{"nrhp_refnum":"84003182","name":"Caln Meeting House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"901 Caln Meeting House Rd., Caln Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Coatesville","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.00733623200006,"lon":-75.76483874999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Caln Meeting House is a stone Quaker meeting house in Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania, built in 1726 by the Religious Society of Friends. It was enlarged in 1801 with an addition of compatible style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an outstanding example of early 18th century Quaker architecture and one of the oldest places of worship in Chester County and Pennsylvania. It is noted as the only meeting in the area where Hicksite and Orthodox Friends continued to meet in the same house after the 1827 Separation, and as neutral ground attended by many Friends and non-Friends.","narrative":"Built in 1726 of unhewn tan Pennsylvania fieldstone by the Religious Society of Friends, the Caln Meeting House in Coatesville, Chester County, was originally a single room divided by folding wooden partitions into separate areas for men and women. An 1801 addition doubled its size while keeping the symmetry of the original, with two hooded entrances. The interior retains plaster walls, chestnut wainscoting, original random-width floors and nine-over-nine windows. The building stands in a grove on Packets Path, later the Lancaster Pike, and its graveyard holds early fieldstone markers and, from 1754, inscribed marble stones. Its significance lies in its age and architecture, and in its role during the Quaker Separation of 1827. Hicksite and Orthodox Friends continued to meet in the same house, in different rooms, and the building remained a neutral gathering place for Quarterly Meetings attended by Friends from afar and by rural non-Friends.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"In use as a meeting place for community organizations; the building is maintained by the Old Caln Historical Society.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.342541-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/84003182.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003182/b03ac69b9f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003182/b03ac69b9f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jack Boucher","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CalnMeetingHouse.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jack Boucher</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CalnMeetingHouse.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995083","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caln_Meeting_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5023057"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/caln-meeting-house-84003182/"}