Come Forth into the Light: The Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association

Cooler By The Lake
Come Forth into the Light: The Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association

From Lake Bluff Postcard History Series, Lake Bluff History Museum.

At 22, William Rainey Harper accepted a position at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary in Chicago and started his own summer school to teach Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew and other languages. The success of his program led to a summer school at Chautauqua in 1883 and visits to Lake Bluff.

At 22, William Rainey Harper accepted a position at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary in Chicago and started his own summer school to teach Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew and other languages. The success of his program led to a summer school at Chautauqua in 1883 and visits to Lake Bluff.

The Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association was formed in 1875 by a group of Methodist Ministers. For the next two decades Lake Bluff was the site of a summer camp, modeled on the Chautauqua movement, that provided not only religious activities but also social, cultural, educational and recreational programs.From the beginning, the Camp Meeting was a success. By the mid-1880s there were more than 30 hotels and boarding houses, plus a large tabernacle with seating for more than 2,000 people.
Visitors included temperance advocate Frances Willard, William Rainey Harper (first president of the University of Chicago, Mrs. Rutherford (Lucy) Hayes, and Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross.
In addition to running the summer camps, the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association was largely responsible for real estate development of the area. The Association platted streets, lots and parks and built a large three-story hotel at the corner of Prospect and Moffett Road. The general area of the camp meeting was Evanston Avenue east to Simpson Avenue and Center Avenue South to Sheridan Place. By the end of the 19th century, the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting had fallen off in popularity. A fire at the Hotel Irving and economic hardships in the country contributed to its decline. Lake Bluff was incorporated as a village in 1895 and took over many of the Association’s duties.