You are here

Bentleyville Camp Meeting Grounds

-A A +A
c. 1890; 1907 tabernacle, George W. Yohe. 5 Camp Meeting Ground Rd., off Washington St.

Dotting thirty acres of wooded hillside northeast of Bentleyville, the Union Holiness Camp Meeting Association is a complex of white frame cottages dominated by a large, open-air tabernacle designed by local architect George W. Yohe (1880–1968). An early pastor is said to have exclaimed “God is here!” when he saw the property. Vertical wood siding encloses the tabernacle's west facade, which is ornamented with Gothic-arched double-sash windows flanked by a pair of double doors with wooden strips that mimic the Gothic tracery above. In the gable end, a rose-patterned attic vent and three tiny Gothic-arched vents complete the simple, elegant composition. The other three walls of the gable-roofed building are open, with brick posts supporting wooden trusswork. On the interior, the open trusswork emphasizes the height of the ceiling, and the sloping floor focuses attention on the pulpit and choir. The white frame cottages range from one to two stories. Most have porches and are grouped close to each other and around the tabernacle. A two-story board-and-batten dormitory is set apart from the main rows of cottages. Decorative touches are limited to corner boards, some sawtooth woodworking, and railings. The cottages, extraordinary in number and condition, are simple, as they are intended for use for only one or two weeks each summer, not as permanent shelter.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
×

Data

What's Nearby

Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "Bentleyville Camp Meeting Grounds", [Bentleyville, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-WS18.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 1

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 288-288.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,