NEW HAVEN – A dedication of a historic roadside marker, honoring the historic past of the Dempster Grove Camp Meeting Association, was held on August 12.
It was a joint celebration of the association and the town of New Haven History Center.
Incorporated in February 1876, the religious campground has held annual meetings for 144 years; holding religious, temperance and missionary meetings.
In the early years, many of those attending came by train and horse-drawn wagon.
The crowds sometimes exceeded 2,000 people, who stayed in tents during the week-long meetings.
Over time, the tents were replaced by cabins.
The meetings were held in the Tabernacle, which has sides that rise up allowing the overflow of people to be outside, but still able to see and hear all that was going on inside.
Though smaller in size, the meetings continue today.
The historic roadside marker reads:
DEMPSTER GROVE
CAMP MEETING ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED FEB 1876
LARGE RELIGIOUS, TEMPERANCE
AND MISSIONARY MEETINGS
WERE HELD HERE
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2018
The historic roadside marker was purchased with funds from a grant by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
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