In 1687, George Harlan, a Quaker landowner living in what was then known as Christiana Hundred, wrote to Friends of New Ark Monthly Meeting, located east of the Brandywine River in what was known as Brandywine Hundred, requesting permission to hold services on the river’s west side. Harlan had noted how dangerous it was to ford the river in the rough winter weather, making it difficult to reach First Day (Sunday) worship at the parent Meeting House.
From this request came Centre Meeting, organized in 1690. Initially, meetings for Worship were held in members’ homes. The membership grew as more Quaker settlers received land grants from William Penn and the Penn family, who held title to the land given to Penn by the King of England. By 1695, six acres of land were acquired from Alfonsus Kirk, and a Meeting House built of logs was completed in 1711 with a graveyard for burials. Detailed history of the original structure is not available, and this structure was replaced by the current brick meeting structure, finished around 1803.
The original Trustees were Thomas Hollingsworth, John Gregg, Alfonsus Kirk, Samuel Greaves, George Harlan and a Mr. Wilson. The deed for the Meeting property was filed in 1720.
An historic, un-dated photo of Centre Friends Meeting. Our Meeting house still has the original operable & functional wooden shutters, which in this case are shown closed. Photo Credit - Unknown.
Centre Friends Meeting from the Front / West side in the springtime. Photo Credit Mary Fenimore (Member, Centre Friends Meeting.)
The Monthly Meeting was called Centre Meeting because it was halfway between the New Ark Meeting and Kennett Meeting (now known as Old Kennett Meeting House), at the time, the next closest Quaker Meeting on the west side of the Brandywine River. The area nearby became known as Centreville.
The building of the current brick Meeting House was started in 1796 and completed about 1803.
As more and more Quakers moved west of the Brandywine River, a new Meeting was also organized in Hockessin, and eventually it became larger than Centre Meeting. In 1884, Centre Monthly Meeting for Business joined with and moved to Hockessin Meeting. Some Quakers, though, continued to use the Centre Meeting House for Meeting for Worship, primarily in the summer, sometimes only once a month.
In the 1950’s, a weekly Meeting for Worship was again started at Centre. Full Monthly Meeting status was re-established in 1995. Also, in the 1990’s, efforts were made to repair, restore, and make the Meeting House more functional.
Photograph by Ed Wolpov of Ed Wolpov Photography.
Centre Friends Meeting Schoolhouse
Just across the road from the Meeting House, a log schoolhouse was built in 1780 and was operated as a private Friend’s (Quaker) school. This was replaced with a stone building in 1818, which was used until the current building was built in 1854 with a donation from Antoine Bidermann of 1,000 dollars. At this time, it was absorbed into the local public school system under the name Centre Grove School and continued to function as a public school until 1932. After it was no longer used as a school, it was rented out as a residence until 1994, when it again returned to function as the meeting place for children's First Day School, and we use it for Social Functions such as Potluck (4th Sunday (First Day) of the month after the rise of Meeting.) Remodeling of the building to its current form was completed in 2006.
Thanks to Centre Meeting members James Reamer and Freeman Miller, whose earlier and more detailed history supplied this information. (1997, revised 2019).
Historic (un dated) picture of the School House. Picture taken before the roofline was altered / raised.
The Centre Meeting Schoolhouse in the current era.