“Someday!” “Next time!”
That’s what I thought over and over again, every time I passed the sign between Dover and Milford along Delaware’s Route 1 pointing the way to Barratt’s Chapel and Museum. I finally got off the highway and checked the place out when doing research for my book, Shore Fun! A Wanderer’s Guide to Delmarva. That book serves up helpful snapshot descriptions of more than 125 destinations on the peninsula, along with 150-plus annual events.
Here is what I wrote in that book about Barratt’s Chapel and Museum:
“A pair of famous ‘Great Awakenings’ swept like mass fevers through Delmarva, first before and then after the Revolutionary War. At Barratt’s Chapel and Museum, you can get a sense for the
way those religious revolutions transformed the lives of common folks in small towns all over the peninsula.
“This 1780 chapel off of Route 1 near Frederica was ground zero for the second of those Great Awakenings. During the Revolutionary War most Methodist ministers fled back to England after falling under suspicion as Loyalists. Methodism had begun life as a branch within the Episcopal Church of England.
“But Rev. Francis Asbury stood his ground. He and a cadre of other devoted believers set up shop here in Kent County and set about spreading their Good News as “circuit riders,” wandering on horseback to preaching engagements throughout the countryside. Their work transformed Methodism into its own independent sect–one that spread like wildfire through this region and, eventually, the whole newborn country.
“In the estimation of University of Delaware historian William H. Williams, what Asbury and his gang accomplished makes Barratt’s Chapel “the most important Methodist historical structure in the nation” and “the most significant historical building, secular or religious, on the entire Delmarva Peninsula.”
“The sanctuary has a timeless feel. The property also houses a museum and a library, with tours available a couple of days a week as of this writing. On display are old handwritten sermons and journals, along with lots of fascinating memorabilia from a time of great fervor and transition in the Delmarva countryside.”
Barratt’s Chapel website
Tourism info for Kent County (Del.)
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–posted by Jim Duffy in January 2026 for Whimbrel Creations LLC/Secrets of the Eastern Shore. All rights reserved.
