Mapping the Historic Baptist Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In August 2023, an archaeologist from Michigan State University and participants living and vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, documented and mapped the remnants of a 19th century Baptist Camp Meeting site in Oak Bluffs. Utilized by Baptist groups for weeklong revivals from 1875 until ca. 1930. The Baptist Temple Park site is important to the recent history of Oak Bluff. Today the Baptist Temple and the revivals held there are seen as part of the story of why many families first moved to the area and as one of the core reasons there is now, and has historically been, a strong history of African American homeownership in the Highlands and East Chop regions. Our investigation in Baptist Temple Park mapped the remnants of the temple structure and the walking paths throughout the park. Preserving the location of these remnants and describing them in detail will help us better understand the location of the Tabernacle, its construction, and its physical and historical orientation to the neighborhoods around it. The investigation also serves as an entry point for introducing archaeology as a tool for investigating and preserving the past in Oak Bluffs.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39167.0