The area around Arcadia in Iron County first became known to many young people of the mid and late 20th Century as a place to go to summer camp. Many of these camps were church camps and remain, although they are not as popular as they once were. One of these, Epworth Among the Hills, provided a place for religious retreats and outdoor experiences beginning in 1909. Epworth is the name of the home parish of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, in England.
Epworth began in 1909 when the Methodist Conference identified a need for a place of contemplation and retreat in a peaceful natural setting. Spearheaded by the Epworth League, a group of young adults, including many Methodist missionaries, the site selected for Epworth was a scenic property in the Arcadia Valley. The initial plan involved sale of one-acre lots for summer or permanent homes for ministers and other church members. The Methodist-Episcopal Church, South, received a 45-acre donation in the center of the lots for a summer encampment. The total size was 245 acres.
After over a year of planning, work on the communal encampment area began. The first building was the tabernacle, a structure of steel with a tiled roof. The seating capacity was 1500, and cost around $3500. Construction began in June 1911, with a plan for completion for the opening of the first Assembly on July 18. The next year, work began on the dining room and kitchen. Both the tabernacle and dining hall were buildings originally constructed for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair that a St. Louis businessman purchased around 1910, dismantled, and moved to Epworth. Epworth in its heyday could accommodate 200 campers, who stayed in cabins with bunk beds. About 2000 people attended camp and other activities annually at the camp. An outdoor assembly area, Vesper Hill, faced toward the setting sun and provided a striking view of Shepherd Mountain. The entryway to Vesper Hill featured two stone pillars placed in 1950 by the Methodist Men group.
Initially the camp was a site for retreats, with one mid-summer annual retreat being the largest. The Church allowed non-Methodist groups such as Boy and Girl Scouts and other youth groups, school groups, and band camps to use the camp when it was idle. Some of the buildings were winterized to allow use during cooler weather. The summer youth camps eventually became the dominant program and kept the facilities in use during July and August. The camp added athletic fields and a pool and provided other activities to enhance the retreat aspect of the experience. The church expanded to two additional camps by the 1950s, Camp Blue Mountain and Camp Jo-Ota. The church added specialized camps such as those for Methodist Men or older adults over time.
The camp continued to host young campers until 2000. By then, the state of the facilities was such that repairs would have been too costly for the Methodist Conference. They placed the camp on the market and sold it after it operated for 90 years. The Conference had the columns flanking the Vesper Hill entry moved to the nearby Blue Mountain Retreat Center, which closed in 2014. An Eagle Scout project led by Matthew Beyes created a prayer labyrinth at Mount Zion Church in St. Louis in 2015, and Glenn Wintemberg coordinated moving the columns to the entrance of the labyrinth.
However, today the camp is still a retreat for rest and reflection, Selah Among the Hills, purchased from the Methodist Conference and renovated by Suzie and Ron Burgess. The hexagonal 1904 tabernacle, however, remains.
