Free Quaker Meetinghouse


  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

Located on the corner of 5th and Arch Streets. The building is open year round, though hours vary by season. Admission is free. During the Revolution when the call went out for able-bodied men to bear arms in the colonial militia, an unusual group of Quakers answered. These were "fighting" Quakers who could not reconcile themselves to the Quaker principle of pacifism when it came to defending their country. To join the war effort was a painful decision, for they knew they would be disowned or "read out" of their meetings. In 1783 this separation forced the Free Quakers to build their own meeting, the Free Quaker Meeting House. Thirty to Fifty men and women, including Betsy Ross, regularly attended this meeting. After the war, differences among the Quakers diminished, and by 1834 services stopped and the building no longer served as a place of worship. - NPS


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1783/00/00
1786/00/00

Data »

Particulars for Free Quaker Meetinghouse:
Area of Significance Architecture
Criteria Architecture-Engineering
Sight Category Building
Area of Significance Education
Criteria Exemplar
Owner Federal
Education Library
Historic Use Meeting hall
Attribute Moved property
Level of Significance National
Area of Significance Religion
Historic Use Religious Property
Historic Use School
Area of Significance Social History



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration:

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name:
Registry Address:
Registry Number: 71000063
Resource Type:
Owner: Federal
Architectural Style: No style listed
Other Certification: Additional documentation
Nominator Name: National Historical Park
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: National
Area of Significance: Education, Architecture, Social history, Religion
Applicable Criteria: Event, Architecture-Engineering
Criteria Consideration: Moved property
Period of Significance: 1750-1799
Significant Year: 1783, 1786
Historic Function: Education, Religion, Social
Historic Sub-Function: Religious structure, Meeting hall, School, Library
Current Function: Recreation and Culture, Social
Current Sub-Function: Museum Clubhouse

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