The Alameda – California Historic Architecture
Quaker Meeting House
Built 1885
The College Park Association of Friends Quaker Meeting House was the first one established on the west coast, in 1861 in San Jose, California.
In 1958 the meeting house was moved several hundred feet on Morse Street to make room for Highway 17/880.
Hight Recommended Reading From San Francisco Quakers
"While we have little precise information, it is generally agreed that the Gold Rush brought some of the earliest Friends to California. The Quaker Island of Nantucket had fallen on hard times after the War of 1812, and when the discovery of gold in California became common knowledge, large numbers of young Quaker men sailed from Nantucket to California. Passenger lists of several ships that arrived from Nantucket in 1849 contain many historically Quaker names: Coffins, Starbucks, Folgers, and Macys among others. Their experience paralleled that of other adventurers, and as the dream of striking it rich evaporated, many left California again. Sheldon G. Jackson, editor of the Lindsey Journal states: “By 1859 the number of Friends remaining in California had dwindled to about 250 . . .” He does not speculate on how many there had been earlier."
From https://sfquakers.org/
1041 Morse St, San Jose, CA
David C. Hill Photographer/The Alameda 2020
Originally shared on Explore San Jose · December 28, 2020