In 1638, exiled religious dissidents from the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded Portsmouth, the second oldest colonial community in Rhode Island. The Quaker community developed shortly after the community was founded.
The current meetinghouse was built around 1699–1700. The building was used as a Quaker house of worship and school. During the American Revolutionary War, British troops occupied the building. In 1784 the Moses Brown School was founded at the church. The meeting house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[2]
The meetinghouse was listed for sale after the Friends' Church regional headquarters closed the church in 2017 in response to dwindling membership.[3] In 2020, the local congregation regained legal control of the meetinghouse and re-opened it for services after renovations.[4]
