Cooperative Living August 2021 - 4

OurCommunities
Vol. 75, No. 8
ISSN 1529-4579
STEVENJOHNSON
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Deputy Editor
GREGG MACDONALD
Senior Writer/Editor
JOHN GROTT
Creative Services Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Marketing Coordinator
JIM ROBERTSON
Member Projects Specialist
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Digital Producer
NINAJACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
To change your subscription,
contact your electric cooperative.
For editorial inquiries, contact
the magazine at (804) 346-3344
or editor@co-opliving.com.
Published by the Virginia, Maryland &
Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives
PATRICIA S. DOREY
Chair
RUSSELL G. BROWN
Vice Chair
WADE C. HOUSE
Secretary/Treasurer
BRIAN S. MOSIER
President & CEO
Board of Directors: Christopher D. Bott, Belvin Williamson Jr.,
A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George
N. Goin, Gary E.Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold,
Micheal E. Malandro, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven
A. Harmon, Community; James E. Huffman, Jeff M.Ahearn,
Craig-Botetourt; Patricia S. Dorey, Gregory Starheim, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee Jr., Mecklenburg; Russell
G. Brown, Brad H. Hicks, Northern Neck; Wade C. House,
Stan C. Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; David T. Kindle, Brad
Coppock, Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Casey J. Logan,
Prince George; Sanford Reaves Jr., John D. Hewa, Rappahannock;
G. Todd Van Horn, Greg S. Rogers, Shenandoah Valley; Frank
W. Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
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COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
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issues, by the Va., Md. &Del. Association of
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ADVERTISING published is accepted on the
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Our Communities is a story and picture
feature that celebrates the spirit of
co-op country. Have a submission that
depicts your co-op or community?
Contact editor@co-opliving.com.
Hidden in
Plain Sight
It once was a community center. Now it needs help.
IF YOU PASS BY IT, YOU MIGHT THINK IT WAS JUST AN OLD BUILDING. That's a shame, because the
Tuckahoe Neck Quaker Meeting House in Denton, Md., is one of the oldest wooden structures in continuous
use as a house of worship in the United States.
The meeting house, in Choptank Electric Cooperative territory near Maryland 404, was built in 1802,
though it represents a movement of the Society of Friends on the Eastern Shore that dates back to 1682.
The Quakers used the building until 1897, and it served several other capacities. Quakers and nonmembers
conducted a school from 1856 to 1858, and again from 1877 to 1879. During the Civil War, it was a barracks
for Union soldiers − soldiers reportedly left the building on Sundays, allowing the Quakers to hold their
meetings. The Dunkard Brethren established a church for Black citizens and, finally, the building served as
a public school from 1899 to 1900.
Over time, though, the meeting house fell into disrepair. Some restoration took place from 2002 to
2004, and work repaired the east side of the building in 2019. But the other three sides and a plan for
regular maintenance was up in the air until the Friends of the Tuckahoe Neck Quaker Meeting House came
up with a plan and started looking for donations to help preserve a part of an Eastern Shore community.
They plan a celebration of thanks and rededication on Sept. 26, the 219th anniversary of the first meeting. 
To help, visit choptankriverheritage.org/wp3/quaker-meetinghouse, click on donate and follow
the meeting house link. Thanks to Jo Ann Staples and Don Barker for their assistance with this article.
2 | August 2021
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Cooperative Living August 2021

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