Little Creek: Some of the Most Interesting Historic Buildings on the Delaware Bayshore Byway

 

 Little Creek, also known as Little River

Little Creek is a tiny village (less than 200 inhabitants) on the north bank of Little Creek (also known as Little River). Allegedly first inhabited pirates, by the late 1800s it was prospering thanks to oystering. As I note in my Delaware Bayshore Byway Overview, in the early 20^th century an oyster disease wiped out the Delaware Bay’s oyster industry, leaving Little Creek the quiet village it is today. A fishing pier and boat launching ramp on Little Creek have largely replaced the fishing boat docks. 

Fishing pier on Little Creek

Probably the best-known building in Little Creek is the Old Stone Tavern on Main Street. 

Old Stone Tavern on Main Street in Little Creek

It was built in the 1820s and, despite its name, it was always a house, never a tavern. What’s interesting about the house is that it was built of stone. There’s no stone around Little Creek! I read two theories on how the stone got here. One is that the stone was ballast in ships that docked here. The other is that the stone was shipped purposely here from Chester County outside Philadelphia. 

Next door to the Old Stone Tavern is Little Creek Methodist Church, built in 1883.

Little Creek Methodist Church

Across the street and a bit south of the Methodist Church is Elizabeth Stubbs House, a Second Empire house built in 1866.

Elizabeth Stubbs House on Main Street in Little Creek

Just north of the village of Little Creek is Little Creek Hundred Rural Historic District , a collection of mostly brick buildings built between 1760 and 1860. They were designated a Historic District because they reflect a concentration of farmers who were remarkabl prosperous thanks to the unusually fertile soil here.

The buildings are almost all on private property, so we only tried to find two. We were especially interested in the Octagonal School House. It was built around 1831 as one of the first free public schools in Delaware, with seating for 87 students. It’s the only other building built of the same stone and by the same architect as the Old Stone Tavern.

The Octagonal School is on the east side of Route 9 between DE Route 86 (Savanah/White Oak Road) and DE Route 338 (Edgewater Farm Lane). (Ignore Google Maps, which incorrectly places it on the west side of Route 9.) Unfortunately, private buildings block the view from Route 9. We drove down Edgewater Farm Lane and were able to see it from a distance.

Octagonal School House, north of Little Creek

The other site we found within the Little Creek Hundred Rural Historic District is the cemetery of the Little Creek Friends (or Quaker) Meeting House on Quaker Lane (DE Route 340) northwest of Little Creek.

Little Creek Friends Meeting House Cemetery

 It’s private property, and the gate was chained closed, so we didn’t enter.

 

Little Creek Friends Meeting House cemetery entrance

We didn’t see the meeting house and suspect it’s now gone. The photo below of the meeting house is from the Library of Congress. 

[UPDATE 6/1/2021: Two people on Facebook told me the meeting house is still across the street from the cemetery. It's now a private home. We went back and got a photo. I'm not surprised we didn't recognize it--it's been considerably altered!]

Little Creek Friends Meeting House, now a private home

West of Little Creek, on the west side of Long Point Road, is another architectural treasure in this region: Sally Sipple House (not to be confused with Sipple House in Leipsic).

Sally Sipple House on Long Point Road, west of Leipsic

 It’s a Georgian house built around 1750 of brick that has been covered in stucco. What makes it unusual is the large front gable (the triangle-shaped part of the wall under the roofs). Only two other houses in Delaware have a large front gable like this: Amstel House in New Castle, built about ten years earlier than Sally Sipple House, and Belmont Hall, built about 30 years later.

I’d love to learn more about Sally Sipple’s story. It’s certainly unusual for a house this old, in this region, to be named after a woman. About 100 years after Sally Sipple House was built, a house was built for a Sally Sipple at #4 The Green in Dover. Was she the same Sally Sipple or a descendant?

If you want to see Sally Sipple House, remember it’s on private property and please view it from the road.

South of Little Creek, on the south side of South Little Creek Rd, is one more architectural gem: Cherbourg Round Barn.

It’s the only round barn in Delaware and the only one on the Delmarva peninsula. It was built around 1912-1918. The roof collapsed in 1999 but was rebuilt. This is another structure on private property, so view it from the road. Don’t plan on seeing it in late summer, when corn blocks the view.

Little Creek is developing plans to showcase its fishing village heritage while remaining environmentally resilient. Future visitors may take a wetlands trail along the creek behind the houses on the east side of DE 9, climb an observation tower on the north side of Little Creek, and browse “Watermans Village”: a collection of shops along DE 9 at the southern edge of town, just north of Little Creek. Fingers crossed that these plans eventually become reality!

Little Creek Conceptual Resilience Plan

Little Creek is clearly proud to be part of the Delaware Bayshore Byway!