The Church on the Square, a Carpenter Gothic church built in 1887, is on the edge of the commercial district. In 2024, the Georgia Trust of Historic Preservation honored its restoration with the Excellence in Rehabilitation award.
The congregation began as Providence Methodist Church but changed the name to Clowers United Methodist Church after Thomas Clowers, who helped build the original log structure. The congregation relocated to Cataula and renamed itself the Cataula United Methodist Church. The church is still active as the Cataula Chapel.
Matthew’s Chapel, located between Waverly Hall and Woodland, Georgia, was built around the end of the Civil War. The Methodist Church showcases Greek Revival features. Additionally, the two doors provided separate entrances for men and women. The small cemetery is located to the right of the church.
Along the Reedy River in Greenville County, South Carolina, is the mill town of Conestee, founded in the 1830s. The McBee United Methodist Church, designed by John Adams and built in 1841, is located there. Adams utilized the octagonal design to allow for more seating space. At one point, a slave gallery was built above the floor seating. It was removed after the Civil War.
The church was named after Vardy McBee and his son Alexander, who donated money and land for its construction. In 1815, Vardry McBee purchased 11,000 acres in the area now known as Greenville and built a sawmill, brickyard, and ironworks.
Camp meetings are annual events hosted by churches to bring community and faith together for a week-long series of Protestant worship. There are several theories on how this practice started, but one of the most widely supported beliefs is that these meetings emulated Scottish and English events celebrating communion season, a weeklong holy fair that would end with the Lord’s supper.
The practice of camp meetings is similar to tent revivals, but attendees would stay on-site for the week. Camp meetings occur throughout the United States, but most of them happen in the South. Their purpose was often to provide a place and time to worship for people who lived in areas without easy access to a church. It was also about building community. Claudia Delviney (2002) states, “The camp meeting provided a place to affirm one’s humanity, and to find meaning and order in the turmoil of pioneer existence. The Christian gospel preached at these revivals celebrated the worthiness of the individual soul amidst an environment that threatened human worth” (p. 27).
Camp meeting sites are an important example of vernacular architecture and “town” planning because they show the importance of building lodges close together, providing porches for neighborly discussions, and a central gathering place for attendees to gather. These architectural highlights can be seen in religious campgrounds around the South.
The Loudsville Campgrounds are across from the Loudsville United Methodist Church in White County, Georgia. White County has four of the state’s extant camp meeting sites. Since 1838, families have gathered for the annual camp meeting in Loudsville. Except during the Civil War, the Louisville Campmeeting happened every year. Before the Civil War, families would bring the people they enslaved with them, and they would participate separately from the white families in an area set aside for them to participate.
Like many campgrounds, these meeting sites evolved from brush arbors to tents to wooden or metal buildings. The Louisville site illustrates the evolution of these structures from more rudimentary one-story buildings to two-story buildings that often include porches. According to the Loudsville Campmeeting website, there are over 73 “tents” with the plan to add more. Their annual meeting happens every July.
References:
Deviney, C. (2002). From spirit to structure: A study of Georgia’s Historic Camp Meeting Grounds [Master’s Thesis, University of Georgia]. https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/deviney_claudia_h_200212_mhp.pdf
Glover, P. (n.d.). History of Loudsville Campmeeting. Loudsville Campmeeting. Retrieved July 21, 2024, from https://www.loudsvillecampmeeting.com/ldvlhist.htm
Built in 1871, the Fillmore Street Chapel is Corinth’s oldest church. It began as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. From 1906 to 1976, it served as the Fillmore Street Presbyterian Church. It is now a Methodist Church.
It was documented during the Historic American Buildings Survey. The photos below are from the Library of Congress.
