{"nrhp_refnum":"05000429","name":"Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1250 Campground Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Des Plaines","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.032887965500066,"lon":-87.88891964394236,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-05-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A thirty-five acre camp meeting village on the eastern edge of Des Plaines, Cook County, Illinois, along the Des Plaines River, laid out in 1865 with tabernacles, cottages and public buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a surviving Methodist camp meeting village in continuous summer use since 1865. Its circular plan around the Waldorf Tabernacle, with radiating streets and densely set wooden cottages, reflects the camp meeting phenomenon. The first camp meeting here was held in 1860 near the railroad, which was crucial to its growth.","narrative":"Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground is a thirty-five acre village in the woods on the eastern edge of Des Plaines, Illinois, about twenty miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Tabernacles, cottages and public buildings line narrow sidewalks and streets arranged around a central circle, where the Waldorf Tabernacle serves as the spiritual heart. Wesley Tabernacle, in the southern part, was used by Swedish-speaking members. Most of the 121 contributing buildings are white-painted, 1-1/2 story wood-frame cottages with gable roofs, built between 1865 and the 1920s using balloon-frame construction. They were built quickly and cheaply to house families or church groups during week-long summer meetings. The first Des Plaines camp meeting took place in 1860 near the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, which helped bring thousands of attendees. The site was moved and laid out in its present form in 1865 and has been used every summer since. Its plan and cottage type reflect the Methodist camp meeting tradition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian; Other: Camp Meeting Cottages","criteria":[],"status_note":"In continuous summer use since 1865; cottages are used by owners roughly May through October and very few have been winterized.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.103761-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/42/8920/28892042/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/05000429.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000429/f2eed71932-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000429/f2eed71932-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Des_Plaines_Camp_Ground.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08 at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Des_Plaines_Camp_Ground.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892042","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Plaines_Methodist_Camp_Ground","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16829470"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/des-plaines-methodist-camp-ground-05000429/"}