{"nrhp_refnum":"73001610","name":"Parkersville Friends Meetinghouse","other_names":["Kennett Preparative Meeting of Friends"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Parkersville off PA 926, Pennsbury Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Parkersville","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.886343398000065,"lon":-75.64524118199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Parkersville Friends Meetinghouse is a meetinghouse in Parkersville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1830 for the Orthodox Friends.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its connection to the Hicksite schism in the Society of Friends, which led the Orthodox group to construct a new meeting place. It also represents the influence of the Society of Friends on the life of the community.","narrative":"Built in 1830 in Parkersville, Chester County, the meetinghouse was constructed by the Orthodox Friends from the Kennett Meeting after the Hicksite Orthodox schism of 1827. With few exceptions, the Hicksites kept the existing meetinghouses, so the Orthodox group needed a new place to worship. The original building had a full-length front porch and was little changed through the nineteenth century. A fire in 1917 partially destroyed it, and the meeting rebuilt it the following year without restoring the porch. Benches, window sills and doors were saved from the fire. The last monthly meeting held there took place on March 7, 1905, after the Quaker groups reunited. Today one meeting a year is held in the building by the Kennett Preparative Meeting. The building is valued as a reminder of the Society of Friends' influence on the community.","period_of_significance":"1830","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Rebuilt after a 1917 fire without the original front porch; currently used by the Kennett Preparative Meeting, which holds one meeting annually in the building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.078499-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/73001610.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001610/39cf836aa5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001610/39cf836aa5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parkersville_PA_Friends_Meetinghouse.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parkersville_PA_Friends_Meetinghouse.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996877","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkersville_Friends_Meetinghouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7138432"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/parkersville-friends-meetinghouse-73001610/"}