Asbury United Methodist Church
Map #1

Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1829, and the first sanctuary was built with the lumber from trees cut on the property. That property was 1/2 acre purchased from Sarah Stewart and Andrew W. Anderson for $50. The deed records that the first trustees of the church were John Crockett, John H. Durham, William Simms, W.H. Lankford, John Jones, James Simms and Elliott Carvaine. The present structure was completed in 1848, the work of local carpenter Caleb Twilley. The steeple was not added until 1883, again built by local carpenters and church members, Peter A. Malone and Benjamin F. Messick. The bell was installed in 1894. The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in September, 1999, one year after its 150th anniversary. The nomination was a project of the Allen Historical Society. The cemetery is one of the oldest in Wicomico County which has remained in continuous use. It is currently administered independently of the Church and has perpetual care.

The choir loft was added at the same time as the steeple in 1883. The communion table and flower stands were made by W. Twilley Malone, son of Peter A. Malone (builder of the steeple) and a distinguished architect. He served for many years as choir director and as Sunday School Superintendent.

The gallery at the rear of the church was part of the original 1848 design. Until the abolition of slavery the slaves of church members worshiped there. In 1866 Asbury withdrew from the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North and joined the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. That division was healed in 1939, when the two churches came together once again.