BNHA Friends Meeting House
Interpretive Framework
Seeking Prosperity on the Chesapeake: Baltimore History from Colonial Times through the 1800s
Star Attractions
Heritage Walk
Resource Type
Points of Interest
1201 E Fayette St
Baltimore, Maryland 21223
The simple, red brick building on Fayette at Asquith Streets is now known as the Old Town Friends Meeting House. It was constructed in 1771, making it the oldest religious building in Baltimore, and one of the few 18th-century buildings still standing in the city.
By the mid-18th century, the Religious Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers) exerted a strong influence in Baltimore—socially, politically, and economically. Many important and influential Baltimoreans worshiped here including Phillip E. Thomas, first president of the B & O Railroad; John McKim, founder of the McKim Free School for indigent children; Elisha Tyson, one of the founders of the first abolition society in the south; and Johns Hopkins, founder of the country's first research university and hospital that now bear his name.
The building became known as the Old Town Friends Meeting House when it was restored to its former appearance in 1967. The Old Town Friends Meeting House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated a city landmark in 1975.