118 East Main Street, Moorestown

The Friends Meeting House is listed both individually and in the Historic District on the New Jersey State and National Registers.

Constructed of brick, with the date worked into its west gable, the current structure is a large 2½ story example of the meeting house type. The building is lit on all sides by large multi-paned windows. A two story addition was made along its south side in 1914 and a one story social hall was added to the east in 1969.

The prominent and central position of this 40 acre campus is a testament to the importance of the Quaker tradition in the establishment of Moorestown in the 17th century.

View of the Moorestown Friends Meeting House, c. 1890

The current 1802 structure is the third meeting house built here by the Society of Friends. The first was a 1700 log meeting house which was located on the north side of Main Street where the Friends Cemetery is located. The site is identified by a bronze plaque. Fire destroyed the original meeting house in 1720, and a new one was built of stone on the same site. After its removal, the lot on which this building stood was used exclusively as a burial ground.

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Hessian troops encamped on the original grounds and environs of the Meeting House on June 20, 1778, during the evacuation of British and Hessian forces across New Jersey from Philadelphia to New York City.

View of the Meeting House, c. 1890

Moorestown Friends Meeting House, present day