1897 Meetinghouse - Moorestown Historic District - Moorestown, NJ
N 39° 57.919 W 074° 56.530
18S E 504939 N 4423909
Like much of Burlington County, Moorestown was settled by members of the Society of Friends in the late 17th century. This former meeting house was one of the later-made, buildings which make up the original Moorestown Quaker complex.
Waymark Code: WM3XJ3
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 05/31/2008
Views: 6
The building stands across from the 1802 meeting house. It has since been "laid down" and serves other purposes. From what I can figure out, In 1827, there was a schism among Friends, with the followers of Elias Hicks espousing a simpler form of worship than that sanctioned by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In Moorestown, the Hicksites retained the 1802 Meeting House (across the road), while the Orthodox built a frame building for worship in 1839 and replaced with this brick building (this waymark) in 1897. The two congregations merged in 1900.
The narrative on this contributing structure reads:
"Built 1897, Walter Smedley, architect. Colonial Revival, 2 1/2-story, 4-register red Flemish bond brick meetinghouse. Pedimented portico. Molded wood and slate pent cornice. gabled end with two registers faces Main Street. 2-story, 5-register side elevation with columned wood porches and slate roofs. Rear 1-story stair story and bathroom addition c. 1950. - Contributing.”