An undated photograph of the original tabernacle on the United Brethren Campground at Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The tabernacle was part of the Lykens Valley Campmeeting which was held at this site beginning about 1894 and continuous to the present.
The following historical sketch of the Lykens Valley Campmeeting is edited from History of Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1817-1967:
LYKENS VALLEY CAMPMEETING
In an historical sketch written on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this camp in 1944, the Rev. A. K. Wier, D.D., said that the task of writing was made difficult because the founders paid scant attention to the recording and the preservation of historic data and that “In harmony with a characteristic common to all ecclesiastical leaders in those days, it was considered ‘sinful to number Israel’: that they had no intention of founding a permanent institution and that their sole purpose was to provide a place for ‘the perfecting of the saints’ of all denominations.
The earliest record of this Campmeeting is in the minutes of the East German Conference which was held in Salem United Brethren Church, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, 26-30 September 1894 when the Elizabethville campmeeting was recognized as a Conference District Campmeeting. This indicates that the Lykens Valley Campmeeting was already a reality and functioning. Before the campgrounds were established at the present site on the north side of, and at the foot of Berries Mountain south of the west end of town, several campmeetings were held at “Bickel’s Grove” about one half mile west of the present site. Rev. W. H. Zimmerman was the first pastor of the United Brethren Campmeeting on the present site, and the Rev. H. S. Gable was the first presiding elder to conduct the first camp which opened Monday 6 August [1894] and closed Wednesday 15 August 1894. An application for incorporation was signed by forty residents, mostly of Elizabethville and of Lykens Valley, and the charter was received 10 April 1894.
The first directors were: M. R. Keiper, of Elizabethville; Ed Snyder, of Pillow; the Rev. C. A. Mutch, of Williamstown; The Rev. William Uhler, of Lebanon; W. H. Lehman, of Killinger; James P. Moyer, of Lykens; W. H. Forney, of Rife; A. D. Zimmerman, of Williamstown; S. E. Gilbert, of Millersburg; B. S. Reinhart, of Tower City; and A. M. Romberger, of Elizabethville.
The first officers and their terms were: The Rev. W. H. Uhler, President, 1893-1895; W. H. Lehman, Vice President, 1896-1901, and 1903-1907; The Rev. C. A. Match, Secretary, 1893-1894; M. R. Keiper, Treasurer, 1893-1894.
In the early years campers lived in tents which were constantly threatened with destruction by storms. The Rev. W. H. Uhler built the first cottage, M. R. Keiper and his son-in-law A. M. Romberger built the second, and William Reist built the third. In the summer of 1897, nine cottages were erected, and by 1899 there were fifty-two cottages with a need for twenty-five more.
In 1895 the Association granted use of the ground and equipment to other denominations and for several years the Evangelical congregation held campmeetings after the annual sessions of the United Brethren. The tabernacle was built in 1897 and was covered with canvas. The boarding house, erected in 1897, was 16 feet by 18 feet; and 22 August 1933, the present boarding house was completed north of the original one at a cost of $1800.
Beginning in 1896 a charge of five cents for a single team and ten cents for a double team was made for admission to the grounds, and in 1898 an admission charge of five cents for adults and three cents for children under twelve years of age was made.
In 1914 an auditorium 20 feet by 32 feet was built under the direction of a committee composed of H. H. Snyder, A. M. Romberger, and Isaiah T. Buffington “in front of the preachers’ stand.” This was extended to its present size in 1926; new pews were installed in 1932 and a new roof was placed over the auditorium.
On 20 August 1909, the right of way to construct a telephone line on the campgrounds was secured, and the minutes of the Board on that date state that the Camp was free of debt, and that an investment of $100 had been made in the State Capital Building and Loan Association. Electric lights were installed on the grounds in 1924.
The present [1967] officers are: The Rev S. T. Dundore, President; The Rev. M. G. Sponsler Sr., Vice-President; The Rev. Donald E. VanKirk, Secreatry; Bernice M. Goldman, Treasurer.
_______________________________
Copies of History of Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1817-1967 are available in DVD format from the Elizabethville Area Historical Society. Contact: contact the Elizabethville Area Historical Society, 100 E. Main Street, Elizabethville, Pennsylvania 17023.
thanks for shairng this history..