Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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Meetinghouse in 1938
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 Location in Delaware
Location in the United States
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| Location | 624 Main St., Odessa, Delaware |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1785 |
| Part of | Odessa Historic District (1984 boundary increase) (ID84000846) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000288 |
| Added to NRHP | December 04, 1972 |
The Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse is a small but very old building in Odessa, Delaware. It's also called the Odessa Friends Meetinghouse. This historic building was built in 1785. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. This means it's an important historical site.
This meetinghouse is a Quaker place of worship. Quakers are a religious group known for peace. Some members of this meetinghouse helped people on the Underground Railroad. This was a secret network that helped enslaved people find freedom. Famous people like John Hunn were involved. It's even thought that Harriet Tubman might have hidden here.
The building is quite small. It measures about 20 feet (6.1 meters) by 22 feet (6.7 meters). It might be the smallest brick church in the United States.
History of the Meetinghouse
Quakers were among the first people to settle in the Odessa area. They are members of the Religious Society of Friends. The first Quaker meetinghouse in this area was started in 1763. Friends from nearby Georges Creek asked to form a "preparative meeting." This is a smaller meeting that reports to a larger one.
They later joined with the Duck Creek Monthly Meeting. A "monthly meeting" is a larger group of Quaker meetings. In 1781, they decided to move their meeting place. They chose Appoquinimink Bridge, which is now called Odessa.
A Quaker school was already in Appoquinimink since 1735. This school taught children until the late 1800s. The school building was later used by another church. It was eventually torn down. A Methodist church was built next to the meetinghouse in 1885. The Quakers sold the land for this church.
David Wilson built the current meetinghouse around 1785. However, the building and land were not officially given to the Meeting until 1800. David Wilson and his wife, Mary Corbit, did not get married in a Quaker ceremony. Because of this, they were temporarily not allowed to be part of the meeting.
Around 1828, a big split happened among Quakers. This was called the Orthodox-Hicksite schism. It caused many members to leave the Appoquinimink Meeting. Some families, like the Corbit family, started going to a different Quaker meeting in Wilmington. The Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, which owned the property, became part of the Hicksite group.
The Alston family, including John Hunn, continued to support the Appoquinimink Meeting. The meetinghouse became a stop on the Underground Railroad. John Hunn and Thomas Garrett were arrested for helping enslaved people escape. They had to pay large fines. It is believed that the meetinghouse's basement and second floor were used to hide people. The second floor even has a secret panel under the roof.
By the early 1870s, John Alston was the only active member of the meeting. After he passed away in 1874, the meetinghouse started to fall apart. Some of the disagreements from the Quaker split lasted for a long time. In 1900, the graves of the Corbit family were moved from the meetinghouse property. They were reburied in a private area. This area was separated by a brick wall from the meetinghouse's burial ground.
The building was fixed up in 1938. It reopened for worship in 1939. In 1948, a new Appoquinimink congregation was formed. They were given ownership of the property. The meeting still meets regularly today. They gather twice a month, on the first and third Sundays. It is a preparative meeting under the care of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting.
See also
