Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

Union Church, left and the Tabernacle, right, which stood on the same site.

500 East North Avenue, site of the Camp Meeting Association office.

Source: 1898 Camp Meeting booklet.

Lake Bluff was an original stop on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad when it came through Lake County in 1855 and most visitors to the camp meeting arrived by train. A special spur took visitors east from the main tracks down Sheridan Place. The tracks were abandoned in 1880 as “soon it was found that the puffing and bell-ringing of the noon train would empty the Tabernacle quicker than the fire alarm, no matter how eloquent the speaker.” After the station closed, it became the Fowler Hotel, later renamed the Sheridan Inn. The hotel closed in 1920 and burned down in 1926.

The Tabernacle, built in 1883, was located were Union Church stands today at 525 East Prospect.Originally, the gathering spot was a large tent, 100 feet by 100 feet in size which stood 50 feet tall at its highest. The structure was open on all sides to allow worshippers to sit under trees in the shade if they preferred. Church tents for individual congregations surrounded the tabernacle and could accommodate about 50 people each.The original tent was replaced by the wooden structure pictured above in 1883 with large doors that could swing open to catch a summer breeze. It is said to have held 2,500 people. Shortly after the camp meeting closed in 1899, it was taken apart and rebuilt as a barn and livery stable behind the house at 500 North Avenue.

Cultural activities for the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting's two-week program included music performances, plays, lectures and a reading circle. Classes were held in music, history, geography, photography, elocution and foreign language.

No Spot Like Lake Bluff!