Comments on: Rock Springs Camp Meeting

By: Shaun Sudbury

Shaun Sudbury — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:02:45 +0000

Thank you for the information. I will save the dates and try to attend.

By: Kevin cherry

Kevin cherry — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:20:10 +0000

It occurs every year during the first week of August in Denver, NC.

By: Shaun Sudbury

Shaun Sudbury — Fri, 06 May 2011 17:09:55 +0000

Is the Rock Springs camp meeting an annual event or is it a one time thing. Can I get some info on the next time it rolls around?

By: David Walbert

David Walbert — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:38:06 +0000

On the subject of “mating grounds” — Guion Griffis Johnson describes the “marrying exercises”:

One afflicted with the marrying exercise professed to have a revelation that the Lord wished him to marry a certain person, and the person thus designated felt compelled to consent to the marriage for fear of being damned. “Thus,” wrote the Reverend Joseph Moore to the Reverend Jesse Lee in 1806, “many got married, and it was said some old maids, who had nearly gotten antiquated, managed in this way to get husbands.” (p. 400)

Talk about telling your unrequited love to go to hell…

By: Jason Tomberlin

Jason Tomberlin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:22:38 +0000

I just read a quote from The Way We Lived In North Carolina (edited by Joe Mobley), which states "An old-timer remembered that 'the camp meetings at Rock Springs...had been the 'mating grounds' for the state for fifty years.'" That's not exactly how I had "camp meetings" playing out in my mind.

By: Kevin Cherry

Kevin Cherry — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:47:59 +0000

Thank you, Harry. For those interested in other resources concerning Rock Springs, see

Gary Freeze, Methodist Mecca : the origin and perpetuation of the Rock Springs Camp Meeting, 1829-1929;

Rock Springs [videorecording] : 200 years of camp meetings. Published: [Charlotte?, N.C. : For Western North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church, 1994]

Terry Brotherton [Better known back home as "Bubba"], Rock Spring Campground

There are other campmeetings in this area with permanent “tents” and arbors, among the largest are Ball’s Creek in Catawba County and Tucker’s Grove (an African American campground).

Balls Creek Campmeeting : 150 years of faith, family, & friends Author: Catawba County Historical Association.

The Balls Creek Campmeeting Author: Caldwell, Nathan S.
Published: [Newton, N.C.?] : N.S. Caldwell, c1986.

The Lincoln Times News, Charlotte Observer, and News at Norman all regurlary cover events at these annual gatherings.

Guion Griffis Johnson also wrote about the religious phenomenon in the state: The camp meeting in ante-bellum North Carolina

My family has been attending ever since the beginning back in the 1790s.