Friends meeting houses in Pennsylvania

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Friends meeting houses are places of worship for the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. A "meeting" is the equivalent of a church congregation, and a "meeting house" is the equivalent of a church building.

Several Friends meetings were founded in Pennsylvania in the early 1680s.[a] The Merion Friends Meeting House is the only surviving meeting house constructed before 1700.[3] Thirty-two surviving Pennsylvania meeting houses were constructed before 1800, and are listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or as contributing properties in historic districts.[4] More than one hundred meeting houses constructed before 1900 were documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey, and published in Silent Witness: Quaker Meeting Houses in the Delaware Valley, 1695 to the Present (2002).[5] Those that were involved in the Underground Railroad have been identified by the Federal NETWORK TO FREEDOM program (NTF).

One of the key tenets of the Religious Society of Friends is pacifism, adherence to the Peace Testimony. The "Free Quakers" were supporters of the American Revolutionary War, separated from the Society, and built their own meeting house in Philadelphia, at 5th & Arch Streets (1783).

In 1827, the Great Separation divided Pennsylvania Quakers into two branches, Orthodox and Hicksite. Many individual meetings also separated, but one branch generally kept possession of the meeting house. The two branches reunited in the 1950s.

Meeting houses

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Name Photo Founded Constructed Branch Notes Location Reference
Abington Friends Meeting House 1683 1786 Hicksite 520 Meeting House Rd., Jenkintown
40°05′38″N 75°07′06″W / 40.0939°N 75.1182°W / 40.0939; -75.1182 (Abington) 		FMHS
Arch Street Friends Meeting House 1681 1804, 1811 Orthodox Philadelphia Yearly Meeting 304 Arch St., Philadelphia
39°57′07″N 75°08′46″W / 39.9519°N 75.1462°W / 39.9519; -75.1462 (Arch St.) 		NHL
Bart Friends Meeting 1820 1825 Hicksite Quaker Church Rd., Christiana
39°55′58″N 76°02′50″W / 39.9328°N 76.0473°W / 39.9328; -76.0473 (Bart)
Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse
More images 		1726 1763 Hicksite Birmingham Rd. near Rt. 926, West Chester
39°54′21″N 75°35′39″W / 39.9057°N 75.5943°W / 39.9057; -75.5943 (Birmingham) 		NRHP
Birmingham Orthodox Friends Meeting House About 100 yd (91 m) from Hicksite meeting house.
Now a private home. 		NRHP
Bradford Friends Meetinghouse 1716, 1726 1765 Orthodox 1364 West Strasburg Road, Marshallton
39°56′59″N 75°40′48″W / 39.9496°N 75.6800°W / 39.9496; -75.6800 (Bradford) 		NRHP
Bristol Friends Meeting House 1707, 1711 1713-19 Hicksite Market & Woods St., Bristol
40°05′47″N 74°51′26″W / 40.0963°N 74.8572°W / 40.0963; -74.8572 (Bristol) 		FMHS
NRHP HD[6]
Buckingham Friends Meeting House
More images 		1701, 1705 1768 Hicksite 5684 York Rd. (Rt 202), Lahaska
40°20′41″N 75°02′19″W / 40.3447°N 75.0387°W / 40.3447; -75.0387 (Buckingham) 		NHL[7]
Byberry Friends Meeting House 1683, 1701 1808 Hicksite 3001 Byberry Rd., Philadelphia
40°06′09″N 74°58′51″W / 40.1025°N 74.9809°W / 40.1025; -74.9809 (Byberry)
Caln Meeting House 1716 1782 Shared In 1907 the Orthodox Meeting moved to Coatesville Rt. 340, Thorndale
40°00′26″N 75°45′53″W / 40.0073°N 75.7646°W / 40.0073; -75.7646 (Caln) 		FMHS
Catawissa Friends Meetinghouse 1775, 1793 1794 South St., Catawissa
40°57′04″N 76°27′42″W / 40.9510°N 76.4617°W / 40.9510; -76.4617 (Catawissa) 		FMHS
NRHP
Chester Friends Meetinghouse 1675, 1698 1829, 1954 24th at Chestnut St. Chester
39°52′10″N 75°21′50″W / 39.8694°N 75.3639°W / 39.8694; -75.3639 (Chester) 		NRHP
Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting 1924 1931, 2012-2013 Shared
The 2013 building features a
"Skyspace," a sky-lighted room for
quiet contemplation. 		100 E. Mermaid Ln, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
40°04′07″N 75°11′46″W / 40.0685°N 75.196°W / 40.0685; -75.196 (Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting) 		HABS
Chichester Friends Meetinghouse 1682, 1701 1769 Hicksite Meeting House Rd., Boothwyn
39°50′11″N 75°25′53″W / 39.8365°N 75.4313°W / 39.8365; -75.4313 (Chichester) 		NRHP
Concord Friends Meetinghouse 1684 1728. 1788 Hicksite Old Concord Rd, Concordville
39°53′05″N 75°31′09″W / 39.8848°N 75.5192°W / 39.8848; -75.5192 (Old Concord) 		NRHP, FMHS
Darby Friends Meeting 1682 1805 Hicksite 1015 Main St., Darby
39°55′16″N 75°15′46″W / 39.9211°N 75.2629°W / 39.9211; -75.2629 (Darby) 		NRHP NTF
Doe Run 1808, 1811 1883 81 Greenlaw Rd, Cochraneville
39°53′21″N 75°52′17″W / 39.8892°N 75.8715°W / 39.8892; -75.8715 (Doe Run)
Downingtown Friends Meeting House 1784, 1811 1806 Uwchlan Monthly Meeting moved here in 1900 800 E. Lancaster Ave, Downingtown
40°00′51″N 75°41′20″W / 40.0141°N 75.6889°W / 40.0141; -75.6889 (Downingtown) 		FMHS
Exeter Friends Meeting House 1715, 1725 1759 Orthodox Meeting House Rd., Stonersville
40°18′48″N 75°47′04″W / 40.3132°N 75.7845°W / 40.3132; -75.7845 (Exeter) 		FMHS
Fair Hill Friends Meeting House 1702, 1880 1883 Cambria St. at Germantown Ave., Philadelphia
39°59′46″N 75°08′48″W / 39.9962°N 75.1467°W / 39.9962; -75.1467 (Fair Hill)
Fallowfield Friends Meeting House 1792, 1796 1801 (1811?) Hicksite Rt. 82 at Buck Run Rd., Ercildoun
39°56′46″N 75°50′18″W / 39.9461°N 75.8384°W / 39.9461; -75.8384 (Fallowfield) 		FMHS
2nd Falls Friends Meeting House 1683 1728 NA Replaced by the 1789 third meeting house
Housed a Friends School
Now divided into apartments 		Tyburn Rd. at New Falls Rd., Fallsington
40°11′06″N 74°49′12″W / 40.1850°N 74.8200°W / 40.1850; -74.8200 (Falls Meeting Houses) 		FMHS
3rd Falls Friends Meeting House
(now William Penn Center) 		1789 Orthodox Houses the William Penn Center 9300 New Falls Rd., Fallsington
40°11′06″N 74°49′11″W / 40.1849°N 74.8196°W / 40.1849; -74.8196 (Falls (1789)) 		FMHS
4th Falls Friends Meeting House
(located just north of the William Penn Center) 		1841 Hicksite

Interior: 		9300 New Falls Rd., Fallsington
Frankford Friends Meeting House 1684 1775-76 Hicksite Orthodox counterpart on Orthodox St. Unity and Waln Sts., Philadelphia
40°00′40″N 75°05′03″W / 40.0111°N 75.0843°W / 40.0111; -75.0843 (Frankford) 		FMHS
Free Quaker Meetinghouse 1780 1783-84 Free Quaker
Closed 1836
Home of the Apprentices' Library,
1841-1897[8]
In an 1884 engraving: 		5th and Arch, Philadelphia
39°57′09″N 75°08′55″W / 39.9524°N 75.1487°W / 39.9524; -75.1487 (Free Quaker) 		NRHP
Germantown Friends Meeting House 1690 1868-69 Samuel Sloan & Addison Hutton, architects 47 W. Coulter, Philadelphia
40°01′57″N 75°10′19″W / 40.0324°N 75.1720°W / 40.0324; -75.1720 (Germantown)
Goshen Friends Meeting House 1709 1855 814 Chester Rd, Goshenville
39°59′36″N 75°32′37″W / 39.9933°N 75.5435°W / 39.9933; -75.5435 (Goshen)
Gwynedd Friends Meeting House 1689, 1698 1823 Hicksite
Spring House & Pennllyn Turnpike, Lower Gwyynedd
40°12′11″N 75°15′21″W / 40.2031°N 75.2557°W / 40.2031; -75.2557 (Gwynedd))
Old Haverford Friends Meetinghouse 1682, 1684 1701 Hicksite 235 E. Eagles Road, Havertown
39°59′27″N 75°18′17″W / 39.9907°N 75.3047°W / 39.9907; -75.3047 (Old Haverford) 		FMHS[4]
[5]
Homeville Friends Meeting House 1839 1839 Newark Rd. Rt 896, Homeville
39°51′39″N 75°59′14″W / 39.8608°N 75.9872°W / 39.8608; -75.9872 (Homeville)
Horsham Friends Meeting 1714, 1717 1803 Hicksite Rte. 611 & Horsham Rd., Horsham Township
40°11′01″N 75°07′54″W / 40.1836°N 75.1316°W / 40.1836; -75.1316 (Horsham) 		FMHS
Horsham Orthodox Friends Meeting House 1890 1890 Orthodox Extant? Saw Mill Lane & Dreshertown Rd., Horsham Township
40°10′39″N 75°08′23″W / 40.1775°N 75.1397°W / 40.1775; -75.1397 (Horsham Orthodox)
Old Kennett Meetinghouse 1707, 1711 1731 c. Hicksite US Route 1, Kennett Square
39°52′16″N 75°38′53″W / 39.8711°N 75.6481°W / 39.8711; -75.6481 (Old Kennett) 		FMHS
Lampeter Friends Meeting House 1728, 1732 1889 Rt. 340, Bird-in-Hand
40°02′20″N 76°11′06″W / 40.0390°N 76.1850°W / 40.0390; -76.1850 (Lampeter)
Little Elk Friends Meeting House 1826 Media Rd, Hickory Hill
39°44′55″N 75°55′49″W / 39.7485°N 75.9304°W / 39.7485; -75.9304 (Little Elk)
London Grove Friends Meeting House 1724, 1775 1818 Rt. 926 at Newark Rd, West Marlborough Township
39°52′11″N 75°46′25″W / 39.8696°N 75.7735°W / 39.8696; -75.7735 (London Grove))
Longwood Progressive Friends Meeting House 1854 1854 Rt. 1 at Longwood Gardens
39°52′07″N 75°40′17″W / 39.8687°N 75.6713°W / 39.8687; -75.6713 (Longwood)
Maidencreek Friends Meeting House 1732, 1735 1759 Hicksite West Shore Dr., Kindts Corner (building moved 1929)
40°27′44″N 75°55′51″W / 40.4622°N 75.9308°W / 40.4622; -75.9308 (Maidencreek) 		FMHS
Makefield Friends Meeting House 1750, 1790 1760, 1764 Hicksite 877 Dolington Rd, Lower Makefield
40°15′57″N 74°53′12″W / 40.2658°N 74.8868°W / 40.2658; -74.8868 (Makefield) 		NRHP, FMHS
Marlboro Friends Meeting House 1799, 1802 1801 Part of Marlborough Village Historic District 901 Marlborough Springs Rd., Marlborough Village
39°53′44″N 75°42′17″W / 39.8956°N 75.7046°W / 39.8956; -75.7046 (Marlboro) 		FMHS
Media Monthly Meeting House 1878 1875 Orthodox known as Chester Monthly Meeting until 1950? Third St., Media
39°55′17″N 75°23′29″W / 39.9213°N 75.3913°W / 39.9213; -75.3913 (Media)
Merion Friends Meeting House
More images 		1683 1695-1714 Hicksite
In an 1837 engraving: 		615 Montgomery Ave., Merion Station
40°00′35″N 75°15′16″W / 40.0097°N 75.2544°W / 40.0097; -75.2544 (Merion) 		NHL[9]
Middletown Friends Meeting House 1680, 1683 1793 Hicksite 453 W. Maple Ave., Langhorne
40°10′31″N 74°55′44″W / 40.1752°N 74.9288°W / 40.1752; -74.9288 (Middletown (Langhorne)) 		FMHS
Middletown Friends Meetinghouse 1686, 1701 1702, 1770s, 1888 435 Middletown Rd, Lima
39°55′28″N 75°26′34″W / 39.9245°N 75.4429°W / 39.9245; -75.4429 (Middletown (Lima))
Millville Friends Meeting House 1795 1846 Hicksite Main at Maple St., Millville
41°07′23″N 76°31′34″W / 41.1231°N 76.5260°W / 41.1231; -76.5260 (Millville) 		HABS
New Garden Friends Meeting House 1712, 1715 1743 Hicksite Newark Rd., Toughkenamon
39°48′54″N 75°45′09″W / 39.8150°N 75.7526°W / 39.8150; -75.7526 (New Garden) 		FMHS
Newtown Friends Meeting House 1815, 1817 1817, 1868 Hicksite 219 Court St. Newtown
40°13′33″N 74°56′09″W / 40.2257°N 74.9357°W / 40.2257; -74.9357 (Newtown (Bucks Co.))
Newtown Square Friends Meeting House 1696, 1706 1791 Hicksite 120 Newtown Rd. (Rt 252), Newtown Square
39°59′30″N 75°24′18″W / 39.9918°N 75.4050°W / 39.9918; -75.4050 (Newtown Square) 		FMHS
Norristown Friends Meeting House 1890 Swede & Pine Sts., Norristown
Oxford Friends Meeting House 1876 1879 S. 3rd St., Oxford
39°46′48″N 75°58′51″W / 39.7801°N 75.9808°W / 39.7801; -75.9808 (Oxford (Chesco))
Parkersville Friends Meetinghouse 1830 1830 Hicksite Parkersville Rd. s of Rt 926 Parkersville
39°53′10″N 75°38′43″W / 39.8861°N 75.6452°W / 39.8861; -75.6452 (Parkersville) 		NRHP
Plumsted Friends Meeting House 1730 1752, 1876 4914 Point Pleasant Pike, Danboro
40°22′02″N 75°06′52″W / 40.3671°N 75.1145°W / 40.3671; -75.1145 (Plumsted) 		FMHS
Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse
More images 		1703, 1710 1708, 1780 Hicksite Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting
40°06′09″N 75°16′45″W / 40.1025°N 75.2792°W / 40.1025; -75.2792 (Plymouth) 		NRHP[10]
Providence Friends Meeting House Providence Friends Meeting Media 1686 1700, 1727, 1753 Hicksite Providence Rd., Media
39°55′06″N 75°22′52″W / 39.9183°N 75.3810°W / 39.9183; -75.3810 (Providence (Media)) 		HABS
Providence Quaker Cemetery and Chapel 1789 1793 closed 1870 Jct. of PA 4038 and PA 4036 W, Perryopolis
40°04′22″N 79°46′56″W / 40.072778°N 79.782222°W / 40.072778; -79.782222 (Providence Quaker Cemetery and Chapel), 		NRHP
Race Street Friends Meeting House 1855-57
Interior: 		1515 Cherry St., Philadelphia
39°57′21″N 75°09′54″W / 39.9559°N 75.1651°W / 39.9559; -75.1651 (Race St.) 		NRHP
Radnor Friends Meetinghouse
More images 		1684, 1698 1717-18 Hicksite Sproul Rd. (Rt 320), Ithan
40°01′48″N 75°21′51″W / 40.0300°N 75.3643°W / 40.0300; -75.3643 (Radnor) 		[6]
Reading Friends Meeting House 1750, 1756 1868 Wilson Eyre 108 N. 6th St., Reading
40°20′15″N 75°55′35″W / 40.3375°N 75.9263°W / 40.3375; -75.9263 (Reading)
Richlands Friends Meeting House 1710, 1723 1862 Main St and Mill Rd, Quakertown
40°26′12″N 75°21′08″W / 40.4367°N 75.3522°W / 40.4367; -75.3522 (Richlands)
Roaring Creek Friends Meeting 1786, 1796 1795-96 Hicksite
Interior: 		Quaker Meeting Rd., Numidia
40°53′53″N 76°23′55″W / 40.8981°N 76.3986°W / 40.8981; -76.3986 (Roaring Creek) 		FMHS
Sadsbury Friends Meeting House 1723, 1725 1747 Hicksite Simmontown Rd, Gap
39°58′15″N 75°59′27″W / 39.9709°N 75.9908°W / 39.9709; -75.9908 (Sadsbury) 		FMHS
Schuylkill Friends Meeting House 1812 1807, 1816 Hicksite Charlestown Friends until 1826 37 N. Whitehorse Rd., Phoenixville
40°07′15″N 75°30′07″W / 40.1209°N 75.5019°W / 40.1209; -75.5019 (Schuylkill Friends Meeting House)
Solebury Friends Meeting House 1806, 1811 1806 2680 Sugan Rd., New Hope
40°22′22″N 74°59′15″W / 40.3728°N 74.9874°W / 40.3728; -74.9874 (Solebury)
Springfield Friends Meetinghouse Springfield Friends Delco 1686 1703, 1783, 1850
Swarthmore Friends Meeting House 1863, 1893 1881 Hicksite 12 Whittier Place, Swarthmore
39°54′26″N 75°21′12″W / 39.9073°N 75.3533°W / 39.9073; -75.3533 (Swarthmore)
Twelfth Street Meeting House
(now George School Meeting House)
Circa-1892 photograph

Disassembled, July 1972 		1813-1814
relocated 1972 		Orthodox Built by carpenter John D. Smith using elements of
the Greater Meeting House, 1813-1814.

Disassembled and relocated, Summer 1972.
Rebuilt on campus of the George School, 1973-1974.
Charles Hough, restoration architect[11]
Re-dedicated, September 24, 1974 		Original:
20 South 12th Street, Philadelphia
39°57′04″N 75°09′37″W / 39.951167°N 75.160278°W / 39.951167; -75.160278 (PSFS)

Current:
George School, Newtown, Bucks County
40°12′41″N 74°56′02″W / 40.211278°N 74.93375°W / 40.211278; -74.93375 (George School) 		HABS[12]
Unionville Friends Meeting House 1845 1845 Now Grange Hall Rt. 82, Unionville
39°53′44″N 75°43′51″W / 39.8956°N 75.7307°W / 39.8956; -75.7307 (Unionville) 		FMHS
Upper Dublin Friends Meeting House 1814 1814 Hicksite Ft. Washington & Limekiln Rd. Upper Dublin
40°09′44″N 75°11′16″W / 40.1622°N 75.1878°W / 40.1622; -75.1878 (Upper Dublin)
Upper Providence Friends Meeting House 1716, 1733 1828 Hicksite 8207 Black Rock Road, Oaks
40°08′56″N 75°28′33″W / 40.1490°N 75.4758°W / 40.1490; -75.4758 (Upper Providence) 		HABS
Uwchlan Meetinghouse 1712, 1714 1763 c. Orthodox Village Ave. North, Lionville
40°03′16″N 75°39′36″W / 40.0545°N 75.6599°W / 40.0545; -75.6599 (Uwchlan) 		FMHS
Valley Friends Meeting House 1698, 1810 1871 1121 Old Eagle School Rd., Wayne
40°04′57″N 75°24′54″W / 40.0826°N 75.4151°W / 40.0826; -75.4151 (Valley)
Warrington Friends Meeting House 1769 Carlisle Rd, Wellsville
40°03′12″N 76°55′47″W / 40.0532°N 76.9298°W / 40.0532; -76.9298 (Warrington)
West Chester Meeting House 1810, 1813 1810, 1868 Hicksite 425 N. High, West Chester
39°57′51″N 75°36′28″W / 39.9642°N 75.6078°W / 39.9642; -75.6078 (West Chester)
West Philadelphia Orthodox Friends Meeting House 1878 1878 Orthodox Powelton & 42nd St., Philadelphia
39°57′33″N 75°12′24″W / 39.9592°N 75.2066°W / 39.9592; -75.2066 (West Philadelphia)
Willistown Friends Meeting House 1753, 1794 1798 Hicksite Part of Okehocking Historic District 7069 Goshen Rd., Whitehorse
39°59′19″N 75°28′51″W / 39.9886°N 75.4809°W / 39.9886; -75.4809 (Willistown) 		FMHS
Wrightstown Friends Meeting Complex 1686 1787 Hicksite Rt. 413, 4 miles north of Newtown
40°15′57″N 74°58′54″W / 40.2657°N 74.9818°W / 40.2657; -74.9818 (Wrightstown) 		NRHP, FMHS
York Friends Meeting House 1754, 1767 1766, 1783 Hicksite Philadelphia St., York
39°57′47″N 76°43′54″W / 39.9630°N 76.7317°W / 39.9630; -76.7317 (York) 		FMHS

Demolished meeting houses

Name Image Founded Constructed Demolished Notes Location Reference
Centre Square Meeting House
Shown at center of map 		1684 1685-1687[13][b] Summer 1702[15] Built on what is now the site of Philadelphia City Hall

Salvaged materials from it were used to build the Bank
Meeting House 		Broad and High (Market) Streets, Philadelphia
Chester Friends Meeting House 1675 1687–1693 c.1735 William Penn attended meeting in Chester, probably in a
private home, soon after his October 1682 arrival. 		near 24th & Chestnut Streets, along Ridley Creek, Chester
Evening Meeting House[c]
replaced on the same site by Bank Meeting House 		1682 1683-1685[d] 1698 A temporary, wood-frame building, built on Bank Hill,
along the Delaware River.[14][e]
Also used for meetings of the Pennsylvania General
Assembly and Provincial Council.[17] 		W. side of Front Street, btw. Race & Vine Streets, Philadelphia
Bank Meeting House[f] 1703 A large two-story, three-bay brick building, 50 ft (15 m)
square, with separate entrances for men and women.[18]: 28 
Built using salvaged materials from the demolished
Centre Square Meeting House.[18]: 27 
Sold 1791.[15]
Fourth Street Meeting House and School 1763-1764[19] 1859[19] A two-story brick building, "76 feet front on Fourth street,
42 feet deep."[19]
Built beside the Friends Public School (for boys). A school
for girls occupied the meeting house's second floor.[19] 		E. side of Fourth Street, btw. Chestnut & Sansom Streets, Philadelphia PAB[20]
Great Meeting House
(High Street Meeting House)
replaced on the same site by Greater Meeting House
Great Meeting House 		1695 1755 Interior lighted by a roof lantern.[g] SW. corner 2nd & Market Streets, Philadelphia PAB[22]
Greater Meeting House
Greater Meeting House 		1755 1812-1813 A square, two-and-a-half-story brick building, 57 ft (17 m)
per side, built by carpenter Abraham Carlisle and his
apprentice Isaac Coates.[h]

Dismantled by carpenter John D. Smith, and used to
build Twelfth Street Meeting House, 1813-1814.
Green Street Meeting House
Home of the North Monthly Meeting until c.1828 		1815-1816[15] c.1970 "The dimensions of the building were forty-seven by
seventy-three feet."[23]
Home of the Monthly Meeting for the Northern District
until the 1827-28 Hicksite/Orthodox schism.[24]

Discontinued as a meeting, 1914.
Reopened as Friends Neighborhood House, a
settlement house serving immigrant communities.[24] 		SE. corner 4th & Green Streets, Philadelphia
Key's Alley Meeting House
Home of the North Monthly Meeting, 1790-1816 		1790 Dimensions: "68 by 50 feet, … an additional apartment
of brick 40 by 45 feet on the north side of the building,
for a Monthly Meeting room."[15]

Home of the North Meeting until 1816, when it moved to
Green Street Meeting House.[15]
The former meeting house became a Philadelphia public
school.[15] 		N. side of New Street, btw. Front & 2nd Streets, Philadelphia
North Meeting House[24] 1838 c.1968 Built for Orthodox Friends who separated from the Hicksite
Green Street Meeting House.
"The dimensions of the building were 118 by 65 feet, with
a height of 30 feet."[24]

Discontinued as a meeting, 1914.
Sold 1918; became a community center and playground.[24] 		SW. corner 6th & Noble Streets, Philadelphia
Pine Street Meeting House
(Hill Meeting House) 		1747 1752-1753[19] Land donated by Samuel Powel.[25]
"The meeting agrees that a brick house of 60 feet front,
and 43 feet deep shall be built on said lot."[19]
A two-story, three-bay brick building, with separate
entrances for men and women.[18]: 28 
Robert Smith, builder 		S. side of Pine Street, btw. Front & 2nd Streets, Philadelphia PAB[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Charles II of England granted a charter to William Penn for the Pennsylvania Colony in 1681, in repayment of a large debt to Penn's late father. Penn, a Quaker, quickly drew up plans to divide the land within the colony, but in a way that encouraged settlement rather than real estate speculation. Initially, Pennsylvania was a predominantly, but not exclusively, Quaker colony, with Huguenots, Jews, and other persecuted religious minorities among the settlers. Penn was one of about sixty passengers who arrived at Philadelphia aboard The Welcome, in October 1682.[1] It is estimated that more than 2,000 European settlers arrived by ship in the first two years of the colony.[2]
  2. ^ "We are now laying the foundation of a new brick meeting-house in the Centre [Square] (sixty feet long and about forty feet broad), and hope to soon have it up, there being many hearts and hands at work that will do it." — Robert Turner to William Penn, August 3, 1685.[14]
  3. ^ "Friends were long accustomed to hold night meetings on the Sabbath. Their house on the Bank Hill, on Front Street, was at first called Evening Meeting because [it was] chiefly made for such a convenience when that at Centre Square was too far off."[16]
  4. ^ "[Construction of a] large meeting-house, fifty feet long and thirty-eight broad, also going on in the front of the river for an evening meeting." — Robert Turner to William Penn, August 3, 1685.[14]
  5. ^ The Evening Meeting House was located on the west side of Front Street, at or slightly north of the present crossing of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
  6. ^ The ministers' galleries from the Bank Meeting House survive at the Sadsbury Meeting House in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.[18]
  7. ^ "It was surmounted, in the centre of its four-angled roof, by a raised frame of glass-work so constructed as to let light down into the meeting below, after the manner of the former Burlington [New Jersey] meeting-house."[21]
  8. ^ A floor joist from the Greater Meeting House is initialed and dated: "AC + IC 1755," spelled out in nailheads.

References

  1. ^ List of passengers aboard The Welcome, from The Welcome Society of Pennsylvania.
  2. ^ Cary Hutto, "What ship carried William Penn and some of the first settlers to Pennsylvania across the Atlantic?" Historical Society of Pennsylvania.[1]
  3. ^ Tyson, Rae. "Our First Friends, The Early Quakers". www.phmc.state.pa.us. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b Friend Meeting House Survey, Historic American Buildings Survey, 2002, notes used for Silent Witness, available at Friends Historic Library at Swarthmore College.
  5. ^ Historic American Buildings Survey (2002). Silent Witness: Quaker Meeting Houses in the Delaware Valley, 1695 to the Present. p. 56.
  6. ^ Patrick W. O'Bannon, 1986, NRHP Nomination Form - Bristol Historic District
  7. ^ National Historic Landmark Nomination, Buckingham Friends Meeting House
  8. ^ Seventy-Seventh Annual Report of the Managers of the Apprentices' Library of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Spangler & Davis, 1897), pp. 7-8.[2]
  9. ^ Bill Bolger; David G. Orr & Catherine LaVoie (February 3, 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Merion Friends Meeting House" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 9 photos, exterior and interior, from 1987. (32 KB)
  10. ^ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania". CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2016-05-31. Note: This includes Helen Reichart Mirras (December 1969). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-05-24.
  11. ^ Charles Hough, "It's all about the trusses," April 2008 lecture, from The George School.
  12. ^ Twelfth Street Meeting House, from HABS.
  13. ^ J. W. Lippincott, "Early Meetinghouses of Friends," Friends' Intelligencer and Journal, vol. 46, no. 29 (September 20, 1889), pp. 452-54.
  14. ^ a b c J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1884), p. 1242.
  15. ^ a b c d e f J. W. Lippincott, "Early Meetinghouses of Friends," Friends' Intelligencer and Journal, vol. 46, no. 30 (September 27, 1889), pp. 467-69.
  16. ^ William McKoy, Reminiscences (1829), quoted in John Fanning Watson, Annals of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1830).
  17. ^ J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, Volume 1 (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1888), p. 121.[3]
  18. ^ a b c d Seth Beeson Hinshaw, The Evolution of Quaker Meeting Houses in North America, 1670-2000 (master's thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 2001).(PDF)
  19. ^ a b c d e f J. W. Lippincott, "Early Meetinghouses of Friends," Friends' Intelligencer and Journal, vol. 46, no. 31 (October 3, 1889), pp. 486-87.
  20. ^ 4th Street Meeting House and School, from PAB.
  21. ^ John Fanning Watson, Annals of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1830), vol. 1, p. 355.
  22. ^ Great Meeting House, from PAB.
  23. ^ J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1888), p. 1260.
  24. ^ a b c d e "The Passing of the North Meeting-House, Philadelphia," Quaker History, vol. 8, no. 3 (November 1918), pp. 106-08.[4]
  25. ^ J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1888), p. 1250.
  26. ^ Pine Street Meeting, from PAB.

Further reading

  • Brief Historical Sketches concerning Friends' Meetings of the Past and Present with special reference to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, compiled by T. Chalkey Matlack, Moorestown, N.J. 1938. Available at the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College.
  • Futhey, John Smith; Cope, Gilbert (1881). History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts. pp. 782. Retrieved August 17, 2016.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quaker meeting houses in Philadelphia.
  • QuakerMeetings.com, "Monthly Meetings in North America: A Quaker Index" - a database of the history of meetings (rather than meeting houses)
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