Mountain Grove Campground

In June 1872, G.M. Shoop, a businessman from Danville bought 28 acres of land on the site that would become the Mountain Grove Campground.[2] He reported this purchase in a meeting held on June 20, 1872, in Columbia County with a group of Methodists, including several ministers. In this meeting, an executive committee was appointed to arrange the camp meeting. The executive committee included Reverend S. Creighton, Reverend S. Barnes (the chairman), H.E. Sutherland (the secretary), Reverend B.P. King, Reverend E.T. Schwartz, M. Hartman, J.W. Cleaver, J.W. Eyer, and G.M. Shoop himself. Shoop intended to give the land to a local camp meeting organization once one existed.[5] This idea was well received by the district superintendent of the Methodist Church. A committee consisting of four pastors and five lay leaders was subsequently created for the camp meeting site. Craig Newton, a history professor at what would become the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, stated that the site purchased by Shoop would be an ideal location for a camp meeting site.[2]

The Danville District's presiding elder, Reverend S. Barnes, went to the Central Pennsylvania Conference in 1872 to make a report on opening the Mountain Grove Campground. He stated that the managers of the campground intended to "make it, perhaps, the best adapted and most attractive resort of its kind in all our Conference territory." Camp meeting sites had long been supported by the Central Pennsylvania Conference.[1] The Pennsylvania legislature chartered the campground in 1873.[6]

A professional architect was hired to design the Mountain Grove Campground. Major financial contributors to the campground included a Colonel Jackson from Berwick and the Low family from Lime Ridge.[2] It was under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church's Danville District. The campground was initially laid out hurriedly, being constructed in less than two months. It opened for the first time on August 14, 1872. By this point, approximately 70 small and hastily constructed cottages (referred to as tents) had been built. Between the 1872 camp meeting season and the 1873 camp meeting season, the buildings of the campground were significantly renovated. Three more acres and a hotel were also added to the campground during this time, on land bought from George W. Klase. The purpose of the purchase was to stop the sale of alcoholic drinks within two miles of the campground. Between 1873 and 1874, further additions were made to the campground. In 1875, a special train started to run past the campground three times a week during the camp meeting season. By 1881, the special train ran past the campground once per day. In 1884, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Philadelphia and Reading Railway began selling special fair excursion tickets for the campground. The campground was extended to 34 acres by 1885.[7] The Lehigh Valley Railroad began doing so as well in 1887.[1]

In the beginning of the operation of Mountain Grove Campground, the majority of people traveling there were worshipers.[2] In the 1870s and 1880s, the campground was one of the three largest camp meeting sites that residents of Columbia County attended. In 1875, approximately 2500 people attended the camp meeting. In 1881, it was decided that all the profit generated from the campground would be dedicated to expansion and improvement of it. In 1891, the duration of the camp meeting was increased from seven to thirteen days.[1] However, some people traveled there for a vacation. Within 20 years of the campground's opening, the majority of the people going there were there for a vacation, and trains carried bands and other entertainment-related items to the campground. However, people still continued to go there in large numbers for camp meeting. Local newspapers also began to advertise the campground as a resort instead of a camp meeting site.[2] This began with an advertisement written by John R. Rote, secretary of the Mountain Grove Camp Meeting Association, in the Columbia County Republican on July 9, 1891.[1]

The Mountain Grove Campground was affected relatively little by storms, as compared to other camp meeting sites in the area. However, in 1889, attendance of the camp meeting was significantly affected by inclement weather.[1]

Between the 1872 and 1873 camp meeting seasons, the cottages, also known as tents, in the Mountain Grove Campground were renovated. The renovations included enlarging the tents to dimensions of 9 by 18 feet (2.7 m × 5.5 m). Roofs with singled combs were also installed during this renovation. The stairways on the cottages were also improved during this time.[1]

Between the 1873 and the 1874 camp meeting seasons, the Mountain Grove Camp Meeting Association added more tents to the campground, increasing their number to almost 200. They also built a boarding house above the dining hall and a tabernacle was constructed across from the auditorium.[1]

Several more expansions and renovations were made to the Mountain Grove Campground in the 1880s. In 1883, the boarding house was expanded and in 1885, a number of water pipes were renovated and some buildings were repaired and repainted. The main office of the campground was built in 1887. More renovations were done in 1889 and 1892, by which time there were 240 tents.[1]

In the 1900, a final attempt to increase the attendance of the camp meetings at Mountain Grove Campground was made by the Board of Managers. As well as general renovation, this included an addition of a building called the Preacher's Home, which was situated behind the auditorium. The purpose of this was to attract preachers to attend, thus inspiring locals to attend as well. This plan was not successful.[1]

As railroads began to become more common, attendance of the Mountain Grove Campground began to decline.[2] The attendance of the campground dropped severely in 1891. On July 9, 1891, the campground placed an unusually large advertisement in a local newspaper. Attendance continued to drop in 1892.[1] The decline continued, despite efforts by the campground directors to increase the number of Chautauqua speakers and religious speakers.[2] Attempts were made throughout the 1890s to stave off the impending failure of the campground, but were largely unsuccessful. Later, the Board of Managers decided that they would open the campground specifically for special events, such as the Bloomsburg Methodist Church's plans for an eleven-car special train to carry picnickers and a band there. By the mid-1890s, it was permitted for visitors to bring their own supplies, rent multiple tents, and decide whether to stay for one or two weeks. A short branch line of the Danville, Hazleton, and Wilkes-Barre Railroad was then built to allow easier transport of visitors' baggage to the campground. Baggage carrying was also done for free and the attendance fee was also reduced. Only one of the twenty-five prominent local families who attended the camp meeting in the 1880s still attended it in the 1890s.[1]

However, one of the last camp meetings there, in 1900, was referred to as "interesting and profitable", although attendance had significantly dropped between 1898 and 1899.[1] When the campground closed for the season in 1901, no plans were made to reopen it in 1902. The campground directors then attempted to sell the land to the Pennsylvania Railroad, but they were unsuccessful. In 1903, a farmer bought the land and the tents, buildings, and platforms were all purchased by various individuals.[2] These items had all been sold within 18 months of the abandonment of the campground.[1] The last sign of the campground's existence was its boardwalk, which eventually rotted away.[2]

The area where the Mountain Grove Campground used to be currently contains sump holes and scrub.[1]

The Mountain Grove Campground was stated in the 1950s by Charles A. Johnson to be a "new-fashioned camp meeting". The newspaper editor James C. Brown stated that it was "one of the most delightful resorts in Pennsylvania".[1]

Camp meetings at the Mountain Grove Campground was held for seven to ten days each August. Several thousand people would attend the camp each year. By 1878, campground attendance on Saturdays had reached 4000 to 5000 people. The percentage of attendees who stayed for the whole duration of the camp meeting, as opposed to only part of it, also decreased during the 1890s.[1]