Free Quaker Meetinghouse

Timothy Matlack
Free Quakers Meetinghouse,
Philadelphia, elevation of east front
Iron gall ink on laid paper, ca. 1783
Manuscript Division

Built for Quakers expelled from the Religious Society of Friends because of their participation in the Revolutionary War, this Free Quakers Meetinghouse, designed by Timothy Matlack, is a fine example of nationalist architectural influences on the traditional plain Quaker style. American architectural drawings before the nineteenth century are extremely rare, as are the cost estimates and correspondence that also survive to illuminate the history of the design and construction of this fine structure.