Amesbury Friends Meeting House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Amesbury Friends Meeting House
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Postcard view, 1911
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | 120 Friend St., Amesbury, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1850 |
| Architect | Thomas W. Thorndike |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000376 |
| Added to NRHP | April 18, 2002 |
The Amesbury Friends Meetinghouse is a special building in Amesbury, Massachusetts. It is located at 120 Friend Street. This building is a Friends Meeting House, which is a place where Quakers gather.
It was built in 1850. A well-known poet named John Greenleaf Whittier helped guide its construction. This meetinghouse is home to one of the most important Quaker groups in the area. For many years, it hosted large meetings for Quakers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The meetinghouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This means it is recognized as an important historical site.
Contents
About the Meetinghouse Building
The Amesbury Friends Meetinghouse is found west of downtown Amesbury. It sits on the south side of Friend Street. The building is a simple, one-and-a-half-story structure. It is made of wood and has a pointed roof. The outside is covered with horizontal wooden boards.
Inside the Meetinghouse
The front of the building has three sections. There are windows on each side of the main door. A smaller window is located above the door, in the roof's peak. The sides of the building each have three windows.
Inside, there is a hallway that goes across the whole building. This hallway leads into the main room. Above the main room, there is a balcony area. The main room has special walls that can move. These walls can be raised or lowered using ropes and wheels. This allowed the Quakers to hold services for everyone together. It also let them separate for business meetings, as men and women used to meet separately.
History of the Amesbury Quakers
The Quaker group in Amesbury is the oldest in northeastern Massachusetts. It started way back in 1657. At first, they met in what is now southern New Hampshire. They did this to avoid being treated badly by the Puritan leaders in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans did not like the Quakers' beliefs.
Building the Meetinghouse
The Amesbury Quakers built their first meetinghouse in 1705. The building you see today is their fourth one. It was finished in 1851. The famous poet John Greenleaf Whittier was a long-time member of this Quaker group. He was already well-known when the building was constructed. He played a big part in the committee that oversaw the building project.
The meetinghouse is quite large. This shows how important the group was. It hosted big regional meetings for many years. From 1851 to 1962, the meetinghouse hosted the Salem Quarterly meeting. Today, the Amesbury Monthly Meeting of Friends is still active. They hold a Meeting for Worship every Sunday at 10 AM. Inside, there is a special bench. A small sign on it says, "Whittier's Bench."
See also
