South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

St. Paul Camp Ground, Dorchester County (940 St. Paul Rd., Harleyville vicinity)
S1081771800801 S1081771800802 S1081771800803 S1081771800804 S1081771800805
Tabernacle Tabernacle
Interior
Tents #32, 33, and 34 Tent #10 Tents
Rearview

(St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Camp Ground) St. Paul Camp Ground is an excellent example of a Methodist camp meeting ground. It contains the buildings common to such properties in South Carolina: a tabernacle, tents, stores, and privies. However, this campground, believed to have been established ca. 1880, was organized by African-Americans belonging to St. Paul A.M.E. Church. The buildings and grounds are used for one week each year (at St. Paul, the week ending the third Sunday in October). The tabernacle is a one-story building clad in rough-sawn weatherboard, with a gable-on-hip roof of V-crimped metal. There are no windows; two entryways, without doors, are evenly spaced at each side. There are 54 tents, two stores, and a storage house on the numbered sites at St. Paul Camp Ground. Twelve sites are vacant. Most of the tents have been rebuilt over time, but retain the style of the earlier structures. The two stores are an integral part of the campground. The one-story frame buildings occupy spots in the circle. The storehouse is a one-story gable roofed building similar to a tent. The privies, in accordance with campground rules, are behind the tents, outside the paved ring road. Privies are ephemeral structures, frequently replaced or moved, but most are small frame structures with a rear-sloping metal shed roof, weatherboard siding, and an entry in the side facing the tents. Listed in the National Register April 30, 1998.

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