Pennsdale is among the loveliest of the ancient meeting houses in Pennsylvania, lying well displayed along the hillside with the burial ground beyond. Built in 1799 of local stone, the Pennsdale Meeting House retains much of its original charm.
Its two-foot-thick stone walls are cozy when winter winds howl outside and the fire crackles in the fireplace. In summer doors may be open to hear birds sing during worship, on First Day mornings (Sundays) or for mid-week evening worship on Fourth Day (Wednesday – time variable).
A ramp leads to the porch and a portable ramp can assist with wheelchair access. The meeting house has no plumbing and the privy is not wheelchair accessible.
A major restoration project in recent years funded by the meeting, friends of the meeting, and the wider community included replastering the entire meeting house interior, refinishing the original wood floors, restoring window mullions and framing, and extensive work in the grounds.
The privy (still used) was the subject of David Armstrong’s watercolor “Up and Down.” He also painted “The Quilter,” Pennsdale Friend Marjorie Nicholson sewing in front of the fireplace at the Meeting House. David Armstrong’s first print was of the Meeting House and helped the meeting pay for a furnace badly needed at the time, many years ago.