Although William Penn arrived in America over 300 years ago it was at least 30 years past his arrival before settlers moved into what is now Berks County. Sometime around 1718 a few Quakers built homes in the area and were holding religous services in their homes. Those families eventually built a log meeting house. The area Quakers soon outgrew that original structure and built a larger one located on land rented on the Lightfoot family farm near the Stone Bridge( which is presently covered by Lake Ontelaunee). Some of the original families during this time were Parvin, Wiley, Pearson, Willits and Wright families which are names of some of the local roads in present day.
When Berks County was established in 1752 almost all the land in Maidencreek Township and some neighboring townships was owned by the seventy families that belonged to Madiencreek Meeting group.
In July 1759 a little over 4 acres of land was purchased from the Lightfoot's and the present gray stone meetinghouse was erected and the burial ground established.
For 167 years it remained on the original acerage in the valley until its removal and rebuilding on the present site to accommodate the need of a reservoir for the nearby City of Reading.
The building to the east of the Meetinghouse was originally a schoolhouse functioning until possibly 1900. Records show the building became a caretaker's house in 1926. Afterwards the meetinghouse and 700 re-interred bodies from the old cemetery were moved to this present location.
The house to the west of the meetinghouse which is now a private residence was originally known as the Kindt's Corner Brick Meetinghouse, built in 1853 by Orthodox Quakers.
To Claim this virtual as a find please send answers to the following questions:
After you read the monument in the front of the meetinghouse, walk around the back and look for a plaque on the building... WHAT DOES IT SAY?
Then continue to the burial ground area and look for a flat stone with 3 initals and born in '54 ... WHAT ARE THE 3 INTIALS?
OPTIONAL: Please post a photo of you or your group infront of the meeting house sign.
PLEASE NO SPOILER PICTURES IN YOUR LOGS
Congratulations to phillies26 and Dad being FTF
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.