Abington (Orthodox) Friends Meetinghouse, Jenkintown Road across from Fisher Road, Jenkintown, Montgomery County, PA

Significance: Built in 1836, Abington Friends Meeting House reflects patterns of design found in the single-cell meeting house built during the period of early settlement in the Delaware Valley, but not frequently seen since the late-eighteenth century development of a prototypical two-celled form. It was erected following the schism that divided the Friends of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and elsewhere into Orthodox and Hicksite factions, an event that occurred within the former meeting in 1827. The split caused a boom in meeting house construction as the dissenting group left to form their own meetings. Although Abington Orthodox Meeting House has been abandoned and is currently in a deteriorating condition, it is the only post-schism, Orthodox-built meeting house that has not been rehabilitated for use as something other than a meeting house.
Survey number: HABS PA-6657
Building/structure dates: 1836 Initial Construction