Editing Washington Grove, Maryland (section)

=== Founding ===
A group of [[Methodism|Methodists]] began the tradition of having [[camp meeting]]s in the area ''circa'' 1800.<ref name= mcs>{{citation |title= Washington Grove: A Rustic Jewel in a Modern Setting |first= Joan F. |last= Marsh |work= The Montgomery County Story |publisher= The Montgomery County Historical Story |date= February 1998 |volume= 41 |number= 1 }}</ref> Camp meetings were a tradition where a group of Methodists would gather in a forest clearing to worship and socialize.<ref name= mcs/><ref name= centuries>Sween, Jane C.; Offutt, William. ''Montgomery County: Centuries of Change''.  American Historical Press, 1999.  {{ISBN|1-892724-05-7}}.</ref> Benches were arranged in a circle or oval with an elevated preachers' stand in the middle.<ref name= mcs/> Tents surrounded the area, along with carriages and wagons behind them.<ref name= mcs/> Services lasted well into the night.<ref name= mcs/> The camp meetings provided cultural and spiritual improvement to those who attended.<ref name= mcs/>

In 1873, a committee from the [[Foundry United Methodist Church|Foundry Methodist Church]], located at [[Downtown (Washington, D.C.)|14th and G streets NW]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], began a search for a permanent location to hold annual camp meetings.<ref name= mcs/> They wanted a location with sufficient space for thousands of attendees, a supply of clean water, and a shaded location to provide relief from the summer sun.<ref name= mcs/> They wanted the location to be less than a day's trip from Washington, and protection from the sale of liquor, because [[Christian views on alcohol#Methodism|Methodists did not believe in drinking alcohol]].<ref name= mcs/>

In June 1873, John T. Mitchell, Richard Willett, F. Howard, W.R. Woodward, E.F. Simpson, Mr. Worthington, Thomas P. Morgan, B. Peyton Brown, and a few others purchased {{convert|267.5|acres|km2|sigfig=2}} of land from the widow of farmer Nathan Cooke for $6,636.25.<ref name= mcs/><ref>{{cite news |title= God's First Temple: A Grand Gathering of the Methodists in the Woods |date= August 3, 1878 |newspaper= The Washington Post |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/137681921/|page= 3 }}</ref> The land was given to the Washington Grove Meeting Association, which had been recently incorporated on March 30, 1874.<ref name= mcs/><ref name= boyd>Boyd, T.H.S. (1879). ''The History of Montgomery County from Its Earliest Settlement tin 1650 to 1879''. (Heritage Books) {{ISBN|0-7884-1995-1}}.</ref>

A person could build a cottage on the land by purchasing five shares of stock for twenty dollars per share.<ref name=united>{{cite news |title= The United Christians: A Glimpse of the Work Going on in the Methodist Camp |newspaper= The Washington Post |page= 2 |date= August 12, 1878 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137681628/ }}</ref> The first share had to be purchased with cash, while the other four could be financed at an annual interest rate of six percent.<ref name=united/> Alternatively, a tent could be rented for between $9 and $15.<ref name= mcs/> There were two dining courts, and a market would provided fresh meat and produce.<ref name= mcs/> The center of the camp was originally named The Plaza and later The Symbolic Circle, and there were six numbered avenues radiating from it.<ref name= mcs/> Tents were arranged in a grid along avenues named for participating churches.<ref name= mcs/> Families would stay over to attend a two-week-long meeting of the Methodist Episcopal churches of the District of Columbia.<ref>{{cite news |title= Opening of the Methodist Camp-Meeting To-morrow |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= August 6, 1879 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137724736/ }}</ref> Named Washington Grove Camp, the first camp meeting began on August 5, 1874,<ref>{{cite news |title= Maryland Items |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= August 1, 1874 |page= 3 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/534192503/ }}</ref> with 240 tents.<ref>{{cite news |title= Washington Grove Camp-Meeting |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= August 7, 1874 |page= 4 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/534195800/ }}</ref>

In 1877, a [[tabernacle (Methodist)|tabernacle]] with a [[Belfry (architecture)|belfry]] for a bell was built in the center of the circle.<ref name= mcs/> The bell called people to prayer, and it was also rung at the end of the camp meeting.<ref name= mcs/> The tabernacle was a large open-air chapel that could seat 500 worshipers.<ref name= mcs/> In addition to religious services, lecturers spoke on such topics as [[women's suffrage]] and the problem of [[poverty]] in cities.<ref name= mcs/>

The Maryland legislature gave camp-meeting managers control of all land within a two-mile radius of a meeting site in order to prohibit businesses from opening nearby.<ref>{{cite news |title= The Camp Grounds: Worshipping in the Woods at Gaithersburg |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= August 6, 1878 |page= 2 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137682524/}}</ref> The camp-meeting managers used this power to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages anywhere on the grounds.<ref>{{cite news |title= The Feast of Tabernacles |date= August 14, 1879|newspaper= The Washington Post |page= 4 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137761885/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Rain and Religion |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= August 18, 1879 |page= 1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/137695379/ }}</ref> While entertaining programs were allowed, card playing, theater going, and dancing were all banned.<ref name= mcs/> In 1879, they voted to prohibit the selling of anything at all on Sundays.<ref name=tents>{{cite news |title= The City of Tents |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= August 9, 1879 |page= 2 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137776252/ }}</ref> The Barrett Brothers, who operated the camp store, asked for an exception to sell ice cream and sandwiches on Sundays, but their request was denied.<ref name=tents/>

Reverend William Burns of Dumbarton Methodist Church built the first cottage in 1878.<ref name= mcs/> By 1879, seventeen cottages had been built, each with green and white exteriors and large porches, surrounding a large tabernacle.<ref>{{cite news |title= A Christian Camp: Opening of the Methodist Meeting at Washington Grove |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= August 8, 1879 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137771295/ }}</ref> The cottages peaked roofs resembled that of the original tents, and the architectural style was [[Carpenter Gothic]], which was fashionable at the time.<ref name= mcs/> The round-trip train fare between the District and Washington Grove was eighty cents in 1879.<ref>{{cite news |title= The Coming Camp Meeting |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= July 23, 1879 |page= 1 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137683081/ }}</ref>

In 1879, the trustees voted to borrow $4,000 in order to build a hotel<ref>{{cite news |title= Camp-Meeting Chronicles: What Was Done by the Washington Grove Association During the Year |date= October 15, 1879 |newspaper= The Washington Post |page= 4 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137703668/ }}</ref> on the western area of the grounds.<ref>{{cite news |title= Washington Grove Camp: Description of the Grounds--Natural and Artificial Attractions |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= July 31, 1883 |page= 3 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/534713890/ }}</ref> Completed in 1881, the hotel was three stories in the center and two stories in the wings. It had 23 sleeping rooms, a parlor, a dining room, and a kitchen.<ref name=season>{{cite news |title= The Campmeeting Season: Improvements at Washington Grove -- Meeting of the Association |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= May 7, 1881 |page= 4 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/137826788/ }}</ref> The cost to build the hotel came in under the $4,000 budget.<ref name=season/> Building of a chapel to hold 800 people began in 1889.<ref>{{cite news |title= A Chapel at Washington Grove |date= August 5, 1889 |newspaper= The Washington Post |page= 6 |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/138320677/ }}</ref>

In 1880, the Washington Grove Camp Meeting Association decided that a hotel was needed.<ref name= mcs/> To build the hotel, they chose Wash Williams, a furniture store owner.<ref name= mcs/> The Albany Hotel had big porches, a large dining room, a barber shop, and a small store.<ref name= mcs/> Rooms cost between $6 and $7 per week, and dinner cost fifty cents.<ref name= mcs/> During the same year, rules were established protecting existing trees when cottages and streets were built.<ref name= mcs/>

In order to accommodate larger groups of people, an auditorium with seating for 1,400 people was built in Woodward Park in 1905.<ref name= mcs/> The auditorium symbolically moved away from the Sacred Circle.<ref name= mcs/> Admission to the wholesome entertainment cost $2 per adult and $1 per child for the season.<ref name= mcs/> Some of the entertainment included musical programs, educational lectures, and spelling bees.<ref name= mcs/> Religious services were held at the auditorium as well.<ref name= mcs/>  As the auditorium increasingly became the center of life at the camp, the old Tabernacle was torn down.<ref name= mcs/>

Because the land was owned by the Washington Grove Camp Meeting Association, it had complete control over who purchased and leased the plots. In the early 20th century, the Washington Grove Camp Association, and later the Town of Washington Grove, placed [[Sundown town|restrictive covenants]] in deeds and leases in order to prevent African Americans from buying, renting, or leasing land in Washington Grove.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988">Edwards, Philip K. Washington Grove, [[1873-1937: A history of the Washington Grove Camp Meeting Association]]. N.p.: Philip K. Edwards, 1988.</ref>  This is exemplified in one of many deeds, such as one dating from 1925 that reads,

<blockquote>That whereas the death rate of persons of African descent is much greater than the death rate of persons of the white race and affects injuriously the health of the town and village communities, and as the permanent location of persons of African descent in such places as owners or tenants constitutes and irreparable injury to the value and usefulness of real estate in the interest of public health and to prevent irreparable injury to the grantor or its successors and assigns, and the owners of adjacent real estate, the grantees, their heirs and assigns, hereby covenant, and agree with the grantor, its successors and assigns, that they will not sell, conveyor rent the premises hereby conveyed, the whole or any part thereof, or any structure thereon, to any person of African descent.<ref>Edwards, Suzanne H. [[A History of Racism in Washington Grove]]. N.p.: n.p., 1974.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/20/AR2006022001590.html|title=When Signs Said 'Get Out'|last=Carlson|first=Peter|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 21, 2006|access-date=July 26, 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

A [[African Methodist Episcopal Church|Black Methodist]] camp was founded in 1864 as [[Emory Grove, Maryland|Emory Grove]], that predated Washington Grove.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988"/> Less than a mile separated the two towns, and many of the residents of Emory Grove worked for the residents of Washington Grove.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988"/> The superintendent of the Washington Grove grounds was a resident of Emory Grove named William A. Scott.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988"/> Following an incident in 1892 where an Emory Grove native, Jessie Lancaster, ransacked homes in Washington Grove, William A. Scott was forced out.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988"/> Subsequently, in 1897 the gates to Washington Grove were closed, thus preventing anyone from walking through Washington Grove.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988"/> This closing severely hindered the ability of Emory Grove residents to reach the train stop on the other side of Washington Grove.<ref name="Edwards, Philip K 1988"/>