{"nrhp_refnum":"72000970","name":"Rock Springs Camp Meeting Ground","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"SR 1373 off NC 16","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lincolnton","county":"Lincoln County","state":"NC","lat":35.53966733900006,"lon":-81.02564031699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-09-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Methodist August camp meeting ground near Lincolnton, Lincoln County, North Carolina, on about eight acres. It has 288 numbered wooden \"tents\" in concentric square rows around a central arbor, laid out in 1830.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the earliest camp meeting organization in North Carolina and possibly one of the earliest in the country. It is also one of the few camp meeting sites in the state still active. It embodies the communal religious spirit of the Piedmont and western North Carolina, and its tents form a distinctive architectural group.","narrative":"Rock Springs Camp Meeting Ground is a Methodist revival site near Lincolnton where families gather each August. It consists of 288 numbered wooden \"tents,\" built as one-story row houses with shared walls, set in two full square rows and a partial third around an oak-planted grove. At the center stands the arbor, a roofed, open-sided shelter built in 1832 for $255, with hand-hewn mortise-and-tenon timbers and seating for about 1,000. Lots were laid out and sold in 1830 on land deeded to the camp ground trustees, and permanent shelters followed several years later. Tent No. 1, of squared saddle-notched logs, is believed to be the oldest. The ground was incorporated in 1851. It was listed as the earliest camp meeting organization in North Carolina, possibly among the earliest in the country, and as one of the few state sites still active. The gathering continues each first week of August.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated good; in active religious use, with the camp meeting held each first week of August and new tents still being added.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.770995-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7211/47721104/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/72000970.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721104","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/lincoln-county/rock-springs-camp-meeting-ground-72000970/"}