Forty Fort Meetinghouse

The first European settler in the area came from Connecticut in the late 18th century. In 1768 public lands were set aside in the area for churches by the Susquehanna Company, but because of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars and the American Revolution actual building of the churches was delayed by over 30 years. An unfinished meetinghouse nearby was destroyed after the Battle of Wyoming in 1778.

Joseph Hitchcock of New Haven, Connecticut, who also designed the Old Ship Zion Church in Wilkes-Barre, designed the meetinghouse. It was the first completed church used for religious services in the area. It was a Union Church with both Congregationalist (now Presbyterians) and Methodists worshipping in the church. By 1837, both groups had built their own churches, and the meetinghouse has been used rarely since. In 1869, the Forty Fort Cemetery Association was created by the Pennsylvania state legislature and the Association still owns the church and cemetery.^[2][3]

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  Interior of the meetinghouse, looking toward the pulpit
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  Interior of the meetinghouse

• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-21, "Forty Fort Meetinghouse, River Street, Forty Fort, Luzerne County, PA", 4 photos, 9 measured drawings, 3 data pages, supplemental material
• SAH Archipedia Building Entry