Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse
Encyclopedia
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 and added to the National Register in 1971. 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 an adjacent octagonal schoolhouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse and School.
. The Continental forces rushed north to meet the British in the area of the meetinghouse. It was used as a hospital first for the Americans, and after the battle for British officers. The stone wall around the cemetery was used as a defensive position by the Americans. After the battle, dead British and American soldiers shared a common grave in the cemetery.
The meetinghouse was enlarged in 1819 and an octagonal school was completed in August, 1819 at a cost of $712.57. The school was used off and on through 1905 and is included in the NRHP site. In 1968 Quaker architect Mather Lippincott designed a new education building to the north of the meeting house.
The school is now used as The Peace Center at Birmingham.
From 1845 to 1923 a group of Quakers worshipped a few hundred yards south at the Orthodox Meetinghouse
as a result of the Hicksite-Orthodox split. That meetinghouse is listed separately on the NRHP.
Chester County, Pennsylvania
-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The current meetinghouse was built in 1763 and added to the National Register in 1971. The building and the adjacent cemetery were near the center of fighting on the afternoon of September 11, 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
. Worship services are held weekly at 10am. The meetinghouse and an adjacent octagonal schoolhouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse and School.
History
The first Quaker meeting in Birmingham Township was held about 1690. In 1718 a meetinghouse was built from red cedar logs. A burial ground, surrounded by a stone wall, was established in the 1750s. The current building was built of stone in 1763 and measured 38 by 41 feet. During the Battle of Brandywine, the British forces attempted to flank the Continental forces under General George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. The Continental forces rushed north to meet the British in the area of the meetinghouse. It was used as a hospital first for the Americans, and after the battle for British officers. The stone wall around the cemetery was used as a defensive position by the Americans. After the battle, dead British and American soldiers shared a common grave in the cemetery.
The meetinghouse was enlarged in 1819 and an octagonal school was completed in August, 1819 at a cost of $712.57. The school was used off and on through 1905 and is included in the NRHP site. In 1968 Quaker architect Mather Lippincott designed a new education building to the north of the meeting house.
The school is now used as The Peace Center at Birmingham.
From 1845 to 1923 a group of Quakers worshipped a few hundred yards south at the Orthodox Meetinghouse
Orthodox Meetinghouse
Orthodox Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meetinghouse in Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania that was built in 1845 as a result of the Hicksite-Orthodox split in the Society of Friends...
as a result of the Hicksite-Orthodox split. That meetinghouse is listed separately on the NRHP.
External links
- Birmingham Friends Website
- Historical Americans Building Survey, at the Library of Congress - drawings, photos, and text on the meetinghouse
- Historical Americans Building Survey, at the Library of Congress - photo of the school