Hatfield Township

Fricks Trail
2900 Line Lexington Road

Frick Meetinghouse, Burial Ground, and Native Sanctuary is a special place where local Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, and Church of the Brethren have worked out what it means to be Anabaptist for more than 250 years, especially during periods of war. Around 1756, Jacob Sauter, a Mennonite, gave a little tract of land along the Beaver Creek for a Mennonite burial ground. Around 1812 the first meetinghouse on the site was built close to the creek, a branch of the Neshaminy River, by the "Funkites," who splintered from local Mennonite churches over allegiance issues of conscience during the Revolutionary War. Around 1882, after the Civil War, Peter Frick donated some land to build the meetinghouse that now exists on the site, reusing materials from the deserted Funkite meetinghouse. For a generation thereafter, the new building housed union worship services led by Henry H. Rosenberger of the Brethren in Christ, Hilary Crouthamel of Hatfield Church of the Brethren, and Christian Allebach of Towamencin Mennonite Church. In August 1942 during World War 2, Abraham Rosenberger cleaned and repaired the existing building again to foster Anabaptist spiritual renewal, hosting speakers from the Church of the Brethren, Brethren in Christ, and Mennonite Churches for annual services over the next 50 years. In 1958, 1977, and 2005 the trustees purchased additional acres around the meetinghouse. The Frick Meetinghouse, Burial Ground, and Native Sanctuary today includes a historic Meetinghouse, the historic burial ground and modern memorial garden, and the outlying agricultural grounds, which are maintained as a native plant and tree sanctuary and open to the public. There is public parking at 2851 East Orvilla Road in Hatfield, PA 19440 and mowed pedestrian paths throughout the property with a connection to Frick’s Trail.