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Photo, Print, Drawing Merion Friends Meeting House, 615 Montgomery Avenue (changed from Montgomery Avenue & Meetinghouse Lane), Narberth, Montgomery County, PA Lower Merion Friends Meeting House

View 47 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS PA-145  ]

More Resources

View 3 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS PA-145  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS PA-145  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS PA-145  ]
[ pdf version of supplemental pages ]

About this Item

Title

  • Merion Friends Meeting House, 615 Montgomery Avenue (changed from Montgomery Avenue & Meetinghouse Lane), Narberth, Montgomery County, PA

Other Title

  • Lower Merion Friends Meeting House

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Penn, William
  • Price, Joseph
  • Buckley, Mary, historian
  • Mixon, Stanley P., photographer
  • Smith, Delos H., photographer
  • Price, Virginia Barrett, transmitter
  • Lavoie, Catherine C., project manager
  • Wunsch, Aaron V., project manager
  • Arzola, Robert R., project manager
  • Lavoie, Catherine C., historian
  • Wunsch, Aaron V., historian
  • Maksay, Adam, delineator
  • Miller, Roger, delineator
  • Barnard, Christy, delineator
  • Howell, Pamela, delineator
  • Lam, Kevin J., delineator
  • Boucher, Jack E., photographer
  • Unknown, photographer

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  Friends meeting houses
  • -  stone buildings
  • -  T-plan buildings
  • -  Quakers
  • -  religions
  • -  Pennsylvania--Montgomery County--Narberth

Notes

  • -  Significance: The construction of Merion began as early as 1695 and was completed by 1715, making it the oldest Friends Meeting House in the Delaware Valley. Its near cruciform plan is unprecedented in a Friends Meeting House. Many resist the idea that the emigrant Friends would adopt a plan so closely resembling one used by the Anglican Church when they rejected all that such a structure represented. It may be, however, that its unusual configuration reflects the lack of prescribed standards indicative of meeting houses erected by the earliest Quaker settlers. Religious persecution, and their own belief in the unsuitability of "steeple-houses" to Quaker worship, discouraged the Society of Friends members in England and Wales from developing a meeting house building type prior to the 1689 Act of Toleration. Many choose instead to meet in the out-of doors, or in private houses or farm buildings, often even once free to worship openly. Unfettered by the persecution experienced by their English counterparts, Friends who immigrated to the American Colonies explored various architectural possibilities. The builders of Merion Meeting House were among the first generation of Welsh Quaker converts, and the first to settle in Penn's Colony, some arriving as early as 1682. Without a model to emulate, the Merion Friends may have looked to the rural parish churches of their homeland for architectural inspiration for their meeting house. Its early unpatterned design distinguishes it as a departure point in the evolution of the American Friends meeting house in the Delaware Valley. Merion Meeting House is also of interest for its use of English building traditions most notably seen its cruck or bent principal rafters. William Penn preached here.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N817
  • -  Survey number: HABS PA-145
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1695- ca. 1715 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1809 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1829 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1849 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 98001194

Medium

  • Photo(s): 45
  • Color Transparencies: 2
  • Measured Drawing(s): 3
  • Data Page(s): 36
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 5

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS PA,46-NARB.V,1-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • pa0633

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS PA,46-NARB.V,1-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, William Penn, Joseph Price, Mary Buckley, Catherine C Lavoie, Aaron V Wunsch, Robert R Arzola, et al., Mixon, Stanley P, Delos H Smith, Jack E Boucher, and Unknown, photographer. Merion Friends Meeting House, 615 Montgomery Avenue changed from Montgomery Avenue & Meetinghouse Lane, Narberth, Montgomery County, PA. Pennsylvania Montgomery County Narberth, 1933. translateds by Price, Virginia Barrettmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/pa0633/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Penn, W., Price, J., Buckley, M., Lavoie, C. C., Wunsch, A. V. [...] Lam, K. J., Mixon, S. P., Smith, D. H., Boucher, J. E. & Unknown, photographer. (1933) Merion Friends Meeting House, 615 Montgomery Avenue changed from Montgomery Avenue & Meetinghouse Lane, Narberth, Montgomery County, PA. Pennsylvania Montgomery County Narberth, 1933. Price, V. B., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/pa0633/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Mixon, Stanley P, et al. Merion Friends Meeting House, 615 Montgomery Avenue changed from Montgomery Avenue & Meetinghouse Lane, Narberth, Montgomery County, PA. trans by Price, Virginia Barrettmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/pa0633/>.