174 Years of Revival

The first time I saw the Marietta Camp Ground, I knew I had found something special.

I had recently moved to Marietta and was looking for East Cobb Park when I saw it. I was so excited that I nearly stopped the car, for I had seen something exactly like it two years earlier while exploring country roads near Waxhaw, N.C.: a crowded ring of ramshackle cottages facing in on a grassy, tree-shaded quad.

These camps are slices of pure American history–living, functioning reminders of the days of itinerant preachers and frontier Christianity.

The word “frontier” catches some people off guard; it is easy to forget that, in 1832, Cobb County was the frontier. Even as the fledgling town of Marietta began to take shape, the outlying county was still wild, rough, and sparsely populated. Miles sometimes separated one farming family from the next. Churches were few, trained clergy were fewer, and fireside religion was the order of the day.

Then came the circuit riders–traveling ministers who preached in the open air, following the examples of men like George Whitfield. The revivals they preached provided more than spiritual nourishment; they provided a break from the mundane and were causes for social gatherings.

Families came from the surrounding counties to hear them, often packing their belongings on ox-drawn carts in preparation for a month-long stay. They pitched their tents together in fields and spent the hours between sermons cooking and eating, forging friendships, trading wares, sharing music and stories and sparking courtships.

For families who lived and farmed in relative isolation, these camp meetings became the highlight of the year. Many wanted to keep the meetings as a permanent fixture, even as small congregations began to establish actual churches.

In 1837, Isaac and Samuel Sewell, Wisdom Gober and William Mays secured the deed to 40 acres of land on the Roswell Road, four miles east of Marietta. As the same families attended year after year, they replaced their tents with permanent structures, although they still refer to the cabins as “tents” to this day.

Similar camp meetings took place throughout the United States. Unique to the American experience, these revivals contributed to what historians call the Second Great Awakening.

The Marietta Camp Meeting has continued as an annual event from 1837 to the present day, interrupted briefly during the Civil War years. Although closely associated with the United Methodist Church, the meetings are considered non-denominational and are open to the community at large.

This year’s camp meeting will take place July 15 through 24. For information, visit http://mariettacampmeeting.org.