A Friends meeting house is a

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in C ...

of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ornamentation are usually avoided. When Quakers speak of a "church," it generally refers to the persons of the worshipping community, rather than the building itself.

History

Generally, Quakers believe that meeting for worship can occur in any place - not just in a designated meeting house. Quakers have quoted to support this: "Where two or three meet together in my name, there s Godin the midst of them." Therefore, theoretically, meeting for worship may be held anywhere. Before the advent of meeting houses,

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

met for worship outdoors, in homes, or in local buildings. In the late 17th century, Welsh Quaker Richard Davies (1635-1708) described his experience meeting Friends outdoors:

I went to visit ouryoung men, my former companions in profession of religion. Two of them were convinced uakers..we agreed to meet together; but none of us had a house of his own to meet in. We determined therefore to meet on a hill in a common, as near as we could for the convenience of each other, we living some miles apart. There we met in silence, to the wonder of the country. When the rain and the weather beat upon us on one side of the hill, we went to the other side. We were not free to go into any neighbours' enclosures, for they were so blind, dark, and ignorant, that they looked upon us as witches, and would go away from us, some crossing themselves with their hands about their foreheads and faces.

In 1662, John Bowne was arrested by

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch language, Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch Director of New Netherlan ...

for holding Quaker worship at his 1661 house in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and th ...

, then part of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

. Bowne was deported to Holland and placed before a panel from the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...

. After claiming that the Dutch colony had reached a religious-freedom agreement with his community, Bowne was set free. Two years later in 1664, the British took control of New Amsterdam and promised more religious freedom for colonists. Perhaps due to the growth of the

, or due to discrimination, there arose a need for buildings to house meetings. In 1670, Friends in England built the first worship-purposed meeting house. The Hertford Meeting House is located in 48 Railway Street, Hertford, East Hertfordshire. This is the oldest Quaker building in the world, still in use for worship meetings. It was thrice visited by Quaker founder

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...

. In December 1672, while traveling in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

stated that his group "had a large meeting in the justice's barn, for

he justice's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

house could not hold the company." This shows that holding meeting for worship at home was common in areas where a meeting house was not available. In 1682, the Third Haven Meeting House in

Talbot County, Maryland Talbot County is located in the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,526. Its county seat is Easton. The county was named for Lady Grace Talbot, the wife of Sir Ro ...

was built. This is considered the oldest surviving Friends meeting house in America. Some Friends meeting houses were adapted from existing structures, but most were purpose-built. The 1765 Brigflatts Meeting House in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, England is an example of the latter. The hallmark of a meeting house is extreme simplicity and the absence of any liturgical symbols. More specifically, though, the defining characteristics of the Quaker meetinghouse are simplicity, equality, community, and peace. Though never explicitly written or spoken about, these tenets (or “Testimonies”) of Quakerism were the basic, and only, guidelines for building a meetinghouse, as was seen through the continuity of the use of Testimonies within meetinghouse design. While meetinghouse design evolved over time to a standardization of the double-cell structure without explicit guidelines for building, the meeting house's reflective architecture revealed a deeper meaning. The meeting house design manifested and enhanced Quaker Testimonies and the cultivation of the Inner Light that was essential to Friends. Quakers easily moved from one place of meeting to another, but when given the opportunity to design and construct their own place of meeting, Friends infused their Testimonies in the planning, design, and construction of the building. Colora Meeting House CecilCo MD interior

Colora Meeting House CecilCo MD interior

Description

Quaker meeting houses generally lack spires, steeples, and other architectural decorations to embrace simplicity. Colonial American Quakers built meeting houses that resembled residential homes to display the building's role in the community, avoiding "churchly" ornamentation. While imprisoned for his beliefs in 1665, Quaker founder

had a conversation wherein he explained "church" terminology and derided steeples: The meeting house/church distinction is shared by a number of other non-conformist Christian denominations, including

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

, Christadelphians,

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

(Mormons), and

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...

s. Meeting Houses built in a traditional style usually had two meeting rooms: one for the main meeting for worship, and another where the women's business meeting may be held (often referred to as the women's meeting room). Meeting houses of this style usually have a ''minister's gallery'' at one end of the meeting room, where traditionally those ''traveling in the ministry'' would have sat, with an ''elders bench'' immediately in front of this. Wooden benches facing this occupy the rest of the room, often with a gallery for extra seating. Meeting houses of this style usually have high windows so that worshippers sitting in meeting for worship cannot see outside. Meeting houses built in a more modern design will usually consist of: a large meeting room, smaller rooms for committees, children's classes, etc., a kitchen and toilets. The meeting room itself is a place for Friends to withdraw from the world. The windows are set sufficiently high that worshippers will not be distracted by the activities of the world's people outside, or in some cases they provide a view into the meeting house garden. The seating was originally long, hard and wooden. Today it is usually separate chairs but the layout remains the same – a square or rectangle facing inwards to a central table.

Examples

Australia

* Friends Meeting House, Adelaide

France

* The historic meeting house of Congénies (

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

), since 1788

Ireland

* Quaker Meetinghouse, Moate,

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

* Friends Meeting House, 4–5 Eustace Street,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

United States

* Abington Friends Meeting House,

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 73rd-most populous county in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553 ...

Alloways Creek Friends Meetinghouse Alloways Creek Friends Meetinghouse (also called Hancock's Bridge Friends Meetinghouse and Lower Alloways Creek Friends Meetinghouse) is a historic Quaker meeting house on Buttonwood Avenue, 150 feet west of Main Street in the Hancock's Bridge ...

, Hancock's Bridge, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

* Amesbury Friends Meeting House * Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse, Odessa, Delaware * Arch Street Friends Meeting House,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

* Arney's Mount Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground,

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.Beekman Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery Beekman Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery is located on Emans Road in LaGrange, New York, LaGrangeville, New York, United States. The Friends meeting house, meeting house is a wooden building from the early 19th century that has been unused and ...

, LaGrangeville, New York * Benjaminville Friends Meeting House, McLean County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

* Birmingham Orthodox Meeting House, Birmingham Township, Chester County,

John Bowne House, Flushing, New York, 1661 John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

* Bradford Friends Meetinghouse (Marshallton Meeting House), Marshallton, West Bradford Township,

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5 ...

* Brooklyn Friends Meetinghouse and School,

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Caln Meeting House Caln Meeting House is a historic Quaker meeting house located at 901 Caln Meeting House Road, near Coatesville in Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1726, and is a one-story, tan fieldstone structure. It was enlarged ...

, Caln Township,

* Camden Friends Meetinghouse, Camden, Delaware *

Catawissa Friends Meetinghouse Catawissa Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meetinghouse at South and 3rd Streets in Catawissa, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It was built about 1789, and is a one-story log building on a stone foundation. It measures by . ''Note:' ...

, Catawissa,

Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part ...

* Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse, Centerville,

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of t ...

* Chappaqua Friends Meeting House,

Westchester County, NY Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population of ...

built in 1754 * Chichester Friends Meetinghouse, near Boothwyn, Upper Chichester Township,

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third=smallest in area. Del ...

Clinton Corners Friends Church Clinton Corners Friends Church is a historic Society of Friends meeting house on Salt Point Turnpike/Main Street in Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is located directly across the street from the Creek Meeting House ...

Clinton Corners Clinton Corners Friends Church is a historic Society of Friends meeting house on Salt Point Turnpike/Main Street in Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is located directly across the street from the Creek Meeting House ...

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...

Colora Meetinghouse The Colora Meetinghouse is a historic Friends (or Quaker) meeting house located at Colora, Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The meeting house was built in 1841 as part of a larger dispute known as the "great separation." The original mem ...

, Colora,

Cecil County Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was n ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

* Conanicut Friends Meetinghouse, Conanicut Island, Jamestown,

Newport County, Rhode Island Newport County is one of five counties located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 85,643. It is also one of the seven regions of Rhode Island. The county was created in 1703. Like all of the counties ...

Concord Friends Meetinghouse Concord Friends Meetinghouse is a historic meeting house on Old Concord Road in Concordville, Pennsylvania, Concordville, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The meeting was first organized sometime before 1697, as the sixth Quaker meeting in what was ...

, Concordville,

* Concord Hicksite Friends Meeting House, east of Colerain,

Belmont County Belmont County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 66,497. Its county seat is St. Clairsville. The county was created on September 7, 1801, and organized on November 7, 1801.McKelvey, ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Cornwall Friends Meeting House The Cornwall Friends Meeting House is a historic meeting house located on a parcel of land at the junction of Quaker Avenue (Orange County 107) and U.S. Route 9W, US 9W in Cornwall, New York, Cornwall, New York, United States, near Cornwall-St. ...

Creek Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery Creek Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery is a historic Society of Friends meeting house and cemetery on Salt Point Turnpike/Main Street in Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, New York, United States. It was built between 1777 and 1782. The meeti ...

Crum Elbow Meeting House and Cemetery Crum Elbow Meeting House and Cemetery is a historic Society of Friends meeting house and cemetery in East Park East Park may refer to: Places in the UK *East Park, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England *East Park, Wolverhampton ...

, East Park,

Deer Creek Friends Meetinghouse Deer Creek Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Friends meeting house located at Darlington, Harford County, Maryland. It is a one-story fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

, Harford County, Maryland *

Deep River Friends Meeting House and Cemetery Deep River Friends Meeting House and Cemetery is a historic Quakers, Quaker (Society of Friends) meeting house and cemetery located at 5300 W. Wendover Avenue in High Point, North Carolina, High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina. The meeti ...

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph, Davidson, and Forsyth counties. High Point is North Carolina's only city that ex ...

* Dover, NH Friends Meetinghouse,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Strafford County Strafford County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,889. Its county seat is Dover. Strafford County was one of the five original counties identified for New Hampshire in 1769. It was n ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

* East Hoosac Quaker Meetinghouse,

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California *Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England town ...

, Berkshire County,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

East Nottingham Friends Meetinghouse East Nottingham Meetinghouse, or Brick Meetinghouse, is a historic Friends meeting house located at Rising Sun, Maryland, Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland. It consists of three different sections: the Flemish bond brick section is the oldest, ...

or Brick Meetinghouse, Rising Sun,

Cecil County, Maryland Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...

Easton Friends North Meetinghouse Easton Friends North Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house located at North Easton Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

, Middle Falls in

Washington County, New York Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. The county seat is Fort Edward. The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. Washington County is part of the Gl ...

* Evesham Friends Meeting House, Mount Laurel Township,

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.Frankford Friends Meeting House, Frankford neighborhood,

Frankford Monthly Meeting
Frankford neighborhood,

* Free Quaker Meetinghouse, Independence National Historical Park,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Friends Meetinghouse (Uxbridge, Massachusetts) The Friends Meetinghouse is an historic Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) located at the junction of Routes 146A (Quaker Highway) and 98 (Aldrich Street) in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. On January 24, 1974, it was ...

* Friends Meetinghouse, Wilmington, Delaware *

Friends Meeting House and Cemetery The Friends Meeting House and Cemetery is a historic Quaker meeting house and cemetery at 228A W. Main Road in Little Compton, Rhode Island. The meeting house is a two-story wood-frame structure built in 1815 by the Religious Society of Frien ...

, Little Compton, Rhode Island * Great Friends Meeting House *

Green Plain Monthly Meetinghouse The Green Plain Monthly Meetinghouse is a historic former Religious Society of Friends, Quaker house of worship near South Charleston, Ohio, South Charleston in Clark County, Ohio, Clark County, Ohio, United States. Built in 1843, it was used b ...

, near South Charleston, Clark County,

Greenfield Preparative Meeting House Greenfield Preparative Meeting House, also known as the Catskill Meeting House, is a historic Quaker meeting house located in Grahamsville in Sullivan County, New York. It was built in 1838–1839, and is a one-story, six bay by two bay, recta ...

(Catskill Meeting House), Grahamsville,

Sullivan County, New York Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,624. The county seat is Monticello. The county's name honors Major General John Sullivan, who was labeled at the time as a hero in the ...

Haverford Friends Meeting Haverford may refer to: *Haverford College, a coeducational, undergraduate liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania *The Haverford School, a private, all-boys preparatory day school in Haverford, Pennsylvania *Haverford High School, a public ...

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvan ...

Hockessin Friends Meetinghouse Hockessin Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house and national historic district located at 1501 Old Wilmington Road in Hockessin, New Castle County, in the U.S. state of Delaware. The district encompasses three contributing b ...

Hockessin Hockessin () is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 13,527 at the 2010 census. History Hockessin came into existence as a little village in 1688 when several families settled in th ...

, New Castle County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

* Honey Creek Friends' Meetinghouse, New Providence, Iowa * Hopewell Meeting House, Clear Brook, near

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

* Jericho Friends Meeting House Complex, Jericho,

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola, New York, Mineola ...

Little Egg Harbor Friends Meeting House The Little Egg Harbor Friends Meeting House is a historic Quaker meetinghouse located at 21 E. Main Street in the borough of Tuckerton, New Jersey, Tuckerton in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The meetinghouse was built in 1863. It was ...

Tuckerton, New Jersey Tuckerton is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, named for founder Ebenezer Tucker (1758–1845), and was a port of entry, but not the third Port of Entry in the United States, as is often described.Stemmer, Peter H"The Port o ...

* Little Falls Meetinghouse, Fallston,

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...

* Live Oak Friends Meeting House, Houston, Texas *

Meeting House of the Friends Meeting of Washington Meeting House of the Friends Meeting of Washington (Friends Meeting House) is a historic Quaker meeting house at 2111 Decatur Place in NW Washington, DC. The Colonial Revival building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1 ...

, Washington, DC *

Merion Friends Meeting House The Merion Friends Meeting House is an active and historic Quaker meeting house at 615 Montgomery Avenue in Merion Station, Pennsylvania. Completed about 1715, it is the second oldest Friends meeting house in the United States (after the Third ...

, Merion Station, Lower Merion Township,

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...

Mill Creek Friends Meetinghouse Mill Creek Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house located near Newark, New Castle County, Delaware. It was built as a one-story meeting house for 33 Friends from Mill Creek Hundred who, in 1838, had obtained permission to hold ...

, Newark, New Castle County,

Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery The Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery is located at the junction of NY state highway 343 and Church Street, in the village of Millbrook, New York, United States. The meeting house, the third one on the site, was built by a group of Frien ...

, Millbrook,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

* Oblong Friends Meeting House, in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, in the town of Pawling,

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...

* Old Kennett Meetinghouse, Kennett Township near

Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania Chadds Ford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware and Chester counties, Pennsylvania, United States, comprising the unincorporated communities of Chadds Ford and Chadds Ford Knoll. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. ...

Old Town Friends' Meetinghouse Old Town Friends' Meetinghouse, also known as Aisquith Street Meeting or Baltimore Meeting, is a historic Quaker meeting house located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a two-story brick building which has undergone several alteration ...

also known as Aisquith Street Meeting, Baltimore Meeting or Patapsco,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

* Pembroke Friends Meetinghouse, Pembroke,

Plymouth County, Massachusetts Plymouth County is a county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, south of Boston. As of the 2020 census, the population was 530,819. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton. In 1685, the county was created by the Plymouth General Court, ...

* Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse Parsonage and Cemetery *

Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Hooker Avenue) Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Hooker Avenue) is a historic Quaker (Society of Friends) meeting house at 249 Hooker Avenue in Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It was built in 1927, and is a two-story, rectangular, C ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

* Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Montgomery Street),

* Race Street Friends Meetinghouse,

Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse The Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse is a historic building located at Sandy Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. It is a large, Flemish bond brick, Federal-style Quaker Meeting House built in 1817. The meetinghouse is on two acres deeded by ...

, Sandy Spring,

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

Schuylkill Friends Meeting House Schuylkill Friends Meeting House is a Quaker meeting house located on North Whitehorse Road in the Schuylkill Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Schuylkill Township section of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the ...

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 a ...

* Seaville Friends Meeting House, Seaville community, Upper Township, New Jersey,

Cape May County, New Jersey Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are fi ...

, this 1716–1727 meeting house is the smallest frame Quaker meeting house in the United States. * Smith Clove Meetinghouse,

Highland Mills Highland Mills is a hamlet and former census-designated place (CDP) in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,468 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistica ...

, NY *

Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage & Cemetery The Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage and Cemetery, is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), rebuilt in 1881. It is located at 108 Smithfield Road ( Route 146A) in Woonsocket, Rhode Island (across the st ...

South River Friends Meetinghouse The South River Friends Meetinghouse, or Quaker Meeting House, is a historic Friends meeting house located at Lynchburg, Virginia. It was completed in 1798. It is a rubble stone structure, approximately , with walls 16 inches thick, and 12 feet ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mount ...

South Starksboro Friends Meeting House and Cemetery The South Starksboro Friends Meeting House and Cemetery is a historic Quaker meeting house and cemetery on Dan Sargent Road in Starksboro, Vermont. Built in 1828 and last significantly updated in the 1870s, it is the oldest Quaker meeting house ...

, Starksboro, Vermont *

Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery are historic Quaker sites located at the Stony Brook Settlement at the intersection of Princeton Pike/Mercer Road and Quaker Road in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The first Europeans to settle in the ...

, Princeton,

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission ...

* Third Haven Meeting House, Easton,

Upper Dublin Friends Meeting House The Upper Dublin Friends Meeting House is a Quaker meeting house located at the intersection of Fort Washington Avenue and Meetinghouse Roads in Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania in the United States. The building was constructed in 1814 on la ...

* West Grove Friends Spring Meeting House, Alamance County, NC * Whittier First Friends Church,

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated i ...

* Yardley Friends Meeting House, Yardley, Pennsylvania *

York Meetinghouse The York Meetinghouse is an historic, American Quaker meeting house that is located at 135 West Philadelphia Street in York, York County, Pennsylvania. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. History and architectural ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

York County, Pennsylvania York County (Pennsylvania Dutch: Yarrick Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster C ...

United Kingdom

Blackheath Quaker Meeting House Blackheath Quaker Meeting House is a Listed building, Grade II listed building in the London Borough of Lewisham. It has been the home of Blackheath Quaker Meeting since 1972, and is also used by many community groups. Designed by Trevor Dannatt, ...

in south-east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

* Brigflatts Meeting House, near

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about east of Kendal, no ...

Brighton Friends Meeting House The Brighton Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house ( Quaker place of worship) in the centre of Brighton, part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England. The building, which dates from 1805, replaced an earlier meeting ...

, Brighton,

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

Coanwood Friends Meeting House Coanwood Friends Meeting House is a redundant Quaker meeting house under the care of the Historic Chapels Trust. It stands in an isolated, sparsely populated valley south of Hadrian's Wall, in East Coanwood, about 5 miles south of the town of ...

, in an isolated, unpopulated valley south of Hadrian's Wall, about east of the village of

Coanwood Coanwood is a village in Northumberland, England, and is part of the Parish of Haltwhistle. It is about to the south-west of Haltwhistle, on the South Tyne. Nearby is the village of Lambley. Coanwood was anciently written as Collingwood meani ...

, and about south of the town of

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

* Come-to-Good Friends Meeting House, Kea, near

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, UK. It was also known as Kea Meeting House and Feock Meeting House. * Quaker Meetinghouse, Woodhouse, Sheffield, England *

Godalming Friends Meeting House Godalming Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house ( Quaker place of worship) in the ancient town of Godalming in the English county of Surrey. One of many Nonconformist places of worship in the town, it dates from 1748 but houses a co ...

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

, Surrey,

* Howgills, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire,

* Ifield Friends Meeting House, Ifield neighbourhood of

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...

* Jordans Friends Meeting House,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

* Leicester Friends Meeting House *

Littlehampton Friends Meeting House Littlehampton Friends Meeting House is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) place of worship in the town of Littlehampton, part of the Arun district of West Sussex, England. A Quaker community has worshipped in the seaside town since the 19 ...

, Littlehampton, part of the Arun

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, England * Osmotherley Friends Meeting House,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Alexander, William. ''Observations on the Construction and Fitting Up of Meeting Houses &c for Public Worship: Illustrated by Plans, Sections and Description, Including One Lately Erected in the City of York, Embracing in Particular the Method of Warming and Ventilating''. York, England: the author, 1820. * Butler, David, ''The Quaker Meeting Houses of Britain'', Friends Historical Society, 1999. . * Lippincott, Horace Mather. ''Abington Friends Meeting and School: 1682–1949''. n.p.: n.p., 1949. * Rose, Harold Wickliffe. ''The Colonial Houses of Worship in America''. New York: Hastings House, Publishers, 1963.

External links

Flickr site for photographs of British Friends Meeting Houses, arranged by CountyHopewell Centre Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends "Quakers
The Hopewell Meeting House was built in 1759 to 1761 and enlarged during 1788–1791.
Haverford College
''triptych'' tri-college digital library, collection of photographs of meeting houses in the United States
Randolph Friends Meeting HouseFriends meeting houses UK search
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends Meeting House 01 Quakerism Christian buildings and structures Types of church buildings Lists of Christian buildings and structures Lists of churches