a brief historical sketch of ..........
WALDHEIM CAMPMEETING
1904-1995
Summertime campmeetings have been a part of evangelical movements throughout the Lehigh Valley dating back to the early 1800's. The first Allentown area campmeeting was held on the property of General Henry Mertz in 1838. This locale was close to the place where the first church was established and erected here in Allentown. During the oncoming years the Evangelical Church conducted campmeetings in varied locations surrounding the city. One of the early spots was located at a grove northeast of Catasaqua just across the borough line.
Since the campmeetings endured such favorable responses, a feeling prevailed that the Evangelical Church should find a permanent location under the ownership of the denomination. Presiding Elder Frank E. Erdman appointed a committee to conduct a survey and feasibility study resulting in teh procurement of the present south mountain site for Waldheim. The final action was authorized at a meeting in Allentown, Bethany E.C. Church on September 12, 1904. The original park was incorporated as the Evangelical Congregational Waldheim Association with approximately 20,000 stockholders. The Association business was structured to be conducted by a Board of 17 directors which are elected at the annual Stockholder's meeting. The first President of the Board was Llewellyn H. Mertz, the grandson of General Henry Mertz. Llewellyn continued in that office for a quarter of a century. The criterior for location selection was:
1)easy access to and from the city of Allentown 2)accessabillity to the railroad, and
3)good wells
This property was the only one that met the standards upon which the committee agreed. Hearty singing and enthusiastic preaching were the key ingredients for a "good" campmeeting. In the early years, each summer would see some two dozen campmeetings across the United Evangelical territories. In the Eastern Conference three campmeetings survived that era including Waldheim; the other two being Rosedale, Reading Pa and the campmeeting at Herndon, Pa. Portable tents and temporary clapboard preaching stands were trademarks of the early campmeetings ranging from Pennsylvania to Oregon. The trend began to shift toward more permanent groves which were purchased, developed and maintained by Campmeeting Association Stockholders for the use of the church. Within very recent years a fourth campmeeting has been developing in the southwestern region of the Eastern Conference known as the Susquehanna Campmeeting.
~1905~
Photo's courtesy of
Scott Schneck
