Piedmont Camp Meeting Grounds Historic District
Also known as: DHR file # 60-500
Why it's listed
Piedmont Camp Meeting Grounds is a five-acre religious campground set in a hemlock grove beside Bottom Creek in Montgomery County, Virginia. It includes a large rustic tabernacle built in 1939, about two dozen small frame cottages from around 1940, a dining hall that began as a church, a concrete block Pentecostal Holiness church rebuilt in 1936, and the ca. 1873 Piedmont Methodist Church, the oldest building. The camp began after a 1910 tent revival at the Methodist church led a group to leave and receive donated land across the road for a tabernacle. Meetings have been held there every year since. The cottages, many board-and-batten with front porches, echo regional double-cell houses but are smaller. The district was recognized for architecture because its buildings and layout preserve the form of a seasonal campground and link to the camp meeting tradition of the early nineteenth century. The tabernacle is unique within the county.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues significance under Criterion C as an important group of structures showing the form of a seasonal religious campground tied to the early nineteenth-century camp meeting tradition. The small cottages relate to regional double-cell dwellings, and the 1939 tabernacle is described as unique within the county. The grounds also give context for rural cultural life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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 90002003, listed January 10, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Jct. of VA 637 and VA 602, Piedmont |
|---|---|
| County | Montgomery County |
| Listed | January 10, 1991 |
| Reference number | 90002003 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | ca.1873-1940 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Nave-plan church; double-cell plan (vernacular camp meeting buildings) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Buildings are described as in good repair and largely unaltered; the camp meeting is held annually and the grounds remain in religious and camp use. |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Coordinates | 37.10393, -80.21720 (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 90002003.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14713063
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.