Pleasant Grove Camp Meeting Ground
Why it's listed
Pleasant Grove Camp Meeting Ground is a rural religious gathering site near Waxhaw in Union County, North Carolina. Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church bought twenty-four acres in 1830, and the site grew from the earlier McWhirter Camp Ground, which lacked a good water supply. A five-acre open square is lined with small frame "tents" once occupied by families during the annual meeting. At its center stands an open-sided frame arbor, eighty by sixty feet, with mortise-and-tenon framing said to date from 1830 and a hip-style pent roof. A frame church dating from 1895 and a former schoolhouse used as a preacher's dwelling stand nearby, along with a graveyard. More than 200 tents were reportedly built before 1860, but the grounds were closed in 1902 and all but one tent were torn down. Renewed interest brought seventy-one rebuilt tents by 1935. The site is described as a rare, still-functioning survivor of the nineteenth-century Great Revival.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it one of the few camp meeting grounds remaining in North Carolina and a rare, still-functioning remnant of the Great Revival Movement. Its buildings, especially the large central arbor, are cited as interesting examples of vernacular architecture.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 73001370, listed April 3, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | NE of Waxhaw on SR 1327, Waxhaw |
|---|---|
| County | Union County |
| Listed | April 3, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73001370 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Arbor built under a $125 contract let to John C. Rape, assisted by neighbors including George Allison Winchester; Jacob Wolfe credited with building the first tent. |
| Architectural style | Vernacular architecture |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Religion |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still in use as a camp meeting ground; condition marked good and altered, with most tents replaced by newer cabins. |
| Acreage | 9.9 |
| Coordinates | 34.95709, -80.68535 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 73001370.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19987603
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.