text: mountain grove campground 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 . location and description the mountain grove campground was located approximately halfway between bloomsburg and hazleton . it was adjacent to the historical community of mountain grove , which had a population of 65 in 1880 , and was located on the danville , hazleton and wilkes - barre railroad . most attenders came by railroad came from stations in catawissa or hazleton . the campground had its own railroad station and post office . the campground 's elevation was more than 1 , 000 feet ( 300 m ) above sea level and it was situated in a wooded grove immediately east of mccauley mountain and in close proximity to scotch valley . mccauley mountain protected the site from strong west winds . mountain grove campground was designed with a layout similar to a miniaturized version of washington , d.c. it had a center avenue and five other avenues called a , b , c , d , and e. the center avenue ran from a large tabernacle to a living area for the preachers . there were also a many tents and sites of cottages in the campground and a large administration building on the site housed a number of offices . the campground had outdoor fireplaces , which encouraged picnics . the main hall , which was constructed in 1887 , was 26 by 60 feet ( 7 . 9 m × 18 . 3 m ) and had two stories . according to a local atlas , mountain grove campground was semicircular in shape , with avenues radiating out towards the sides . an open space for worshiping was on the camp meeting site , and it was surrounded by more tents . when this area was filled up , more people would set up tents along the avenues that radiated outward from the camp . the location of the mountain grove campground was chosen was selected for several reasons . one of these was its proximity to the communities of hazleton and bloomsburg . by road , bloomsburg and hazleton were both 17 miles ( 27 km ) miles from the campground . the campground was approachable by road from three directions . establishment and history early history 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 . 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. , and g.m. shoop himself . shoop intended to give the land to a local camp meeting organization once one existed . 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 . 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 . the pennsylvania legislature chartered the campground in 1873 . 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 . 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. . 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 . the lehigh valley railroad began doing so as well in 1887 . in the beginning of the operation of mountain grove campground , the majority of people traveling there were worshipers . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . expansions and renovations 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . decline and later history as railroads began to become more common , attendance of the mountain grove campground began to decline . 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 . the decline continued , despite efforts by the campground directors to increase the number of chautauqua speakers and religious speakers . 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 . 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 . 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 . these items had all been sold within 18 months of the abandonment of the campground . the last sign of the campground 's existence was its boardwalk , which eventually rotted away . the area where the mountain grove campground used to be currently contains sump holes and scrub . 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 " . campground visits and attendance 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 . the camp meetings camp meetings at the mountain grove campground began at 7 : 30 p.m. on a wednesday night with a bell that summoned the attendees to a welcome sermon . from thursday through saturday , days of camp meeting consisted of a prayer period at 8 : 30 a.m. , a sermon at 10 : 30 a.m. , a service for children at 1 : 30 p.m. , and a second sermon at 3 : 30 p.m. a third sermon would be delivered by a minister from another district at 7 : 30 p.m. on sundays , the day began with an " experience day " at 8 : 20 a.m. other than that , sundays were similar to other days , except that an acclaimed visitor would give a sermon at 3 : 00 p.m. the three days after that followed the same schedule as thursdays through saturdays . the camp meetings were closed at 12 : 30 p.m. on thursday . following the increase in the length of the camp meeting to 13 days , the schedule was adjusted . thursday was designated as a temperance day . the following days were , in chronological order , designated as a chautauqua day , a missionary day , a sunday school and epworth league day , and eight days of other religious events . the meetings concluded in the campground 's auditorium . the mountain grove camp meeting association added a chautauqua day to the camp meeting in 1885 , and it became highly popular . it occurred on the first thursday of the meeting . a number of people , including lyman abbot , frequented the chautauqua days as a speaker . to keep them from interfering with other camp meeting activities , the day was moved to the tuesday before the official start of the meeting in 1886 , but in 1889 , it was moved to the first wednesday . financial information and leadership the mountain grove camp meeting association was formed after a decision by a nine - man committee . it was decided on august 19 , 1872 that the company would be a joint - stock company . its capital stock in 1873 was $ 14 , 000 . g.m. shoop was a significant stockholder in the company . he was the manager of the campground and the association secretary during the 1870s . high - ranking members of the mountain grove camp meeting association during the 1870s included presiding elder barnes , reverend s. creighton , and the businessmen and politicians b.g. welch , mordecai w. jackson , and a.j. . the newspaper editor e.m. was also prominent within the association . in the early 1880s , the businessmen low , fowler , and lloyd t. sharpless also became prominent in the association . the campground typically grossed approximately $ 4000 per year during the 1880s . in 1885 , the mountain grove camp meeting association created a chautauqua department . w.m. gearhart was the initial president of this department and s.c. jayne was the initial secretary .