Dover Friends Meetinghouse
Dover Religious Society of Friends Meetinghouse | |
Meetinghouse c. 1915 | |
43°11′12″N 70°52′25″W / 43.18667°N 70.87361°W / 43.18667; -70.87361 | |
Area | less than one acre |
---|---|
Built | 1768 (1768) |
NRHP reference No. | 80000421[1] |
Added to NRHP | February 29, 1980 |
The Dover Religious Society of Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house at 141 Central Avenue (New Hampshire Route 108) in Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire. Built in 1768 for a congregation established in the 17th century, it is the only surviving 18th-century Quaker meetinghouse in the state.[2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]
Description and history
The Dover Friends Meetinghouse is located south of downtown Dover on the east side of Central Avenue, nearly surrounded by elements of Pine Hill Cemetery. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, 50 feet (15 m) long and 37 feet (11 m) wide. A projecting vestibule with simple Greek Revival styling is a 19th-century alteration. Features distinctive to 18th-century Quaker meetinghouses include paired entrances on the long facade (for gender segregation), the removable partition wall at the center of the main chamber, and a crosswise bench for the congregation's elders.[2]
Quakers first began to arrive in the Dover area in 1662, and were met with strong resistance from the dominant Puritan authorities. They persisted, and had by 1680 established a congregation with a meetinghouse on Dover Neck. This meetinghouse, built in 1768, was that congregation's third. The Dover congregation became the "mother congregation" for a number of new ones established throughout New Hampshire and southwestern Maine. This building was the scene of regular worship until 1912, when dwindling membership prompted its closure. It continued to be maintained and used irregularly until 1955, when regular services began again.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c "NRHP nomination for Religious Society of Friends Meetinghouse". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- v
- t
- e
Landmark
- Gen. John Sullivan House
- Cocheco Mills
- Durham Historic District
- Rochester Commercial and Industrial District
- Salmon Falls Mill Historic District
- Sawyer Woolen Mills
- Back River Farm
- Canaan Chapel
- County Farm Bridge
- Farmington Town Pound
- First Congregational Church
- First Parish Church
- First Parish Church Site-Dover Point
- Forest Glade Cemetery
- Free Will Baptist Church
- Garrison Hill Park and Tower
- Green Street School
- Jenness Farm
- Lehoullier Building
- Michael Reade House
- Milton Town House
- New Durham Meetinghouse and Pound
- New Durham Town Hall
- Plumer-Jones Farm
- Plummer Homestead
- Public Market
- Queensbury Mill
- Religious Society of Friends Meetinghouse
- Richard Hayes House
- Rollinsford Grade School
- Rollinsford Town Hall
- Samuel Wyatt House
- Sawyer Building
- Smith Chapel
- Somersworth High School
- St. Thomas Episcopal Church
- Strafford County Farm
- Strafford Union Academy
- Thompson Hall
- US Post Office-Dover Main
- US Post Office-Somersworth Main
- William Hale House
- Wiswall Falls Mills Site
- Woodbury Mill
- Woodman Institute