The Trenton Preparative (Orthodox) meeting was established at the time of the great Separation. For the first 20 years of its existence, the meeting met in the homes of the members until 1858 where their new meeting house on Mercer Street was completed. The original Orthodox preparative meeting was discontinued in 1835 and its members were transferred to Stony Brook, but in 1841, the meeting was re-established. In 1955, the two sides of the preprative meeting were united, eliminating the need for the Mercer street meetinghouse.
In 1958, the former meetinghouse became the home of a Quaker-affiliated social service agency known as Mercer Street Friends, focusing on providing much-needed services in the area.