Merion Friends Meeting
Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Continuously used since its erection in 1695 by Quakers, this Meeting House is thought to have been visited by William Penn. Welsh carpenters are believed responsible for its highly unusual cruciform architecture.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Raised in 1695 by Welsh Quakers who had followed William Penn's promise of religious liberty to his new colony, this meeting house is among the oldest houses of worship in Pennsylvania. Tradition holds that Penn himself worshipped within its walls, and the unusual cross-shaped plan is credited to the Welsh carpenters who built it. It has gathered Friends for silent worship continuously for more than three centuries.
Why it matters
It embodies the Quaker experiment in tolerance that shaped Penn's colony and stands as a rare, still-living link to the first generation of Welsh settlers in America.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- African American Museum in Philadelphia6.7 mi away · 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- National Constitution Center6.8 mi away · 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Independence Visitor Center6.8 mi away · 599 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Bridgette Mayer6.8 mi away · 709 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Liberty Bell Center6.9 mi away · 526 Market Street, Philadelphia
- Congress Hall6.9 mi away · Philadelphia, PA
Attractions
- Discovery Center at East Park Reservoir3.7 mi away
- Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge3.9 mi away
- Philadelphia Zoo4.1 mi away
- American Bandstand4.1 mi away
- Rocky Steps5.0 mi away
- The Universal Sphere5.8 mi away
Food & drink
- Burger King6.7 mi away
- Philly Pretzel Factory6.7 mi away
- Munchie’s Cafe6.7 mi away · 728 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Dunkin'6.8 mi away · 634 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- El Azteca6.8 mi away
- Lamberti Pizza & Market6.8 mi away · 707 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places to stay
- Days Inn Philadelphia Convention Center - Philadelphia6.2 mi away · 1227 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center6.2 mi away · 1201 Race Street, Philadelphia
- Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City6.2 mi away · 1 East Penn Square, Philadelphia, PA
- The Notary Hotel6.2 mi away · 21 North Juniper Street, Philadelphia
- Home2 Suites by Hilton Philadelphia - Convention Center, PA6.3 mi away · 1200 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Philadelphia Marriott Downtown6.3 mi away · 1201 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
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Related people
- · William Penn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Old Haverford Friends' Meeting
Haverford Township, PA · est. 1975
Quakers have gathered on this Haverford site since 1684, in the first years of William Penn's colony founded as a refuge for the persecuted. The oldest part of the present meetinghouse dates to 1700, built onto the original log structure where Penn himself worshipped in late 1699. Few places so directly connect to the founder of Pennsylvania and the Friends who shaped its tolerant beginnings.
Johannes Kelpius, Hermit of the Wissahickon
Philadelphia, PA
In 1694 a band of German mystics led by the young scholar Johannes Kelpius crossed the Atlantic and settled along the Wissahickon Creek near Philadelphia, awaiting what they believed would be the dawn of a new spiritual age. Learned in theology, astronomy, and music, Kelpius lived as a hermit — tradition holds he used a cave near this spot for prayer and meditation — until his death in 1708. Much later, in 1961, Rosicrucians of the AMORC order erected this memorial, claiming him as a forerunner of their movement.
Kelpius Community
Philadelphia, PA · est. 2004
In 1694 the German mystic Johannes Kelpius led a band of learned followers to the banks of the Wissahickon, drawn by William Penn's promise of religious liberty. Known as the "Hermits of the Wissahickon," they wrote poetry and music, studied the stars and plants, built one of the colonies' early pipe organs, and waited for the millennium they believed near. Notably tolerant for their age, they welcomed people of every background, including Native Americans, until the community faded after Kelpius's death in 1708.
First Brethren Baptism in America, 1723
Philadelphia, PA
On Christmas Day 1723, a small band of German immigrants gathered at the water's edge in Germantown and performed the first American baptisms of the Church of the Brethren, a pietist movement born in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708. Fleeing religious persecution in the Old World, these settlers had found in Pennsylvania the freedom to practice their faith — including their signature rite of full-immersion adult baptism. That winter service planted one of the earliest peace-church congregations in the American colonies.