The Second Great Awakening, which spread across the South in the early 19th century was the catalyst for the establishment of Whiteoak Campground. Campgrounds were created by Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians traveling the South to gain members into their denominations. Popular preachers from this movement are Charles Grandison, Peter Cartwright, Lyman Beecher, and Richard Allen. A similar revival, the First Great Awakening, happened in the North in the early 1700s (John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield).

 

Campgrounds became especially popular in the Methodist tradition because our denomination sent Circuit Riders (preachers on horseback) to minister to local communities and organize congregations, especially in rural areas. Whiteoak United Methodist Campground was established in McDuffie County in 1832 by the congregation at Whiteoak Methodist Church, but was ministered to by circuit riders. The records show that the original campground was built on 158 acres of land “situated on the waters of Greenway’s Creek." (Historic Rural Churches of Georgia)

 

The Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury is known as preaching at Whiteoak Methodist, whose congregation began around 1796, and Whiteoak Campground several times. It is written in the History of Methodism in Georgia that Asbury did not find many religious people in McDuffie and Columbia counties at the turn of the 19th century and he experienced "many trials" as he tried to minister to settlers in the area. (Smith, George Gilman, The History of Methodism in Georgia: 1786-1866, A.B.Caldwell Atlanta, 1913).  "It is estimated that Francis Asbury traveled some 270,000 miles and preached 16,000 sermons during his tenure. The challenges of these pastors on horseback are well-documented in journals penned during days spent alone on the trail." (The Hard Road of the Methodist Circuit Rider, 2018).

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The campground prospered until the Civil War when its premises was left abandoned for the entirety of the war.  This was partially due to the split of the Methodist Church over slavery as well as many preachers and congregants participating in the war.

 

Whiteoak Campground was relocated in 1873 and was built “several miles further east, just across the line from McDuffie in Columbia County."   The current campground's first meeting was held "Friday night before the 2nd Sabbath in Sept. 1873." "The advance of Methodism in Georgia was aided by the interdenominational Second Great Awakening (circa 1790-1830), during which many Georgians converted to evangelical Christianity at outdoor revival services called camp meetings. By 1814 Methodist membership exceeded 10,000, a figure that almost doubled during the next fifteen years. Recurrent awakenings in 1835 and 1858 stimulated further growth, so that 97,000 Methodists lived in Georgia by 1861." (Mills, Frederick. "Methodist Church." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Sep 30, 2020.)

 

"The awakenings quickened interest in missions (foreign and domestic), education, and benevolence. Georgia Methodists actively evangelized among enslaved African Americans and, with the permission of estate owners, established missions on plantations. By the beginning of the Civil War (1861-65), membership among enslaved Georgians had grown to 11,125 in the missions plus thousands more in churches. The total number of African American Methodists, of all denominations, in Georgia increased from 27,385 in 1860 to a reported 75,000 in 1875." (Mills, Frederick. "Methodist Church." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Sep 30, 2020.)  Whiteoak Campground was the location of one of the first known African American preachers, Rev. H.B. Battle, preaching to a mixed-race audience of believers after the Civil War. Rev. Battle was probably the first known free black person to preach at Whiteoak Campmeeting, according to the records. Kiokee Baptist Church, in Appling, Georgia, was the first congregation in Georgia with a record of the same - with an enslaved preacher preaching to both white and black congregants in the late 1700's. 

 

Since 1873, Whiteoak Campground has been meeting in the summer, fall, and sometimes the spring. Tenters and Campers have family reunions, weddings, and funerals at the campground. We welcome the community for concerts, campmeetings, and use of the swimming pool. 

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***This year, Crystal Parten, a lifelong attendee of Whiteoak Campground, will complete research to develop a comprehensive history of the campground. We will publish that history here!