Ohio Yearly Meeting House - Mount Pleasant, Ohio
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 40° 10.416 W 080° 48.167
17T E 516791 N 4447044
Historic Friends meeting house which was "mother" meeting house of all Quakers west of the Appalachian Mountain in the small community of Mount Pleasant, Ohio
Waymark Code: WMK202
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 01/31/2014
Views: 4
In the southwest end of the village, on an alley a short distance east of Union Street is the OHIO YEARLY MEETING HOUSE, formerly the mother meeting house for all Quakers west of the Appalachian mountains. Erected in 1816, the two-story, red brick structure measures 60 by 90 feet, and is an excellent example of the design of its period. The interior has large wooden galley, which gives the building a total seating capacity 3,500. The large partition that divides the auditorium into two equal parts can be raised or lowered through the operation of a mechanism in the attic known as a Spanish windlass. In the nineteenth century this meeting house, now unused, was the center of considerable religious enthusiasm and development among the Society of Friends. The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society is undertaking to preserve it as a historic building -Ohio: The Ohio Guide, 1940, pg. 470.
The building is as it is described in the Guide. The building is now own and operated by the Ohio State Historical Society. The building has undergone extension restoration which is continuing. It is open for tours by appointment only.
The building is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered the most significant building in the Mount Pleasant Historic District listed as a National Historic Landmark.