These “gingerbread cottages” are in a section of Oak Bluffs called the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association or Wesleyan Grove. In the mid 1800s, Methodists established a church camp with tents on wooden platforms placed in a circle around a tabernacle structure. In the 1860’s the tents were replaced by the current houses, built on the tent platforms. There are 318 houses remaining in the camp, each one unique. Most are only occupied in the summer months. The open-air Tabernacle, made of cast iron, with seating for over 2,000, is the physical and spiritual center of the Campground. It was built in 1879 by John W. Hoyt of Springfield, Massachusetts. Church services are still held weekly in the Tabernacle during the months of July and August, and a variety of cultural events are held there each summer. By design, the houses are mostly connected by walkways only. There were no through streets for carriage traffic (and now car traffic) so that campers could walk and play freely about the grounds without fear of getting run over! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesleyan_Grove
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