Simpson Park Campground

In the early nineteenth century Methodists began holding camp meetings, an outgrowth of their early revivals. Revival services were held during the winter months, and late summer was generally reserved for the district camp meeting. Simpson Park Campground was begun as the Romeo District Summer Camp for the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865. It is one of the oldest camp meetings in continuous service in Michigan. The Reverend John Russell, district presiding elder, was its founder. (In 1869 he also helped found the Prohibition party.) During the late 1860s families came from over fifty miles away to gather under the foliage for three weeks of almost uninterrupted religious exercises.

[Back]: Since the late 1890s Simpson Park Campground has been operated by a private association made up predominantly of United Methodists. In 1907, it was reorganized and the Reverend William G. Nixon was elected its first president. A tabernacle was built and named in his honor in 1910. Many of the children and young people who have attended camp meetings have become preachers and missionaries, as well as camp leaders. Today only ten-day camps are held. The meetings are less rigid than in the 1860s, and social and recreational activities are included. The annual Simpson Park Camp Meeting is held during the first two weeks of August. The original camp of thirteen acres has grown to forty-four acres.