Free Quaker Meetinghouse - Philadelphia, PA - History Museums on Waymarking.com

Although not a traditional museum as one would expect with fancy display cases, expensive admission and a cinematic presentation, this museum still fits the profile of museum, and then some. Inside (admission free) are workers which conduct living history with visitors. They play or pretend they are the Quakers who attended this church in the 1780s. Everything is preserved as it was during the Revolution so in effect, it is a museum.

The interpretive out front also bills this as a museum. I would never have though of this meeting house in this aspect were it not for the sign and an aha! moment. The signs says The Society of Free Quakers built this meeting house as a place of worship in 1783. Free Quakers took an active role in supporting the American Revolution and split from the traditional and "non-fighting" Quakers (Society of Friends). This building is now preserved as a public museum.

From the National Park website:

Located on the corner of 5th and Arch Streets. The building is open year round, though hours vary by season. Admission is free. During the Revolution when the call went out for able-bodied men to bear arms in the colonial militia, an unusual group of Quakers answered. These were "fighting" Quakers who could not reconcile themselves to the Quaker principle of pacifism when it came to defending their country. To join the war effort was a painful decision, for they knew they would be disowned or "read out" of their meetings. In 1783 this separation forced the Free Quakers to build their own meeting, the Free Quaker Meeting House. Thirty to Fifty men and women, including Betsy Ross, regularly attended this meeting. After the war, differences among the Quakers diminished, and by 1834 services stopped and the building no longer served as a place of worship. Today the building is operated by "Once Upon A Nation” which conducts living history performances throughout the park.