Waugh Campground
Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Given to Methodist church as a camp-meeting site, by the Isaac S. Addison family. Mrs. Addison named camp in honor of Bishop Beverly Waugh, who presided at first Methodist Conference in Texas, and who, like the Addisons, was from Baltimore, Md. Site was used for quarterly conferences of the church and for revivals. Converted here was The Rev. B. H. Carroll (1843-1914), great Baptist leader. Campground was open also for secular gatherings. A famous occasion was the July 16, 1857, debate between U.S. Senator Sam Houston and Judge A. S. Broaddus, a Burleson County leader.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Donated by the Baltimore-born Addison family, this Methodist camp-meeting ground honored Bishop Beverly Waugh, who presided over the first Methodist Conference in Texas. In the frontier decades it drew crowds for revivals and quarterly conferences—here the young B. H. Carroll, later a towering Baptist leader, was converted. Its open grounds also hosted secular events, most famously an 1857 debate between U.S. Senator Sam Houston and Judge A. S. Broaddus.
Why it matters
Camp meetings like this were the social and spiritual hubs of frontier Texas, where religion, politics, and community life converged on a single shaded clearing.
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Related people
- · Bishop Beverly Waugh
- · Isaac S. Addison
- · Rev. B. H. Carroll
- · Sam Houston
- · A. S. Broaddus
Related events
- · 1857 Houston–Broaddus debate
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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