When I mentioned The Bloodshot Eye recently I hadn’t realized that I’d stumbled upon a “thing”. I’d encountered a long history of annual Camp Meetings held by the Methodist Church.
Back then I featured the unusual circle-and-spokes streets of Pitman Grove, New Jersey (map). Of course that included the tiny Victorian-era cottages that lined them. Further research uncovered Pitman Grove’s origins as a Camp Meeting spot first used in the 1870’s. Eventually this area evolved into a distinct neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A “long time reader, first time caller” who preferred to remain anonymous brought a similar place to my attention. This one occupied North Merrick, New York. People called it Tiny Town (map) colloquially.
As described by Long Island Newsday,
“The neighborhood, known as Campgrounds or Tiny Town, arose from Methodist summer revival camp meetings held by the Long Island Camp Meeting Association beginning in 1869… There was a large population of Methodists in Brooklyn and Queens, but not a lot of land there… During the first summers, the campground consisted of the tabernacle in the open field in the center encircled by two rows where tents were pitched and carriages parked for 10 days of services.”
Camp Meetings
Several Protestant denominations in the newly independent United States popularized Camp Meetings beginning in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. People on the frontier didn’t cluster close enough together in the early years to justify enough physical churches to meet the religious needs of a widely scattered population. So itinerant preachers migrated across the countryside. They erected tents in convenient places and held camp for a week or more at a time as the seasons permitted.
Local residents lived too far away to attend these services in a single day so they brought their wagons and tents and camped for awhile. This might be their only contact with friends and family for an entire year so camp meetings met social needs as well as spiritual. There were hundreds of such campgrounds. Dozens have survived into the modern era where people continue to gather each year as they’ve done for a century and a half or longer.
The Methodist variation — the one I’d stumbled upon — entrenched solidly within the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The Methodist church and its camps were based upon the teachings of John Wesley. Invariably one will find a road or a street named Wesley near many of the campgrounds mentioned in this article.
The Mid-Atlantic wasn’t quite as “frontier” as the expanding areas of the nation. Here, campgrounds tended to cluster near the seashore. They provided respite from city living, a means to separate from the daily hassles of densely-packed tenements and allowed participants to immerse and rejuvenate spiritually in an attractive holiday-like setting.
I found way too many examples of Methodist campgrounds that later became towns to attempt to discuss them all. Instead I selected a few representative places to show the transition from camp to town as well as to highlight the geographic spread within and beyond the periphery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Denver, North Carolina, USA
The Rock Springs Campmeeting has gathered at the same spot outside of Denver, NC (map) since at least 1830, and at earlier incarnations as far back as 1794.
“For over two centuries, God has called the people together in worship and community under the Rock Springs’ arbor… People would travel many miles to attend the annual event, camping in tents, covered wagons, and makeshift shelters of brush. They’d cook over open fires and attend the religious services throughout the morning, afternoon and evening… The camp is incorporated after the style of a town, and governed much the same way. There is a central meeting pavilion, called the Arbor, which is surrounded by some 258+ ‘tents’. The tents, as they are called, are small; roughly built cabins… Most all of the tents have been passed down from one generation to the next.”
Rock Springs is the sole surviving Methodist Camp Meeting in North Carolina. It represented a good example of the initial step from camp to town with its rough, weather-beaten structures. They are permanent structures, however, probably suitable only for seasonal use.
Lancaster, Ohio, USA
The Lancaster Camp Ground traced back to 1878 at its current location, and it first began in 1872.
“For its first twenty years or so, the Camp Ground stressed a strictly evangelism oriented ‘Camp Meeting’. Around 1892, however, the Chautauqua Movement was introduced into the program… thousands of people came by way of the railroad and horses and buggies to the Lancaster Camp Ground. They came to hear speakers like Billy Sunday, William Jennings Bryan, and President William McKinley…”
To accommodate crowds, an auditorium followed, then a hotel, then a grocery, then streets, then cottages, and then year-round residents. Today approximately 240 cottages remain within the National Historic District. Many structures house permanent residents. Others are available for purchase or rental for seasonal use.
The Lancaster Camp Ground continues to remain very active in pursuit of its original purpose. The “town” that formed around it focuses clearly on religion and learning.
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, USA
The Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association began in 1835 to “conduct religious meetings on Martha’s Vineyard, during the summer”. The site in Oak Bluffs now includes about 300 cottages in an area called Cottage City (map) .
Many of these buildings, while small, include elaborate woodwork, often described as “gingerbread cottages.” The Camp Meeting Association remains active although the surrounding area has become rather more secular. The neighborhood of dollhouse cottages has also become somewhat of a tourist attraction.
“Along with the hordes of people making the pilgrimage to Cottage City, as the town was then called, came commerce. Though attracted by the spectacle of the campmeeting, the beauty of the area soon became a draw on its own and developers started buying up the area around the campground. Businesses sprouted and the resort town of Oak Bluffs was born.”
The final step of the evolution would be those Methodist Camp Meetings that evolved into completely secular towns with little meaningful connection to their original religious purpose. Pitman Grove is heading in that direction although they still events in its tabernacle. Tiny Town in New York may have also reached that point. I found occasional (if minor) contemporary references to the Long Island Camp Meeting Association. Other places completed the transition. For instance, I go to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware regularly. I had no idea until I researched this article that the town originated from the Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting Association.
What Might the Future Bring?
I couldn’t help thinking, as I continued to research the Camp Meeting phenomenon further, of certain similarities to the Burning Man festival. While not a Christian religious gathering, Burning Man also occurs annually, creates a sense of community, and demonstrates a level of devotion and fervor through its participants. It seemed to be a modern incarnation of the Camp Meeting phenomenon. While Burning Man’s Black Rock City (map) follows the precepts of “leave no trace” each year, what will the playa look like after another 150 years of gatherings? Will we ever witness the germination of a Tiny Town on the Black Rock Desert?
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