It's not exactly Bastille Day over in the Camp Ground, but make no mistake, there's a revolution brewing in this historically religious, gingerbread enclave in the center of Oak Bluffs - and it's all about democracy.
Nearly 100 Camp Ground residents banded together this summer and are clamoring for something they say is sorely lacking: the chance to choose at least some of their leaders.
The Oak Bluffs historical commission on Wednesday responded to allegations that a cottage in the federally protected Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association may have been torn down and partially expanded earlier this summer, possibly in violation of a town bylaw strictly regulating the demolition of historical structures.
After speculation and rumors bubbled through the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association in Oak Bluffs all summer about renovation work on the historic cottage at 5 Pease avenue, the facts surrounding the construction project began to surface this week.
What began as minor renovations to the cottage in the Camp Ground grew this spring, and a large portion of the building was demolished while the footprint was partially expanded, possibly in violation of a town bylaw that strictly regulates demolition.
Most Vineyard visitors believe they have seen the Gingerbread cottages after they have walked through Trinity Park and around the Tabernacle. However, the Camp Ground consists of 315 cottages spread across 34 acres.
It was 175 years ago next month that six devout Edgartown Methodists decided to establish a summer religious community of their very own and selected the largest oak grove in New England, near Eastville, to be its site. Camp meetings that provided prayer, preaching, hymn-singing and repentance had come into vogue in America at the turn of the 19th century. In 1827, one had been established at West Chop in the community of Holmes Hole — today’s Vineyard Haven.
The opportunity to see the interiors of the privately owned cottages on the grounds of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association occurs only once a year. On Wednesday, August 10, five of the larger cottages which face the Tabernacle on the north end of Trinity Park, as well as a sixth one nearby, will be open to the public as part of the 2011 Camp Ground Cottage Tour.
The Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association’s Cottage Museum and Gift Shop at 1 Trinity Park in Oak Bluffs is open for the season, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
