1795 — “At a Monthly Meeting held at White Oak Swamp. 2nd day, 7th month, 1795. The members of Swamp Meeting were joined to Richmond Meeting which is to be held on First and Fourth days of the week, and to begin on the First Day the 15th of this month.” (Valentine Museum typescript, 1795) [See VA Historical Marker]

1796 — Minutes mention Friends in Richmond meeting in “the present room.” (Valentine typescript, 10th of 1 month, 1796)

— “At a Monthly Meeting held at White Oak Swamp 4th of the 6th mo. 1796. The Friends of Richmond through the channel of the Preparative Meeting requests the approbation of this Meeting to build a Meeting House there.” (Valentine type script, p. 254)

1797 — “11-4-1797 — The Committee appointed by last Meeting to consult with Friends of Richmond in respect to getting a more suitable lot there for the purpose of building a Meeting House, reported that they had attended to the service and fixed on one the lower side of Shockoe Creek which is procured for that purpose instead of the other one proposed; and the size of the house extended to forty feet square, which is in considerable forwardness, the completion whereof is left to the Committee appointed for that purpose.” (White Oak Swamp Monthly Meeting minute, summarized from Valentine typescript)

1798 — “At a Monthly Meeting at White Oak Swamp on 5th day of the 5th month 1798: Queries to Meeting — One new Meeting House built in Richmond.” (Summary of Valentine typescript, p. 281)

Contributed by Donna Rugg

Hannah Watts Clark

1810 — The location of the meetinghouse is shown on the northeast corner of Cary and 19th Streets. (“Richmond Virginia in Old Prints,” Johnson Publishing Co., 1932,) p. 32.)

1819 — The Samuel Parsons House at 601 Spring Street was built from 1817 to 1819. The Parsons were members of the Richmond Meeting which met at 19th and East Cary Streets. Samuel Parsons was superintendent of the nearby Penitentiary during the 1820’s. The building later became Spring Street Home for Unwed Mothers, then harbored pensioners, then the Welfare Department. (M.W. Scott, p. 212)

1836 — “In 1836, the meeting house was so badly damaged by fire that it was necessary to appoint a committee to consider the matter of rebuilding…. It would seem from the records that $250 was received toward the rebuilding of the new meeting house. We suppose this amount was in addition to what was raised from the sale of the church property. At any rate, a new meeting house of frame, surrounded by a high brick wall, was built at the corner of 19th and Cary Streets, date not given.” (“Richmond Friends” by Matthew F. Woodard, 1929)

1853 — Description of the first meetinghouse: “Their earliest meetinghouse was of brick, with a graveyard just north of it….In 1853 a writer in the Dispatch described the rude building with its unpainted interior set in a graveyard without stones but covered with eglantine — an oasis in the desert of factories and warehouses.” (Scott, p. 67, citing the Richmond Times Dispatch June 15th, 1853.)

1862 — During the War between the States, the meetinghouse was forcibly occupied by Confederate troops. It was located between Castle Thunder (prison for Southerners) and Castle Libby (prison for Federal soldiers). It may have been used as a hospital, according to oral tradition. (Letter from Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting, 1st mo., 27th 1875, quoted below)

— The deed for the lot on 19th and Cary St. was sold, except the graveyard, in 1862. Three lots in Hollywood Cemetery numbered 121, 122, and 123 in Section L were purchased for $173 n 1863. (Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting Minutes, 1862, p. 218. Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, 9th month, 12th, 1894 p. 17)

1867 — “One building of a public character that survives is Springfield Hall…which was erected at 16th and M around 1850. Just after the Civil War the Society of Friends used this as its meetinghouse.” (Scott, p. 24. Picture is on p. 22.)

Springfield Hall, 26th and M  (700 26th Street), 1867-1868

l868 — Location of the meetinghouse built after the Civil War was on the south side of Clay Street, west of First. In 1955 it was still standing and used as the Moses Memorial Baptist Church. (Richmond Times-Dispatch July 17th 1955) Pictures of this meetinghouse’s interior are to be placed in the Quaker Collection, Haverford College.)

9 East Clay Street, 1868-1909

1871 — Management of Friends Orphan House for Colored Children built by Friends (East corner of St. Paul Street and West Charity Street) after the Civil  ended was officially offered to the colored churches of Richmond and Manchester. [See VA Historical Marker.]

1875 — “Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends, Richmond, Va. 1st Month, 25th, 1875 [See VA Historical Marker]. Dear Friends: Friends of the above Monthly Meeting earnestly solicit thy favorable consideration and pecuniary assistance in liquidating the liability incurred by the building of their new meeting-house. During the war the old meeting-house, situated betwixt Castle Thunder and Castle Libby, was forcibly taken possession of by the Confederate soldiery, and friends, after suffering much annoyance, found shelter for a while in a private house, and afterwards in a rented room. Before the close of the war the old meeting-house was sold for Confederate money, and the proceeds invested in railroad bonds, from which loss was sustained.. . .“ (Letter signed on behalf of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting by John B. Crenshaw, et al)

1909 — The property on Clay street was sold, and meetings were held, for the most part, in the YMCA Building, second floor. (Woodard, p. 1)

1929  — Friends purchased a building “constructed of plain white stucco. It is quite attractive, because of its simplicity and beauty. The location is good being opposite a small park and in the midst of a very good residential section.” (Woodard, p. 1) This meetinghouse was located at the north east corner of Park and Meadow. (Ulrich Troubetzkoy, “The Society of Friends in Richmond,” Richmond Times Dispatch, 1955)

1804 Park Avenue, 1929-1945

1943 — Friends met at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church during the winter due to war—time fuel shortages. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 15, 1953)

1945 Sale of the Meetinghouse at 1804 Park Avenue at the north east corner of Park Avenue and Meadow Street, to Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle of the Assemblies of God for $16,750 cash. Friends felt it inadvisable to buy another meeting house on the current market. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, 5-13-45, pp. 205, 208)

— Friends met In an annex on the east side of Tabernacle Baptist Church ‘ 115 Grove Avenue, or In the YMCA from l9 through 1953. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 15, 1953)

1953 — Friends met at 2702 Grove Avenue in a converted residence. (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, December 7, 1952) This was sold because it did not meet fire regulations. (Jessie Frazer Hartley interview, April 8, 1979)

2702 Grove Avenue, 1953-1957

1957 — The current meetinghouse at 4500 Kensington Avenue was purchased from Colonial Place Christian Church. “The Meeting approves the minute that the Trustees of the Meeting be authorized to negotiate a real estate transaction for the sale of 2702 Grove Avenue at $16,500 and the subsequent purchase of 4500 Kensington Avenue at $l7,500, or otherwise, the transaction to be at any differential of $1000.” (Richmond Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 14, 1957)

  4500 Kensington Avenue, 1957-present

 

[Narrative above from: Hughes, Mary Fran (1979). The History of Richmond Friends Meeting 1795-1962 (Appendix – Location of Richmond Friends Meetinghouses). Unpublished. Link to full document: THE HISTORY OF RICHMOND FRIENDS MEETING 1795-1962 ]