It was an ordinary day. Walking around the grounds known at one time as "The Harrisburg District Camp Meeting Association of Landisville, PA." For years I have driven past the beautifully enclosed grounds, not knowing exactly what I was passing. Recently my wife and I have been attending baseball games at Hempfield High School which sits next to the meeting grounds.
Our grandson played on the High School team and since the season has just come to a close, I decided it was time to visit the property that for the past few months had drawn my attention each and every evening there was a baseball game.  |
| Sign along Church Street |
According to the sign posted on Church Street, the grounds are known as the Landisville Campmeeting Association Grounds. Checking online I found that: "The Landisville Camp Meeting Association is a fellowship of Bible-believing Christians seeking to help win the unsaved to a life changing experience with Christ, sharing the transforming truths of God's saving and healing power, by word and deed, striving to learn and grow in Jesus Christ." As I continued on with my online reading it said: The Road Less Traveled. Slow down the day. Those of us who are residents or members of Landisville Camp Meeting have taken the road less traveled. As you enter the gate to our beautiful community, there is no rush in life. Remember to go for a walk outdoors and reconnect with the blessing of walking on consecrated ground. Stop and listen to the birds that live in our many trees. Take time to smell the beautiful flowers carefully planted by our residents. Stop for a few minutes and just enjoy some quiet time with our Lord. And, by all means, whip up an easy covered dish and join us for the Friday night meal at 5:30 pm in the Tea Room. So, I turned the car into the circa 1870 camp meeting grounds and began my journey throughout the area for the next hour or so. I first had to figure which road I was allowed to travel upon, since there were so many "One Way, Do Not Enter" signs throughout the property.  |
| This is the Gatehouse, also known as the GateKeeper's House inside the entrance. |
The road took me through a beautiful wooded area that seems to still have an ample amount of oak and hickory trees as described online. There were beautiful houses, most small, that were spread throughout the camp-meeting grounds. Eventually I saw what I guessed was the place where they worshiped.  |
| Beautiful entrance leading to the cottages. |
At one time most everyone who came to the location were Methodists, but today the meetings are designed to promote everyone's interest in the Kingdom of Christ. The original place of worship was a square-shaped auditorium which could seat about 4,000. With straw on the grounds and plank seats, it resembled a large open tent. Then in 1907 the present tabernacle was built which is rectangular and seats about 1,000 people. I parked my car next to the tabernacle and looked in the windows.  |
| I assumed this was the latest Tabernacle. |
Rows and rows of dark-colored seats stretched from close to the front to the back of the tabernacle. Across the front was a sign reading "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM" with a smaller sign behind it on the far wall that read, "Jesus is The Joy of Living."  |
| This photograph was taken through a windowpane of the Tabernacle's interior. |
Light was shining in through the windows and made for a very intimate setting. I could picture a filled congregation listening to the sermon on a warm summer Sunday. As I turned around I saw the first person driving towards me in a car. They welcomed me to the campgrounds and asked why I was there.  |
| A few of the wooden cottages on the property. |
I explained I had seen the place hundreds of times and thought it was time for a visit and a few pictures. I was told that the yellow house by the front gate was the gatehouse or caretaker's house and they could help answer my questions if I had any. The gatehouse was built in 1913. At first the grounds were used mostly by campers who set up tents on the property. The first camp meeting was held in 1870 with campers living in tents arranged around the auditorium. Their leader was Rev. C.T. Thompson, pastor of the Duke Street Methodist Church in Lancaster. Religious camp meetings in the United States had their origin in Kentucky in 1799 and soon after the Methodist church took up the idea, thus the location where I am now standing. On June 16, 1873, the name was changed to Landisville Camp Meeting Association.  |
| Another turn in the road yielded these cottages. |
As I toured the property in my car, I noticed many beautiful cottages on the grounds. I read that the first cottage was built facing the entrance of the tabernacle. It was built by a Mr. Park and was known as the "White House" since he whitewashed the cottage every year. The Centennial cottage near the tabernacle was brought to the campgrounds in 1877 from the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. I'm sorry to say I had no way to identify either cottage in order to take photographs of them, since there were quite a few white cottages.  |
| Most cottages were in fairly good condition, but there were a few that needed major work done to them to make them livable. These cottages where all white in color. |
I did notice that there were bathroom facilities outside the tabernacle. So, who are the residents of these neat little homes and do they live her year-round? Physicians, ministers, tradespeople, farmers, business owners and retirees call Landisville Camp Meeting their "Summer Home." I do remember seeing some activity during the winter months as I passed the campgrounds, but it seems to have come to life when the weather began to warm for the spring and summer. Follow along tomorrow when I show you more of the Campgrounds and a beautiful old log cabin nearby the Campgrounds. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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