Free Quaker Meetinghouse

Free Quaker Meetinghouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
(2013)
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Location	SW corner of 5th and Arch StreetsPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°57′09″N75°08′55″W / 39.95250°N 75.14861°W / 39.95250; -75.14861
Built	1783
NRHP reference No.	71000063[1]
Added to NRHP	September 22, 1971

The Free Quaker Meetinghouse is a historic Free Quakermeeting house at the southeast corner of 5th and Arch Streets in the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest surviving Quaker meeting house within the original boundaries of the city of Philadelphia, and the only surviving historic structure remaining on Independence Mall (the three blocks between Chestnut Street and Race Street). The structure is a plain 2 1⁄2-story Georgian-style brick building with a gable roof first constructed in 1783, with the second floor added in 1788. In 1961, the building was moved 38 feet (12 m) west and 8 feet (2.4 m) south to its present site to allow for the widening of Fifth Street as part of the creation of Independence Mall State Park.^[2]

Quaker meetings were held in the building until 1836, after which it was occupied by the Apprentices' Library Company of Philadelphia until 1897.^[3] In the 20th century, the building was used as a warehouse for plumbing supplies prior to its restoration in the Independence Mall Improvement Project.^[4]

The meetinghouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.^[1] The building is open seasonally as part of Independence National Historical Park.^[5]

References

Notes

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Free Quaker Society - Meeting HouseArchived October 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Free Quaker Society.
3. Mary C. Means (June 1970). National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pennsylvania SP Free Quaker Meetinghouse. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2026. (Downloading may be slow.)
4. Dedication Stone of the Free Quaker Meeting House, ushistory.org.
5. Visiting the Free Quaker Meeting House"Visiting the Free Quaker Meeting House - Independence National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". May 27, 2025., Independence National Historical Park.

External links

• [www.freequakers.org/meeting-house.aspx Free Quaker Society]
• Visiting Information, National Park Service
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1120, "Free Quakers Meetinghouse, 500 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA", 11 photos, 23 measured drawings, 3 data pages, 2 photo caption pages