The Legacy of Quakers in Eastern Indiana

Driven by their staunch opposition to slavery, a large number of Quakers migrated from North Carolina to Indiana around 1806, and many of them settled in Wayne County. As the Quaker population grew, communities organized new “meetings,” the Quaker term for congregations. The Friends often established quarterly or monthly meetings, which served multiple congregations in a geographic area.

In 1872, Quakers established a new meeting in Dublin, a small community on the National Road west of Richmond. In 1874, they built a meetinghouse, which remains the congregation’s home nearly 150 years later. At one time, Quaker meetinghouses dotted the area, but today the Dublin Meetinghouse is the only remaining example in Jackson Township.

The Dublin Friends Meetinghouse, a simple but elegant example of the Italianate Style adapted to a religious building, features tall arched windows, large wood-scroll brackets, and a multi-paned round window in the front gable. The exterior remains largely unaltered since its original construction. Inside, many historic features remain, although a c.1904 remodeling added classroom space.

Recognizing the Dublin Meetinghouse’s importance in the local and religious heritage of our state, Indiana Landmarks awarded the congregation a grant to help list the building in the National Register of Historic Places. The $1,500 grant, part of our Partners in Preservation National Register program — we call it PIP for short — will help cover the cost to hire a consultant to prepare the National Register nomination.

The congregation hired Kurt West Garner to research the history of the meetinghouse and prepare the nomination, a complex process. The nomination must be reviewed and approved at the state and federal levels.

For more information about the Dublin Friends Meetinghouse or Indiana Landmarks’ Partners in Preservation grants, contact our Eastern Regional Office, 765-478-3172, east@indianalandmarks.org.