Menu
© Historic Charleston Foundation
Twelve color slides of African-American Methodist tabernacles and camp meeting grounds in Dorchester County:
a-k: Views of the St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Tabernacle and Camp Ground in Harleyville. (Photo K not shown.)
l: View of Shady Grove Methodist Camp Ground in St. George.
St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Camp Ground: An excellent example of a Methodist camp meeting ground. It contains the buildings common to such properties in South Carolina: a tabernacle, tents, stores, and privies. However, this campground, believed to have been established ca. 1880, was organized by African-Americans belonging to St. Paul A.M.E. Church. The buildings and grounds are used for one week each year (at St. Paul, the week ending the third Sunday in October). The tabernacle is a one-story building clad in rough-sawn weatherboard, with a gable-on-hip roof of V-crimped metal. There are no windows; two entryways, without doors, are evenly spaced at each side. There are 54 tents, two stores, and a storage house on the numbered sites at St. Paul Camp Ground. Twelve sites are vacant. Most of the tents have been rebuilt over time, but retain the style of the earlier structures. The two stores are an integral part of the campground. The one-story frame buildings occupy spots in the circle. The storehouse is a one-story gable roofed building similar to a tent. The privies, in accordance with campground rules, are behind the tents, outside the paved ring road. Privies are ephemeral structures, frequently replaced or moved, but most are small frame structures with a rear-sloping metal shed roof, weatherboard siding, and an entry in the side facing the tents. Listed in the National Register April 30, 1998. (Source: SCDAH website.) Photos likely taken in support of the National Register of Historic Places nomination.
Shady Grove Methodist Camp Ground: Organized and established by newly-freed slaves after the Civil War. The group called its congregation Shady Grove and initially worshiped beneath the namesake boughs, as many early churches did. Later, rough hewn cabins were built to house worshipers when they came for revivals and services. The cabins are referred to as "tents," and many families have owned their tents for generations. Tents are very rustic, generally consisting of a hay-covered dirt floor (though Shady Grove tents now boast concrete floors), a sleeping loft, and a kitchen. Outhouses surround the tents, which are typically arranged in a circle around the central tabernacle. At Shady Grove, an additional row of tents stands behind the circle, accommodating more worshipers. (Source: Brandon Coffey, SC Picture Project website.)