The Methodist Temple

To come.

This clearing in the woods was, at first, an open-air auditorium with benches and a speakers’ podium for religious lecturers. This would become known as “The Auditorium”. At night, pine logs burning on raised platforms, provided lighting for hours. For those first years, there were only tents on raised wooden platforms surrounding the clearing. By 1875 the first 50 cottages replaced the tents and in 1888 the Temple was constructed. The temple was a circular building said to seat 7000 people. It was 37-meters in diameter, with a dome 30 meters high. From the start, the roof leaked and sound carried very poorly. The building was demolished in 1922. In 1939, the Woman’s Improvement Society and The Cottagers’ Association built a cairn, still standing, marking the site of the first Methodist camp meeting in 1859.