Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Our Historic Meetinghouse

Our present brick Meetinghouse, the third on this site, was built in 1817 on land which had been conveyed in 1753 by James Brooke to Roger, Richard, and Basil Brooke in trust for the Society of Friends. In 1868 the porch was added to the Meetinghouse, and in 1968 the balcony was added. (The balcony is faced with the partitions which had separated the men's and women's sides of the Meeting room.) The benches in the Meetinghouse were made by Mahlon Chandlee.

The entire Building has mellowed with the years. The grounds have retained their original rural charm, and still include many large and beautiful trees. In the quietude of the adjacent cemetery lie past generations of Friends, and others from the Sandy Spring community. Friends from the ealiest years are burried in unmarked graves close to the Meetinghouse. Behind the Meetinghouse is a Memorial Grove where ashes of deceased Friends have been scattered.

On the other side of the cemetary stands the Community House, used for the First Day School and committee and fellowship activities. Built in 1859, it was the Lyceum for the neighborhood until 1927. It was remodeled as the Community House in 1928. Since then it has been expanded several times, with the latest addition completed in 1985.