The Newtown Square Friends Meeting House is a historic Quaker meetinghouse in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, United States, built in 1711 and expanded in 1791 and 1891. It has housed, and continues to house, Quaker meetings for worship for over 300 years.
William Penn planned two inland "New Towns" outside of his city of Philadelphia while working with Thomas Holme on the map of his province of Penn's sylvania. The town now known as Newtown Square was the "New Town" planned for Chester County, Pennsylvania, (the eastern portion of which was subsequently split off into a new Delaware County in 1789) with another "New Town" planned for Bucks County. Lots were sold to Welsh Quakers, who began arriving after 1681. These Welsh Quakers met for worship in local homes, before constructing a stone meeting house in 1711. This stone meeting house is still the meeting for worship for the Newtown Square Friends Meeting House, over 300 years later. The Meeting House is the oldest place of worship in Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. The Meeting House was greatly expanded and "modernized" in 1791. The architectural ghost of the original 1711 doorway and one of the original windows can be seen in the stone infill in the north wall of the expanded Meeting House. On the 100th anniversary of the first expansion, in 1891, the Meeting House was again "modernized" - with pine wainscoting, electricity, and a dividing wall that opens for worship and closes to divide the men's business meeting from the women's business meeting.
The Quakers provided for the schooling of their children by subscription, prior to the passage of the laws requiring public schools in the 1830s. The property contained an early school in the 18th century, and then a stone octagonal school, one of four octagon schools built in the township, [1] was built in 1815. In 1885, a three-story structure was built to serve as a boarding school at the property, with the girls on the second floor and the boys on the third floor. The boarding school remained open until 1912. The building remains in place, and has served various purposes since that time.
An adjoining cemetery has been in use since about 1700. A stone wall was built around the cemetery in 1914 through the generosity of William Hood Dunwoody, who attended meeting here as a boy, and later helped found the company that became General Mills.
By 1984 the membership of the meeting was reduced to 14 members, and the meeting began the process of being "laid down" or discontinued. Nevertheless, with the help of the Haverford Quarterly Meeting, the meeting continued operation. [2] The Meeting House celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2011. It remains in use for worship on "First Day", Sundays, at 10:00 a.m.
Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, about 13 miles (21 km) west of Philadelphia. Media was incorporated in 1850 at the same time that it was named the county seat. The population was 5,327 at the 2010 census, down from 5,533 at the 2000 census.
Newtown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Prior to 1789 it was part of Chester County. The population was 12,216 as of the 2010 census, and was 19,705 as of 2017.
Springfield Township, or simply Springfield, is a township in Delaware County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 24,211 at the 2010 census. Springfield is a suburb of Philadelphia, located about 10 miles (16 km) west of the city.
Radnor Township, often called simply Radnor, is a first class township with home rule status in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2019 United States census estimate, the township population is 31,875. Radnor Township is the largest municipality in Delaware County by land area and the fourth-largest by population, following Upper Darby Township, Haverford Township, and Chester.
The Caleb Pusey House, built in 1683 in Upland, Pennsylvania, is the second oldest English house in Pennsylvania open to the public. Built in a vernacular English yeoman's style, it is the only remaining house where William Penn is known to have visited. It stood on 100 acres (0.40 km2) near Chester Creek which Penn granted Pusey, a plantation which the latter named "Landing Ford". Since the 1950s, the building and grounds have been owned by the Friends of the Caleb Pusey House, Inc. The house was restored and the property is operated as a historic house museum.
A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held.
The Buckingham Friends Meeting House is a historic Quaker meeting house at 5684 Lower York Road in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Built in 1768 in a "doubled" style, it is nationally significant as a model for many subsequent Friends Meeting Houses. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003.
The Hood Octagonal School is a historic octagonal schoolhouse located in Newtown Square, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1841, and is a small, fieldstone, one-story, eight sided building with a wood shingled pyramidal roof. The school was abandoned about 1865, then restored in 1964.
Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house at 1245 Birmingham Road in Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The current meetinghouse was built in 1763. The building and the adjacent cemetery were near the center of fighting on the afternoon of September 11, 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine. Worship services are held weekly at 10am. The meetinghouse and adjacent octagonal schoolhouse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse and School on July 27, 1971.
Old Kennett Meetinghouse is a historic meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends or "Quakers" in Kennett Township near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house at 4th and West Streets in Wilmington, Delaware in the Quaker Hill neighborhood. The meeting is still active with a membership of about 400 and is part of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. It was built in 1815–1817 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The Fallsington Historic District is a historic district in Fallsington, Pennsylvania.
Twelfth Street Meeting House was a Quaker meeting house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built on the west side of 12th Street, south of Market Street, 1812–1813, incorporating architectural elements from Philadelphia's Greater Meeting House (1755).
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) have a long history in Ireland; their first recorded Meeting for Worship in Ireland was in 1654, at the home of William Edmundson, in Lurgan.
Springfield Friends Meetinghouse is a Quaker meeting house at 1001 Old Sproul Road in Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The Quakers who settled in Springfield founded a society of Friends in 1686. The first meetinghouse built in Springfield was in 1703 and was destroyed by fire in 1737. The building was rumored to be made of stone but was more likely a log building. The construction of a new meetinghouse began in 1738 and was a stone building and functioned as the meetinghouse for 113 years until replaced by the current structure in 1850.
Old Haverford Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house at 235 East Eagle Road in Havertown, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The burial ground attached to Old Haverford Friends Meetinghouse was laid out in 1684. In 1688, the log meetinghouse was built. Later, a stone meetinghouse was subsequently completed in 1700. It is believed that the southern portion of the meetinghouse, with its rougher masonry, is the original stone building. William Penn preached here soon after construction was complete and often attended worship. The northern portion of the building was expanded in 1800.
Chester Friends Meetinghouse is a Quaker meeting house at 520 East 24th Street in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States.