Historical Quaker Sites in and around Philadelphia

Arch Street Friends Meeting House
4th St. & Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Ph: (215) 627-2667
Open for visitors: Mon - Sat 10:00 - 4:00
Worship: Sun 10:30am; Wed 7:00pm
Visit www.pym.org/pm/archst_tours.php

William Penn deeded the property to Friends in 1693 for use as a burial ground. The meetinghouse was built in 1804 and is still a place of worship for the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia. Dioramas of Penn's life, slides, and Quaker guides will help you experience how Quakers have worshiped since the founding of Penn's Holy Experiment.

Betsy Ross House
239 Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Ph: (215) 686-1252
Open 10:00 - 5:00
April - September: Daily
October - March: Tue - Sun
Visit www.betsyrosshouse.org
Suggested contributions: $3 adults; $2 children for self-guided tours; $5 for audio guides. Call for a schedule of special daily programs May-August in the courtyard.

This is the home of Betsy Ross, who was born a Quaker, attended meetings of the "Free Quakers," and is said to have sewn the first American flag.

Free Quaker Meeting House
500 Arch Street,(Southeast corner of 5th and Arch St.)
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Historic Philadelphia, Inc.
Ph: (215) 629-4026
Visit www.onceuponanation.org
Open with historical re-enactments Wed-Sun 9am-5pm
Open 7 days in summer till Labor Day

The Free Quaker Meeting House was home of the "fighting" Quakers of Philadelphia. These Friends broke with the traditional Quaker peace testimony and separated from the larger body of Friends during the War for Independence. Among its members were Betsy Ross and Timothy Matlack. This site is now owned by the U.S. Park Service and occupied and hosted by Once Upon a Nation, a historical re-enactments program.

Historic Quaker Homes in Philadelphia and Nearby

Cedar Grove
West Fairmount Park.
25th Benjamin Franklin Pkwy
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Ph: (215) 763-8100
Tue - Sun 10:00 - 5:00
Fri 10:00 - 8:45
Mon closed

Adults: $16
Seniors (ages 65 & over): $14
Students (with valid ID): $12

Children (excluding groups)
ages 13–18: $12
ages 12 & under: Free

free at all times - members
pay what you wish all day - Sundays

Visit http://www.philamuseum.org

This 1740 Quaker farmhouse is furnished with 18th and 19th century furniture from five generations of the Quaker families who lived in it. The "open Bible" doors and the porch are similar to those on Quaker meetinghouses.

Bellaire Manor
S 20th St. at Pattison Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(in Roosevelt Park, South Philadelphia)
Ph: (215) 664-8456; for tour information.
Hours: By appointment

Samuel Preston, builder of this 1714 Georgian manor, was a provincial treasurer and trustee of William Penn's will.

Bartram's Gardens (home & garden)
54th St. & Lindbergh Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Ph: (215) 729-5281

Museum Shop
The Museum Shop is open Friday to Sunday from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Guided Tours
Guided tours of the House or Garden are available for an admission fee on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We welcome walk-ins, but request reservations for groups of over 10 people.

Friday to Sunday
Garden tours: 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm
House tours: 11:30 am, 1:30 pm
Mon closed
Visit www.bartramsgarden.org
See http://www.bartramsgarden.org/?page_id=55l for information on tour fees and groups.

House and garden of Quaker naturalists John and William Bartram, who established America's first botanic garden in 1728 on the Schuylkill River. Self-taught and encouraged in his studies by James Logan and Benjamin Franklin, John Bartram was said to have, "Looked through nature to find Nature's God."

Stenton
4610 N 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19140

Stenton is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday from 1 - 4 and by appointment only outside of those hours. Stenton is closed to the public January 1 through March 30. Tours may be scheduled by appointment, 215-329-7312.

Visit www.stenton.org

Stenton was built in 1730 by William Penn's able administrator, James Logan. Furnishings are 18th and 19th century, Philadelphia-style, reflecting three generations of the Logan family. The old log cabin moved from Friends Select School is now locate on these grounds.

Grumblethorpe
5267 Germantown Ave. at Penn St.
Philadelphia, PA 19144-2328
Ph: (215) 843-4820
Tour open from April to December from
1:00 - 4:00 on Tue, Thu & Sun
$5 admission fee

John Wister, Philadelphia Quaker merchant, built Grumblethorpe as his summer residence in 1744.

Wyck
6026 Germantown Ave., at Walnut Lane.
Philadelphia, PA 19144
Ph: (215) 848-1690
April 1st ~ Dec 15. only
Tue & Thu - 1:00 - 4:00
Sat - 1:00 - 4:00
$5.00 - adults
$4.00 - seniors

Visit www.wyck.org

Home to nine generations of the same Quaker family, Wyck contains three centuries of original furnishings and features an early 19th century garden.

Johnson House
6306 Germantown Ave. at Washington Lane.
Philadelphia, PA 19144
Ph: (215) 438-1768
Thu & Fri 10:00 - 4:00, tours are by appointment
Sat 1:00 - 4:00, tours begin @ 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30
Regular Tours
$5 - adults
$3 - senior citizens
$2 - children (ages 13-18)
School Tours
20 or more students: $3 per person
Visit www.johnsonhouse.org

Built in 1765 by a Mennonite for a Quaker family. Damage from the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown is visible. Later the house became part of the underground railroad. The attic dormers were added to give fresh air to hidden escaping slaves.

Pennsbury Manor
Located between Tullytown and Morrisville, PA just off Bordentown Rd.
400 Pennsbury Memorial Rd.
Morrisville, PA 19067
Ph: (215) 946-0400 or 443-3481
Opening Hour
April 1 - November 25

Pennsbury Manor is a beautiful 43 acre re-creation of William Penn's 17th century estate on the grounds of the original manor. Situated on the Delaware River, the plantation includesa Georgian manor house, a dozen outbuildings - including a bake and brew house, period herb and floral gardens, and historic breeds of farm animals. Costumed guides conduct tours of the manor. Picnicking is permitted. Allow 1-2 hours to fully enjoy this special place.

Village of Fallsington
Historic Fallsington Inc.
Located in the old Falls Meetinghouse
4 Yardley Ave.
Fallsington, PA 19054
Ph: (215) 295-6567
Open Hours
Mid-May through mid-Oct.:
Tues - Sat 10:30 - 3:30
Nov. through April:
Weekdays only 10:30 - 3:30
Admission: the guided tour fee is currently $6 per adult, $5 seniors, $3 per child, age 5 and under free.
Groups: please call two weeks in advance.  With notice, we can arrange food service. Closed major holidays
Visit http://www.historicfallsington.org/

The 300-year-old village of Fallsington represents an enduring Quaker community and an architectural heritage that is uniquely American. Significant among the six preserved historic buildings are the Moon-Williamson Log House, the Burgess-Lippincott House, Stagecoach Tavern, and the Falls Meeting House. William Penn attended meeting for worship in an earlier (1690) meetinghouse when he lived at Pennsbury Manor.

John Chad House
Chadds Ford Historical Society
P.O. Box 27
Chadds Ford, PA 19317
Ph: (610) 388-7376
Season: Memorial Day - Labor Day
Sat & Sun through September- 1:00 - 5:00
Group tours by appointment through the Chadds Ford Historical Society office
$3 admission includes the John Chads House and Springhouse.
Visit www.chaddsfordhistory.org/houses/chads.htm

Early 19th century brick tavern restored as a museum, and the house of John Chad, ferrymaster and tavern owner. Near the Revolutioniary War Brandywine battlefield, the Brandywine River Museum, and the Brinton House described below.

Brinton 1704 House
21 Oakland Road, near intersection of Rts. 1 and 202.
West Chester, PA 19382
Ph: (610) 399-0913
Tours are available daily May-October.
Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m
Saturdays and Sundays: 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m
Groups are asked to call for appointment. See schedule at website below.
Fee: $5.00 per adult ; $3.00 per child (younger than 12)
Visit www.brintonfamily.org/1704main.html

Owned and operated continuously by the same Quaker family, who received their land grant from William Penn. 18th century furnishings are documented in room - by room inventories.

The Grange
Myrtle Ave. at Warwick Road
Havertown, PA 19083
Ph: (610) 466-4958
Open April-Oct. & in Dec.
Sat & Sun 1:00-4; last tours begin at 3:45
Admission: $1 children(up to 12 years old); $2 adults in summer; $5 in December (featuring 18-19th holiday decorations)
Visit www.thegrangeestate.org

Originally purchased by Welsh Quaker Henry Lewis from William Penn in 1682, the Grange reflects an 18th and 19th century gentlemen's country seat. A unique complex of mansion, gardens, outbuildings and woodland.

Thomas Massey House
Lawrence Rd. at Springhouse Rd.
Broomall, PA 19008  
Ph: (610) 353-3644
Museum Hours - Week days by appointment
Admissions - donation
Visit http://www.thomasmasseyhouse.org/

Restored 1696 house of an indentured servant who became a prosperous Quaker landowner. One of the oldest English Quaker homes in Pennsylvania.

Harriton House
500 Harriton Road
P.O. Box 1364
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Ph: (610) 525-0201
Wed - Sat 10:00 - 4:00
Phone call prior to visit is advised
$4.00 - adult
free - students
Visit www.harritonhouse.org

Located on part of an original land grant made by William Penn in 1682 to Welsh Quaker Rowland Ellis in 1704. Ellis named the house "Bryn Mawr" which means "high hill" in Welsh. In 1719, the property was purchased by Richard Harrison, a slave-owning Friend from Maryland who named the house Harriton. In 1744 it became the home of Charles Thompson, patriot and secretary of the Continental Congresses from 1774-1789

John Woolman Memorial House
99 Branch Street
Mount Holly, New Jersey 08060
Visit by appointment, single individual up to groups of 25
Call 609-267-3226
Suggested donation: adults $3; seniors $2; children $1
Visit: woolmancentral.com/JWMA.html

The house, built on the site of Woolman's apple orchard, was founded as a memorial to a man of peace in a time when memorial houses for military heroes were proliferating. Originally a tea house, it has been used to shelter refugees, as a meeting place, and now hosts an annual lecture. It provides a place of refreshment and encouragement to follow one’s conscience and to act for a just and righteous society.

Historic Friends Meetings in Philadelphia and nearby

Germantown Friends Meeting
47 W. Coulter St.
Philadelphia, PA 19144
Ph: (215) 438-9604
Sun 10:30am Worship
During August meets at Green St. Meeting

Green St. Friends Meeting
45 W. School House Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19144-2811
Ph: (215) 844-4924
Sun 10:30am Worship
During July meets at Germantown Meeting

One block separates these two meetings in Germantown, but they were separated philosophically for over a century. In 1827, Quakers in the Delaware Valley split into two factions: Orthodox and Hicksites. In Germantown and elsewhere, two meeting houses in close proximity often attest to this 128-year division (which lasted until 1955). Hicksites built the Green St. Meeting House and school, while the Orthodox of Germantown Meeting continued to use the Coulter St. Meeting House and started Germantown Friends School.

Germantown Mennonite Meeting
6117 Germantown Ave., (above Walnut Lane).
Philadelphia, PA 19144-2046
Ph: (215) 843-0943
only by appointment

William Penn invited the Swiss/German Mennonites to Pennsylvania to escape religious persecution and sold them land that became today's Germantown. They established the first Mennonite Meeting in America. The Germantown protest against slavery was written in 1688 on a table now preserved in this 1770 meetinghouse. This document was signed by both Mennonites and Quakers of Germantown.

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting
100 E. Mermaid Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19118-3507
Ph: (215) 247-3553
Sun 10:30am workship
Visit www.quaker.org/chestnuthill

Founded in 1924 as the Chestnut Hill United Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, Chestnut Hill was the first monthly meeting formed by members of both the Hicksite and Orthodox Yearly Meetings. The meetinghouse is of a very different style from the older, traditional meetinghouses, yet maintains Quaker simplicity.

Plymouth Monthly Meeting
Germantown and Butler Pikes,
2150 Butler Pike,
Plymouth Meeting PA 19462
Worship: Sundays 11:15; Wednesdays 7:00

Plymouth Monthly Meeting was started in 1702 by Welsh Quakers who did not want to cross the river to Radnor or Haverford Meetings. The original part of the meetinghouse was completed by 1708. Picture at www.plymtghistsoc.freehosting.net/. (Note that Plymouth Meeting Friends School also occupies this site. Visitors during school hours are asked to stop in the office to sign in and get a name tag.)

Old Haverford Meeting
235 E. Eagle Rd. at St. Denis Ln.
Havertown PA 19083
Ph: (610) 789-3340
Call for tours or further information.
Sun 11:00 am Worship
Sun 10:00 am Adult Forum/Child care
Visit www.pym.org/haverford-qm/old-haverford.htm

From 1682 on, Welsh Quakers met for worship in homes in the area surrounding the current meetinghouse. In 1688, a log cabin was erected on this site, part of 5000 acres of land granted to Welsh Quaker William Howell by William Penn. Howell deeded the land and the cabin to the Religious Soceity of Friends in 1693. By 1700, the southern part of the existing stone meetinghouse was completed and visited by William Penn.

Merion Meeting
615 Montgomery Ave.,
Merion Station, PA 19066
(intersection of Montgomery Ave. and Meetinghouse Ln., between Narberth and Bala Cynwyd)
Ph: (610) 664-4210
Call for tours and information
Sun 11:00 am Worship
Visit merionfriends.org

Merion Meeting was established by Welsh Quakers in 1682. The present meetinghouse was built in 1695, with an addition constructed between 1712 and 1714. William Penn visited the meeting serveral times between 1699 and 1701. There is burial ground next to the meeting.

Meeting Houses of Western Quarter

Information about the history and location of meeting houses in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, and in New Castle County, Delaware, along with photographs, can be found at: www.localquakers.org/.
 

Resources for Learning

Swarthmore College, Friends Historical Library & Scott Arboretum
500 College Ave.,
Swarthmore, PA 19081-1306
Ph: (610) 328-8000
Friends Historical Library (610) 328-8496 (8:30-4:30 weekdays; 10:00-1:00            Saturdays when college is in session)
Arboretum (610) 328-8025 (daylight hours)

Swarthmore College was established in 1864 to provide education for Quakers while maintaining equality of opportunity for women and men. Its name came from Swarthmore Hall in England, an early center of George Fox's activities. The Friends Historical Library is on the campus. The arboretum was established in 1929 on the grounds with an endowment given by the family of Arthur Hoyt Scott.

Swarthmore College: www.swarthmore.edu/
Scott Arboretum: www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/99/maya/scott.html
Friends Historical Library: www.swarthmore.edu/library/friends/index.html

Haverford College, Quaker Collection
370 Lancaster Ave.
Haverford, PA 19041
Ph: (610) 896-1000
Quaker Collection of the college library (610) 896-1161 (9:00-12:30 and
          1:30-4:30 most weekdays)
Arboretum (610) 896-1101 (daylight hours)

Haverford College was founded by Friends in 1833 as a men's institution of higher learning. Today it is co-educational. Originally landscaped by the English gardener William Carvill, the park-like 216-acre campus includes more than 400 species of trees and shrubs, a nature walk, and a duck pond. The varied architectural styles of campus building represent more than 150 years of architectural evolution.

Haverford College: www.haverford.edu/
Arboretum: www.haverford.edu/Arboretum/
Quaker Collection: www.haverford.edu/library/special/

Henry J. Cadbury Library of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Ph: (215) 241-7220
Visit: www.pym.org/pm/lib.php
Open office hours, usually Tues-Thurs. (Call ahead if this is the main purpose
         of your trip.)

This informal library in Friends Center is not an archival or research library, but it contains a very good collection of Friends publications, past and present. Non-members of PYM are welcome to use resources on-site.

Pendle Hill
338 Plush Mill Road
Wallingford, PA 19086
Ph: (610) 566-4507 or (800) 742-3150
Bookstore hours: 9:00-12:30 and 1:30-4:30 weekdays; occasional Saturday           hours, call to check.
Visit: www.pendlehill.org

Pendle Hill was founded in 1930 as a retreat center for study and contemplation for members of the Religious Society of Friends and others. Located on a 23-acre arboretum, the landscaped campus features wooded paths and a small bookstore specializing in Quakerism, religion, social issues, psychology, and children's books.

QuakerBooks of Friends General Conference
1216 Arch Streeet, 2B
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Ph: (800) 966-4556 ( ask for the bookstore)
Open office hours (call ahead if unsure; sometimes closed during FGC gathering)
Visit: www.quakerbooks.org

This bookstore contains a browsing area of new and popular titles, as well as a more fully comprehensive collection shelved for shipping. Staff can help you locate specific publications if they are in print but not on display.

Page last updated June 9, 2011