{"nrhp_refnum":"06000786","name":"Pembroke Friends Meetinghouse","other_names":["Scituate Upper Meetinghouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Washington St. and Schoosett St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pembroke","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":42.104768301000036,"lon":-70.80439796899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Quaker meetinghouse at Washington Street and Schoosett Street in Pembroke, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, built in 1706 for Scituate Friends as the Upper Meeting. The 0.75-acre property also has an 1841 woodshed and a burying ground.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the oldest Quaker meetinghouses in New England, with an exceptionally finely finished early timber frame and a gallery whose rails and benches may be the only fittings of this age surviving in place. Its changes in 1833 and 1853 show how regional building traditions combined with Quaker practice, including paired entries and a sliding partition for separate men's and women's meetings.","narrative":"Built in 1706 for Scituate Friends and first known as the Upper Meeting, this Quaker meetinghouse at a busy Pembroke crossroads is among the oldest in New England. Its original timber frame is richly finished with chamfered posts, girts and beams, and the upper gallery keeps its early rails and benches in place, fittings of a kind that very rarely survive from before the mid-1700s. The building took its present look through remodeling in 1833 and 1853, when a hip roof gave way to a gable roof, a two-story porch with paired entries was added, and a sliding partition divided the interior so men and women could hold separate business meetings. The meeting closed in 1876, and repairs followed in 1929 and 1988. The small lot also holds an 1841 woodshed and a burying ground with about twenty simple stones. Its listing rests on its religious and social history, its age, and the quality of its surviving architecture.","period_of_significance":"1706-1956","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current function is museum. Stabilization and repairs were carried out in 1988 after earlier work in 1929.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.41433-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7965/63796576/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/06000786.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000786/8765775b01-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000786/8765775b01-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PembrokeMA_FriendsMeetinghouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PembrokeMA_FriendsMeetinghouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796576","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembroke_Friends_Meetinghouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7161956"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/pembroke-friends-meetinghouse-06000786/"}