WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A historic Wilmington church is officially becoming part of Delaware's new National Historical Park.
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper planned to join the Rev. Patricia Downing on Monday for the signing of a cooperative easement agreement adding Old Swedes Church to the park.
The church is the oldest in the country standing as originally built and still used for worship. It was built in the late 1690s by descendants of Swedish colonists who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Kalmar Nyckel in 1638.
Last December, at Carper's urging, Congress approved legislation ending Delaware's long, solitary status as the only state in the country without a national park.
The park will link sites in all three Delaware counties to recognize the contributions of early American Dutch, Swedish and English settlers.
