Forty Fort Meetinghouse
Encyclopedia
Forty Fort Meetinghouse is a historic meeting house
at River Street and Wyoming Avenue in the Old Forty Fort Cemetery in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania
.
It was built in 1806-8 in a New England
meeting house style with white clapboard siding and was added to the National Register in 1988.
in the late 18th century.
In 1768 public lands were set aside in the area for churches by the Susquehanna Company, but because of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars
and the American Revolution
actual building of the churches was delayed by over 30 years. An unfinished meetinghouse nearby was destroyed after the Battle of Wyoming in 1778.
Joseph Hitchcock of New Haven, Connecticut, who also designed the Old Ship Zion Church in Wilkes-Barre
, designed the meetinghouse. It was the first completed church used for religious services in the area. It was a Union Church with both Congregationalist (now Presbyterians) and Methodists worshipping in the church. By 1837 both groups had built their own churches, and the meetinghouse has been used rarely since. In 1869 the Forty Fort Cemetery Association was created by the Pennsylvania state legislature and the Association still owns the church and cemetery.
Meeting house
A meeting house describes a building where a public meeting takes place. This includes secular buildings which function like a town or city hall, and buildings used for religious meetings, particularly of some non-conformist Christian denominations....
at River Street and Wyoming Avenue in the Old Forty Fort Cemetery in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania
Forty Fort, Pennsylvania
Forty Fort is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,579 at the 2000 census. It neighbors the boroughs of Kingston, Wyoming, and Swoyersville...
.
It was built in 1806-8 in a New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
meeting house style with white clapboard siding and was added to the National Register in 1988.
History
The first European settler in the area came from ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
in the late 18th century.
In 1768 public lands were set aside in the area for churches by the Susquehanna Company, but because of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars
Pennamite-Yankee War
The Pennamite-Yankee War was the intermittent conflict between 1769 and 1799 between settlers from Connecticut who claimed the land along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in the present Wyoming Valley, and settlers from Pennsylvania who laid claim to the same lands.-Grants to Connecticut...
and the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
actual building of the churches was delayed by over 30 years. An unfinished meetinghouse nearby was destroyed after the Battle of Wyoming in 1778.
Joseph Hitchcock of New Haven, Connecticut, who also designed the Old Ship Zion Church in Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
, designed the meetinghouse. It was the first completed church used for religious services in the area. It was a Union Church with both Congregationalist (now Presbyterians) and Methodists worshipping in the church. By 1837 both groups had built their own churches, and the meetinghouse has been used rarely since. In 1869 the Forty Fort Cemetery Association was created by the Pennsylvania state legislature and the Association still owns the church and cemetery.