About the Film
Cypress Methodist Camp Ground was established as early as 1794, when Bishop Asbury preached here. Serving crowds too large for church buildings or homes, the camp ground responded to both religious and social needs. A vestige of the Great Awakening in American religious life at the start of the nineteenth century, it has had uninterrupted use as a site for revivalism for almost 200 years. It is one of only a few camp grounds in South Carolina to still host annual week-long camp meetings.
The tents allowed people to camp there overnight, and the campground term remained even though tents were gradually replaced by the current rough-hewn cabins. The campground holds thirty-four. These cabins, rectangular in shape, generally have 1½ stories and earthen floors. The typical floor plan features a hall extending the length of the cabin, with as many as three rooms on the opposite side. The second story is accessible by a small stairway or ladder. The “tents” are sited to form a rectangle, in the center of which sits the tabernacle, an open-sided wooden structure, the focal point of the revival meetings.
