The East Hoosac Quaker Meetinghouse is a historic
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
meeting house
A meeting house (also spelled meetinghouse or meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes private meetings take place.
Terminology
Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a:
* chu ...
in
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 to ...
,
Berkshire County
Berkshire County (pronounced ) is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in 17 ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.
[Harold Wickliffe Rose. ''The Colonial Houses of Worship in America''. New York: Hastings House, Publishers, 1963, p. 231. "109 East Hoosac Friends Meeting House (1786) Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts"] The meetinghouse's construction dates to the early 1780s. It now occupies a prominent position within the
Maple Street Cemetery (also listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
), the first burial ground in Adams. Unmarked graves of Adams' early Quaker settlers lie near the meetinghouse, an area now marked by a plaque.
The meetinghouse was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1976.
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Description and history
The Quaker Meetinghouse occupies a prominent position overlooking the Maple Street Cemetery from a high point near its western end. It is a simple rectangular two story wood frame building measuring by . In typical Quaker fashion, both the interior and exterior lack any significant ornamentation. The exterior is finished in wooden clapboards, and has an asymmetrical main facade with two entrances, one for men and one for women. The doors and outside window shutters are made of simple wooden planking. A chimney pierces the roof ridge near the building's western end. The interior was partitioned to separate the men from the women, although portions of the divider were movable. Seating consisted of benches, and there were fireplaces located on the women's side of both floors.[
Adams was first settled by Quakers, mostly from the area of ]Smithfield, Rhode Island
Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,118 at the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1731, it includes the historic villages of Esmond, Georgiaville, Mountaindale, Spragueville, Stillwater, an ...
, in the 1760s, and was originally known as East Hoosac. The present meetinghouse dates to 1784, and remained in active use until 1842, when the local Quaker population was in decline. The area of the cemetery near the meetinghouse has archaeologically been determined to have unmarked graves of Quakers (a common practice of time) dating to the 1760s. Relatives of noted suffragette Susan B. Anthony, who was born in Adams, are buried here.[
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See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Quaker meeting houses in Massachusetts
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Churches in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
Adams, Massachusetts