Cypress Methodist Camp Ground

Front: This camp ground, dating to 1794, is one of the oldest in S.C. Francis Asbury (1745-1816), circuit rider and the first Methodist bishop in America, preached here in 1794, 1799, 1801, and twice in 1803. The camp ground is supported by five local communities: Givhans, Lebanon, New Hope, Ridgeville, and Zion. Reverse: “Tents,” or rough-hewn cabins, form a rectangle around the “tabernacle,” the open-sided shelter where services are held. The cemetery nearby includes graves as early as 1821. This camp ground, in session the week ending the fourth Sunday in October, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.