Sandy Springs Camp Ground / Confederate Muster Ground

Sandy Springs Camp Ground, a Methodist camp ground named for the large spring nearby, dates to 1828, when a fifteen-acre site was purchased from Sampson Pope for $45. Early meetings were held under a brush arbor until a central wooden shelter and cabins were built about 1838. Entire families took part in revival meetings held here for two weeks every September until the last camp meeting in 1897. In a field adjoining the camp ground, Col. James L. Orr's 1st Regt. S.C. Rifles, known as Orr's Rifles, was organized on July 20, 1861. Ten companies, four from Pickens, three from Abbeville, two from Anderson, and one from Marion District, trained at Camp Pickens before serving first on the S.C. coast and then in Va. Veterans returned here for annual reunions for many years.

Sandy Springs, South Carolina · United States