{"nrhp_refnum":"72001112","name":"Orthodox Meetinghouse","other_names":["Birmingham Orthodox Meeting House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of West Chester on Birmingham Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Chester","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.904460003000054,"lon":-75.59346711099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-04-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story former Quaker meetinghouse on Birmingham Road southeast of the intersection of Route 926 and Route 202 in West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was erected in 1845 and later converted into a private residence.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an interesting statement of changing Quaker architecture between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with large windows and more classical proportions than earlier meetinghouses. It is also tied to the Hicksite-Orthodox Controversy of 1827, a major schism within the Society of Friends. The form notes the building's rural application of classical revival forms tempered by Quaker simplicity.","narrative":"Built in 1845 at Birmingham in Chester County, Pennsylvania, this single-story meetinghouse was raised by members of the Orthodox Meeting, who contributed labor, materials and money. Serpentine stone came from Chalkley Bell's Quarries in Westtown Township, and Edward Brinton supplied the lumber for the roof. The building cost $2,310.83 and originally seated about 200 people. Its large windows fill the interior with light, and a simple pent porch sheltered each doorway on the north elevation. The building is regarded as an illustration of changing Quaker architecture between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its proportions are more classical than the neighboring eighteenth-century Birmingham Meetinghouse, reflecting the rural use of classical revival forms, yet they remain restrained in keeping with Quaker simplicity. The property is also linked to the Hicksite-Orthodox Controversy of 1827, a major division within the Society of Friends. After the Orthodox Meeting was sold in 1938, the interior was adapted for domestic use while the exterior was largely kept intact.","period_of_significance":"1845","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Converted to a private residence after the Orthodox Meeting was sold in 1938; exterior largely preserved, with the roof and flashing replaced.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.635492-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/72001112.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001112/0e4a7fdc11-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001112/0e4a7fdc11-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Markhlandon","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orthodox_Meetinghouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Markhlandon</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orthodox_Meetinghouse.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000660","name":"Brandywine Battlefield","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/brandywine-battlefield-66000660/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998671","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Meetinghouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7104489"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/orthodox-meetinghouse-72001112/"}