The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. Revivals and camp meetings continued to be held by various denominations, and in some areas of the mid-Atlantic, led to the development of seasonal cottages for meetings.
Mount Tabor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) established as a self-governing Methodist camp meeting in what is now Parsippany–Troy Hills, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Central Oak Heights is an association of cottage owners on 45 acres (0.22 km2) of wooded land in Kelly Township, Union County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was founded in 1909 as a religious campground and retreat by the Bible Conference Society of Central Pennsylvania of the United Evangelical Church.
Wesleyan Grove is a 34-acre (14 ha) National Historic Landmark District in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Also known as the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association (MVCMA) or the Campgrounds, it was the first summer religious camp established in the United States. It is famous for its approximately 300 colourful cottages in a style now described as Carpenter Gothic.
The Yarmouth Camp Ground Historic District is a historic district encompassing a religious summer camp meeting ground in Yarmouth and Barnstable, Massachusetts. The core of the camp ground was purchased in 1863 by the Sandwich District Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist Episcopal organization, and was operated until 1939. The area contains a well-preserved collection of predominantly residential buildings built during this period; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Craigville Historic District encompasses a historic religious camp meeting area in the Craigville section of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is centered on the junction of Lake Elizabeth Drive and Ocean Avenue, just west of Lake Elizabeth. The camp meeting was established in 1871 by the New England Convention of Christian Churches on land that was purchased from members of the Perry family. Along the grid of roads south of the main junction, gingerbread-decorated Gothic cottages were built over the following decades. The main tabernacle, an open-walled church, was built in 1887. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Glyndon Historic District is a national historic district in Glyndon, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a turn-of-the-20th-century community northeast of Reisterstown, Maryland, that began as a summer resort. The district is residential except for a small business district located at the intersection of Butler Road and the Western Maryland Railway tracks. The Emory Grove Campground on the northern boundary is occupied in the summer. A decided architectural homogeneity exists in Glyndon representing vernacular examples of late 19th century styles. They are typically frame, 2+1⁄2-story-high cottages, with one or occasionally 2-story front porches.
Indian Field Methodist Campground is a camp meeting site for the Methodist Church in Dorchester County, South Carolina. It is on SC Route S-18-73, off US Route 15, about 5 mi (8 km) north of Saint George. Indian Field was built in 1848 and has been a site for religious gatherings for over 160 years. It is associated with the Indian Field United Methodist Church located on U.S. Highway 15 about 2 miles (3 km) north of the campground and just south of U.S. Highway 178. It was named a historic district of the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1973.
Asbury Grove, located in Hamilton, Massachusetts, was formed during the camp meeting religious movement popular in the mid-19th century. Originally set on seventy-five acres of land, the camp was founded by the Methodist church in 1857. Ten of the original seventy-five acres were purchased from Joseph Dodge, a local farmer. This land included a farmhouse, which later became the Superintendent's Cottage.
Pitman Grove is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) historic district located in the borough of Pitman in Gloucester County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1977, for its significance in architecture, religion, and community planning. The district includes 349 contributing buildings.
The Massanetta Springs Historic District is a retreat in Rockingham County, Virginia, administered by the Presbyterian Synod of the Mid-Atlantic, and chiefly associated with the Massanetta Springs Summer Bible Conference Encampment. The district includes the Hotel (1910), Hudson Auditorium (1922) and Camp Massanetta (1955–56). A Methodist camp existed at the site, originally known as Taylor's Springs, from 1816.
The Mountain Grove Campground was a campground, active between 1872 and 1901, that formed part of the 19th- to early 20th-century camp meeting movement, where camping was combined with worshiping and listening to preachers. These meetings were often held by Protestants, in this case, Methodists. Mountain Grove Campground was a site and resort on the Danville, Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre Railroad in Black Creek Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It existed for approximately 30 years and was run by the Mountain Grove Camp Meeting Association. A businessman named G.M. Shoop was the original owner of the campground's land. Many prominent citizens of the surrounding area were in the association. During the campground's operation between 1872 and 1901, it was renovated and expanded several times. While the camp meetings that were held there were intended for Methodists, non-Methodists occasionally attended them.
St. Paul Camp Ground, also known as St. Paul A.M.E. Camp Ground, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal camp meeting and national historic district located near Harleyville, Dorchester County, South Carolina. The district encompasses 43 contributing buildings. It was established about 1880, and the buildings and grounds are used for one week each year. The tabernacle is a one-story building clad in rough-sawn weatherboard. Also on the property are 54 tents, two stores, and a storage house.
Cattle Creek Campground, also known as Cattle Creek United Methodist Church and Campground, is a historic camp meeting ground that is now a national historic district located near Rowesville, Orangeburg County, South Carolina. The district encompasses 37 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site. It was founded in 1786, although this date has been challenged. The campground burned in 1898 and was rebuilt. Another fire in 2017 destroyed 15 "tents," which were again rebuilt. It includes 36 cabins, called “tents,” arranged in a wide semi-circle. They are located around an open, 56 feet by 81 feet, pavilion structure known as the “stand” or “tabernacle.” Also located on the property is a cemetery. It is one of three remaining Methodist campgrounds in South Carolina.
Balls Creek Campground is a historic Methodist camp meeting and national historic district located near Bandy's Crossroads, Catawba County, North Carolina.
Chapel Hill Church Tabernacle is a historic Methodist church tabernacle located near Denton, Davidson County, North Carolina. It was built in 1870 and enlarged in the 1920s. It is a one-story, heavy-timber, open-framework building, open on three sides. It has a concrete floor and a gable-on-hip roof. The tabernacle was originally used for the religious services at the annual camp meetings. The tabernacle is located on the grounds of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, whose congregation dates from 1854.
The Pleasant Grove Camp Meeting Ground is a historic Methodist camp meeting national historic district located near Waxhaw, Union County, North Carolina. The district encompasses four contributing buildings and one contributing site. The main building is the arbor that dates to 1830. It is an 80 feet long by 60 feet wide open sided frame structure with a gable roof surround on all four sides by pent roof extensions. Located nearby are the church and former schoolhouse, now used as the preacher's dwelling, and the old cemetery.
The New Haven District Campground, also known as the Plainville Campground, is a historic Methodist camp meeting site on Gladding Avenue in Plainville, Connecticut. Opened in 1865, the campground was used by Connecticut Methodists to partake in the 19th-century trend of religious and recreational camp meetings, and is now a secular community of summer homes. The campground was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1980.
In Methodism, a tabernacle is the center of a camp meeting, where revival services occur. Tabernacles may be constructed in a cruciform-shaped fashion and are most often made of wood. Like the interior of many Methodist churches, in the center of the tabernacle is an altar upon which the Eucharist is consecrated; a pulpit stands near it and is used by preachers to deliver sermons. The area of the tabernacle housing the altar and pulpit is delimited by the mourner's bench. Surrounding the tabernacle itself are usually several cabins and/or tents, where people stay while attending the camp meeting.
The Sterling Camp Meeting Grounds, also known at the Worcester Methodist District Camp was a Methodist camp ground founded in 1852 that was located south of the East and West Waushacum Ponds and two miles south of Sterling, Massachusetts. The 14-mile Fitchburg and Worcester Rail Line brought visitors to Sterling Junction, which was a short walk to the Sterling Camp Meeting Grounds. The Boston and Maine Railroad brought people from Boston, Lowell, and Cambridge for the one week to 10-day retreats. More than 1,000 people attended the summer revivals from all over the state of Massachusetts. The site had a number of amenities for lodging, meals, and services.
