bridgeville	$1,000	A weak tornado (F0 on the Fujita Scale) briefly touched down in the Clarkson's Crossroads area. An abandoned trailer was knocked from its foundation with half of its roof torn off. A few tree limbs were snapped. The tornado was on the ground for about 100 feet before lifting. No injuries were reported.
March 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Trees down along Seashore Highway. Time estimated from radar.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Wires down on Church Street. Time given in report.
August 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Report of trees down on wires in Bridgeville and a tree down into a house. Time estimated from radar.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Report of train flipped over likely due to the tornado. Time estimated via radar.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Nanticoke River Bridge Deos mesonet measured a 98 MPH gust likely due to mesonet station hit by tornado.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Tree limbs down onto power lines. Approximately 2100 customers without power from the Bridgeville to Seaford to Blades areas. Time estimated from radar.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Wires were reported down in Bridgeville. Time estimated from radar.
June 2022	Hail	Bridgeville	-	Nickel size hail. Time estimated from radar.
April 2021	Hail	Bridgeville	-	Time of report estimated from radar.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Several reports of trees and wires down near Route 18 southeast of Bridgeville. Time estimated from radar.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Four utility poles were knocked down along the railroad tracks near Market St. and South Railroad Ave.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	A tree was downed on a roadway.
April 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Two power poles and wires were blown down. Time estimated from radar.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	A tree limb and power lines were downed near Ritchie Ln in Bridgeville. Time estimated from radar.
July 2020	Lightning	Bridgeville	-	A structure fire due to a lightning strike was reported on Amandas Teal Dr.
September 2020	Lightning	Bridgeville	-	A structure fire was reported due to a lightning strike on Sunnyside Rd. Time estimated from radar.
September 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	A spotter estimated 60 to 65 mph winds on the south side of Bridgeville in association with the rear flank downdraft of a supercell thunderstorms. Time estimated from radar.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	Trees were reported down in Bridgeville.
July 2017	Flood	Bridgeville	-	High water was reported on Redden road.
July 2017	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just over four inches of rain fell at this DEOS site.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just under four and a half inches of rain fell.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just over 5 inches of rain fell with 3 inches in 90 minutes.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just over 3 inches of rain fell.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just under four a half inches of rain fell.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just under four and a half inches of rain fell.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Just over five inches of rain fell.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Four and a half inches of rain fell.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Bridgeville	-	Four and a half inches of rain fell.
March 2010	Flood	Bridgeville	-	The Nanticoke River at Bridgeville was above its 8 foot flood stage from 615 p.m. EDT on the 29th through 315 a.m. EDT on the 30th. It crested at 8.16 feet at 945 p.m. EDT on the 29th. Event precipitation totals included 2.51 inches in Lewes and 2.40 inches in Georgetown.
March 2010	Flood	Bridgeville	-	The heavy rain caused much standing water in yards and fields. Sussex County farmers were estimating that the heavy rain and field flooding would push back their planting schedule by 2 to 3 weeks. The Nanticoke River at Bridgeville was above its 8 foot flood stage from 945 a.m. EST on the 13th through 1122 a.m. EDT on the 14th. It crested at 8.32 feet at 5 a.m. EDT on the 14th. In addition to the river flooding, the onshore wind flow produced minor tidal flooding along Delaware Bay and on the ocean side at the times of high tide from the morning of the 13th into the morning of the 14th. The highest tides occurred with the morning high tide on the 13th. At Breakwater Harbor, the high tide reached 6.88 feet above mean lower low water. Minor tidal flooding starts at 6.0 feet above mean lower low water. Event precipitation totals included 2.95 inches in Lewes, 2.94 inches in Greenwood, 2.69 inches in Delmar and 2.35 inches in Georgetown.
December 2009	Flood	Bridgeville	-	Runoff from the heavy rain produced flooding along sections of the Nanticoke River in western Sussex County. The Nanticoke River near Bridgeville was above its 8 foot flood stage from 407 p.m. EST on the 9th through 1022 a.m. EST on the 10th. It crested at 8.48 feet at 1115 p.m. EST on the 9th. Event precipitation totals included 2.28 inches in Greenwood, 2.26 inches in Delmar, 2.16 inches in Seaford, 2.15 inches in Lewes and 2.04 inches in Georgetown.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	A severe thunderstorm blew a trailer onto U.S. Route 13 in Bridgeville.
June 2006	Flood	Bridgeville	-	no account filed
September 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	no account filed
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	no account filed
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	no account filed
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	no account filed
May 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Bridgeville	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sussex County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Eratt House	1.8 miles	1983
Scott's Store	1.9 miles	1983
Melson House	2.1 miles	1978
Woman's Christian Temperance Union Fountain	2.8 miles	2009
Richards Historic District	3.1 miles	1983
Bridgeville Public Library	4.1 miles	1990

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 78000916 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Sussex County	All 136 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.