Friends Meeting House - Haddonfield, NJ
N 39° 54.011 W 075° 01.951
18S E 497220 N 4416679
This is a recreation of a 2¢, unused postcard produced circa 1950. This meetinghouse was built in 1851. It replaced the 1721 site which was torn down after the 1826 Hicksite controversy split the congregation. The site is virtually unchanged.
Waymark Code: WM93VZ
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 06/24/2010
Views: 2
This post card photo was taken in 1950 and shows the meeting house as it is today. Shortly before this was taken, there were individual porticos for the two front entrances. In 1950, however, the porticos were already removed and changed to a single roof extending between both entrances. When I recreated the photo, I was standing in Friends Avenue and I pointed the camera northeast. The cemetery was to my rear.
From a previous waymark:
Yet another one of these simple churches in West Jersey, known to Quakers as meeting houses. Truly, Quakers were instrumental in the founding and development of Camden and Burlington Counties, NJ. Their influence is still felt today in tradition, customs, institutions and general appearance. What we see today is borne of Quakerism and their beliefs: simplicity, peace, equality and community.
As with most meeting houses in our area, a school was founded so that the citizenry might have an education and advance themselves in all matters especially of a knowledge of the lord and greater understanding of the world around them. Haddonfield Friends school is over 200 years old. Even though Haddonfield is a large town, it still feels like a village thanks to the foresight of residents in the very early 1970s who resisted development and progress. This meeting house is still the center of Haddonfield Village.
This meeting house is the oldest church or building used to conduct worship in Haddonfield. Parking is available in the side lot.
The following information comes from the nomination form, Created March 16, 1979, evaluated April 18, 1980 and finally approved on July 21, 1982.
Historic Haddonfield Friends School, founded in 1786. Simple colonial 2 story red brick building designed with Quaker simplicity. Portico entrances. Original frame addition in rear, compatible with the streetscape.