Other Camp Meeting Auditoriums

A comparative look at evangelical camp meeting auditoriums from Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia that share architectural similarities with the 1903 Purcellville Bush Meeting Auditorium in Loudoun County, Virginia.

The Purcellville Bush Meeting Auditorium, constructed in 1903, is similar to other evangelical meeting pavillions. They were often constructed at campgrounds that attracted thousands of people.

Set within a maintained lawn and surrounded by trees, the amphitheatre of Ottawa Chautauqua Grounds, near Ottawa, Illinois appears to have been similar in form to the Purcellville auditorium.

Postcard of Ottawa Chautauqua Auditorium, mailed in 1909.

John Franklin Grimes, in his book The Romance of the American Camp Meeting, depicts a building called The Temple that has some similarities with the Purcellville auditorium. Rather than the sliding doors at Purcellville that could be opened to allow for a greater audience, this auditorium had shades hinged at the eave that could be lifted. It was located at the Lancaster Camp Ground in Ohio.¹

The Temple at Lancaster Camp Ground — The Temple, Lancaster Camp Ground, Image Courtesy Google Books

The Sulphur Springs Methodist Campground, located in Washington County, Tennessee, had a large auditorium that was timber framed, had a standing-seam metal roof, and had a dirt floor. Like at Purcellville, it was built on land that sloped down towards the stage. As with many of the pavillion-like auditoriums, visitors sat on long wooden benches.

Sulpher Springs Auditorium — Sulpher Springs Methodist Campground Auditorium, Washington County, TN, Historic American Buildings Survey, Photo Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

The auditorium at the Salem Campground near Covington, Georgia was also timber framed. Again, wood benches were spaced throughout the building on a dirt floor.

The timber framing and connections shown in this photo of the interior of the Salem Campground Auditorium, while having some similarities to those in the Purcellville auditorium, shows that there were several methods used to support a large roof over a spacious meeting hall.

Timber framing as seen inside the Salem Campground Auditorium — Interior Timber Framing of Salem Campground Auditorium, near Covington, GA, Historic American Buildings Survey, Photo Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

John Franklin Grimes, "The Romance of the American Camp Meeting," The Caxton Press, Cincinnati, 1922, p. 81. ↩

Footnotes