Friends Spring Meeting House
Posted by: showbizkid
N 35° 54.151 W 079° 19.554
17S E 651074 N 3974430
Spring Friends Meeting is a Quaker church community that has been active for 245 years. The current Meeting House was built in 1907.
Waymark Code: WMDYX
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 05/31/2006
Views: 14
The National Register has this place recorded as "Friends Spring Meeting House", but the "Meeting", what Quakers call "Church", is actually called Spring Friends Meeting.
Friends (Quakers) first started meeting “at the spring” around 1761. The earliest written record of the Meeting can be found in the words of Daniel Stanton, a visiting Friend from Pennsylvania, who on February 6, 1761 wrote: “We…had a meeting at…the Spring, which though small…was a good meeting…and Friends were glad to see us.”
Spring was named for the free flowing springs located around the site. Located in central North Carolina and about equidistant from the towns of Burlington, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro and Siler City, Spring Friends Meeting, which is a rural church, draws its attenders and members from this broad area. These “friends” come from diverse spiritual backgrounds to gather and worship as “Friends”.
Early in the history of the Meeting, a battle of the American Revolution, known as the “Battle of Lindley’s Mill” was fought on and around the grounds. In this battle, several hundred troops were engaged with many finding final resting places in our burial ground. The governor of the State and his council were actually held prisoner in the log meeting house of the time.
Friends of Spring Meeting were also actively involved with efforts along the Underground Railroad, assisting others in their quest for freedom. Members of the meeting also suffered for faithfully clinging to the Quaker Peace Testimony during the Civil War.
The current Meeting House was built in 1907. The Spring Friends Meeting is an active church to this day.
This site is also a North Carolina State Highway Historic Marker Waymark.
To record your own visit to this waymark, visit the Meeting House and take your own photo. Post it, along with some comments about your visit. Your photo is proof of your visit and must accompany your log. Thanks.