by Jackie Nunnery
KIRKLAND GROVE—Little did anyone know that actions taken in 1892 would have reverberations felt today.
Back then, James Booth conveyed 23.5 acres of land to the Kirkland Grove Baptist Camp-Meeting Committee, named in honor of Dr. William Heath Kirk, a Baptist minister active in Northumberland County from 1845-1884.
According to the application for the National Register of Historic Places, the 90-foot by 90-foot square tabernacle soon followed, constructed by William Dandridge Cockrell and his brother, John, with timber milled from trees on the property, and by some accounts, designed to Biblical specifications.
This was followed by the construction of 42 “tents,” better described as rustic 2-story cottages, that generations of Northern Neck families stayed in while gathering every August for “Camp Meeting Days.” These camp meetings were….
