Duncan Chapel Community in Dorchester County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Shady Grove Camp Ground
Photographed By Mike Stroud, 2011
1. Shady Grove Camp Ground Marker
This camp ground, established about 1870, is the largest of 4 Methodist camp grounds in Dorchester County. Tradition holds that Ceasar Wolfe and a group of former slaves, caught in a storm, stopped in a grove here for shelter. Rice planter S.M. Knight asked them to help harvest his fields, and after they did so he gave them this spot as a place of worship. They named it Shady Grove.
(Reverse text)
The group first met under a brush arbor but later built “tents,” the rough -hewn cabins typical of church camp grounds. The first tents burned in 1958 and were replaced; fires also occurred in 1969 and 1976. The “tabernacle” here is the centrally-located shelter where services are in session ending the fourth Sunday in October. A trumpet call on a ceremonial horn opens the meeting.
Erected 2010 by The Upper Dorchester County Historical Society. (Marker Number 18-15.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Churches & Religion. A significant historical year for this entry is 1870.
Location. 33° 16.594′ N, 80° 35.769′ W. Marker is in Duncan Chapel Community, South Carolina, in Dorchester County. Marker can be reached from Camp Meeting Circle (State
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Moorefield Memorial Highway (approx. 0.9 miles away); Astronaut Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. (approx. 4.1 miles away); Badham House / Dorchester Lumber Company (approx. 5.7 miles away); St. George Public High School/St. George Graded School (approx. 6.2 miles away); Town of St. George (approx. 6.4 miles away); South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company (approx. 6.6 miles away); Bowman Rosenwald School (approx. 7 miles away); Bowman S.C. (approx. 7.1 miles away).
Regarding Shady Grove Camp Ground. Shady Grove Campground (1870)
The Shady Grove, also known as “Black Paradise” to the first campers who worshipped there, has held its camp meeting the third week of October since 1870 with the exception of 1918 because of the influenza pandemic. (Univ.S.C. News Carolina camps featured in “This Far by Faith: Carolina Camp Meetings, an African American Tradition.”)
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
2. Shady Grove Camp Ground Marker, reverse side
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
3. Shady Grove Camp Ground Marker with "tents, today's cabins seen in background
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
4. Shady Grove Camp Ground Marker
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
5. Shady Grove Camp Ground , Founded in 1870 Rebuilt in 1991
1991 list of trustees
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
6. Shady Grove Camp Ground west side cabins
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
7. Shady Grove Camp Ground Marker, east side
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
8. Shady Grove Camp Ground Marker, at the center of the campground
Photographed By Mike Stroud, September 8, 2013
9. Shady Grove Camp Ground Tabernacle and Marker
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
10. Shady Grove Camp Ground northwest corner
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
11. Shady Grove Camp Ground northside row of cabins
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
12. Shady Grove Camp Ground northwest side second outer row of cabins
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 3, 2011
13. Shady Grove Camp Ground eastside outer row of cabins
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on May 11, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 2,061 times since then and 84 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on May 11, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 9. submitted on September 8, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 10, 11, 12, 13. submitted on May 11, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
