Arch Street Meeting House | |
.jpg) Arch Street Friends Meeting House in 2024 | |
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| Location | 320 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°57′7.2″N 75°8′45.9414″W / 39.952000°N 75.146094833°W |
| Built | 1803–05, 1810–11 |
| Architect | Owen Biddle Jr. (central structure and east wing)[2] |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000716[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 27, 1971 |
| Designated NHL | June 23, 2011 |
| Designated PHMC | December 17, 1954[3] |
The Arch Street Meeting House, at 320 Arch Street at the corner of 4th Street in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Built to reflect Friends' testimonies of simplicity and equality, this building is little changed after more than two centuries of continuous use.
Pennsylvania founder and Quaker William Penn deeded land to the Society of Friends in 1701 to be used as a burial ground. The east wing and center of the meetinghouse was built between 1803 and 1805 according to a design by the Quaker master-builder Owen Biddle Jr. Biddle is best known as the author of a builder's handbook, The Young Carpenter's Assistant, published in 1805.[2] The building was enlarged in 1810–11, with the addition of the west wing.[2] Architects Walter Ferris Price and Morris & Erskine also contributed to the design and construction of the building. The firm Cope & Lippincott renovated the interior of the east wing and designed the two-story addition behind the center building in 1968–69.[4]
Today, the Meeting House continues to be a center for worship and the activities of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia[5] and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
Notable members of the Religious Society of Friends who worshiped at this meetinghouse include abolitionists and woman rights advocates, Sarah and Angelina Grimke.[6] Edward Hicks, the noted painter and cousin of Elias Hicks, also attended meeting here.[7]
The meetinghouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2011.[8] The latter designation was as a consequence of the building being the only surviving documented work by Owen Biddle.[9]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b c Gallery, John Andrew, ed. (2004), Philadelphia Architecture: A Guide to the City (2nd ed.), Philadelphia: Foundation for Architecture, ISBN 0962290815, p.33
- ^ "PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
- ^ "Arch Street Meetinghouse - Related Architects, Engineers, and Others". Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
- ^ "Home". archstreetfriends.org.
- ^ Gerda Lerner, The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 42.
- ^ "Arch Street Friends Meeting House". USHistory.org. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007.
- ^ "AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS: Secretary Salazar Designates 14 New National Historic Landmarks" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Interior. June 30, 2011.
- ^ "NHL nomination for Arch Street Friends Meeting House" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved March 17, 2017.