Friends Meeting House and Friends Seminary

History and architecture

In 1861 the "Hicksite" Quakers built a three story brick meeting house at the northwest corner of Rutherford Place and East Fifteenth Street. Its simple pedimented entrance porch and double hung muntined sash with plain sills and lintels would suggest that this structure might have been built some twenty years earlier. The elegant restraint of the design may be attributed to the natural conservatism of the Friends, which was found not only in matters pertaining to their dress but also in their physical surroundings. Charles T. Bunting a member of the meeting and a builder, was responsible for the construction and probably also for the design.

The low, end gable above the entrance facing Rutherford Place has a bisected lunette window in it, below which is the dates tone. The raking cornice of the gable meets simple side cornices with plain wood fascia boards below them, reminiscent of these of the Greek Revival period.

The T-shaped Seminary building to the north was built as nearly similar to the meeting house as possible with entrance porch and gable, also facing Rutherford Place.

The earliest mention of a Friends Meeting in Manhattan is under the date of 12th of 8th month 1687 where it was agreed that "...ye first day meeting shall remain at Root. Story & ye fifth day meeting at Lewis Menus house until a publick meeting house shall be provided.''

In 1696 a small frame meeting house was built on what is now known as Liberty Place, then known as Little Green Street. The next, a substantial meeting house of brick, was built on Pearl Street between Franklin Square and Oak Street in 1775-6.

In 1819, yet another, a large brick meeting house was erected at Hester Street between Elizabeth Street and the Bowery. In 1824, with the advent of commerce on Pearl Street, the meeting house on Pearl Street, between Franklin Square and Oak Street, was demolished and replaced by stores. Following this, a frame meeting house was erected on Rose Street near Pearl Street.

A schism developed in 1827 when the followers of Elias Hicks seceded from the main orthodox body of the meeting. At the time of the separation, in 1823, the'*'Hicksites-' stayed on at Hester Street until 1861, when they moved into the newly completed nee ting house on Rutherford Place. The -'Orthodox'* Friends built a new meeting house on Henry Street, between Catherine and Market Streets.

They sold the Henry Street meeting house in 1840 to the Synagogue Anshe Chesed at which time they built a large brick mooting house on Orchard Street near Walker Street. From there, they used the chapel of Rutgers Female Institute for a few months in 1852, located on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets.

In 1859 they moved into the handsome Italianate meeting house on Gramercy Park . The use of this building as a place of worship was discontinued in 1958 when the "Hicksite" and the "Orthodox'- meetings were happily recombined at Rutherford Place and was sold to a civic-minded group of Gramercy Park residents in 1969 for a community use.