The Road to Beech Mountain, Part 1: The First Camps
The Road to Beech Mountain, Part 1: The First Camps
1923-1924 – Camp Wanaksink, Orange County Council
1925-1928 – Spruce Ridge Scout Camp, Orange County Council
1927-1928 – Horseshoe Pond, Sullivan County Council
1929-1930 – Spruce Ridge Scout Camp, Orange County Council with Sullivan County Council
1931-1939 – Spruce Ridge Scout Camp, Orange-Sullivan Council
It was gone. As we drew closer to Hodge Pond at the end of our hike, we saw nothing but grassy clearings where the camp buildings had been the year before. No buildings, no piles of debris, no scarred earth showing signs that heavy equipment had been there. Nothing. Beech Mountain Scout Camp was gone.
That was the scene sometime in 1984 or 1985 on an otherwise beautiful day in the Catskills. Our plan had been to tour the camp and then set up a place to spend the night in one of the buildings as we had done the year before when I first visited the recently-closed camp. My father had led several such excursions in the years since the camp was sold. This would be the last. After a brief tour, retracing our path from the previous visit, we went back down the road we came in on, never to return again.
My final memories of Beech Mountain Scout Camp would be tinged with a profound sense of loss for something I had never truly known. Everyone else on that trip had seen the camp in operation, either as a camper, as a staff member, or, in the case of my brother, as a visitor. I only knew it as a ghost town that inspired fond memories in everyone else.
So now, nearly 40 years later, I’ve set out to document what remains of the only camp ever fully owned by the Hudson-Delaware Council (and the Orange-Sullivan Council before it) – its memorabilia. Well, that and one other thing. But before we get to that, there are stories that need to be told about what came before the camp at Hodge Pond. Beech Mountain Scout Camp was the end of a story decades in the making, filled with struggle and triumph and things that would be lost along the way. And the recurring themes remain relevant even today.
What is a camp?
Before we can start talking about camps, we should probably define the term. Scout camps have taken on many forms since the beginning of Scouting. Some were informal camps that only existed as long as the Scouts were there. Others were leased or owned or borrowed by a Scouting organization of some sort, from troops all the way up to National. Camps changed locations, changed names, changed owners, changed operators, or changed size in varying combinations over the years. Some camps were subdivided into smaller camps distinguished by physical location or program or both. And some camps were grouped together into larger camps or reservations, with or without a change in the basic name.
Many of these camps, in name or location or both, no longer exist. Some are now camps run by other organizations. Some have been returned to the wild. Some have been subdivided into housing developments, lost forever to the demands of civilization. And some sit idle, their fate uncertain. All deserve to be remembered.
To date, the best reference documenting all of these camps is Camp Book 2 by Bob Sherman (and others), version 3 of which was released in 2021. If you’ve been to any of the trade-o-rees in the northeast, you’ve probably seen Bob there. When it comes to camp patches, he’s probably the biggest expert there is. But documenting every Scout camp in the country over more than a century is a huge task and documenting it accurately is an insurmountable one. Camp Book 2, with its wealth of information, is full of inaccuracies and errors. That much is unavoidable with a project of that scale.
I know how big a challenge it is just to piece together the history of a few camps. I can’t imagine what it takes to cover thousands. Our goal here is to piece together this history for the camps of the Hudson-Delaware Council 392 and its predecessors (Orange County Council 392, Sullivan County Council 761, and Orange-Sullivan Council 392) with sources and establish a definitive historical record. There will still be some gaps and much more research is needed; any gaps or assumptions will be noted so I, or you, can dig up more info later. Camp Book 2 provides a starting point, hopefully an accurate accounting will be the end result.
For our purposes, only camps operated by the Hudson-Delaware Council or its predecessors for official summer camps will be covered. Other camps may be mentioned as necessary to tell the complete story. Camp subdivisions, programs, outpost camps, and clubs will be mentioned but will not be treated as separate entities. Camps attended or operated by individual troops and non-council camps utilized for activities other than summer camp will not be covered.
To begin this story, we need to go back 100 years to 1923 and the first summer camp operated by the fledgling Orange County Council.
Camp Wanaksink – Starting with a Bang (1923-1924)
When we left off last time, we saw the idea of a summer camp first being mentioned at an Orange County Council executive board meeting in November of 1922 by newly-hired Scout Executive Clarence W. Hunter:
“[Executive Hunter] suggested that a camping program should be adopted and the committee areed [sic] with him, deciding on a county encampment, site to be selected later.”
That site would later be announced as an area on the northern shore of Lake Wanaksink (formerly known as Fowlwood Lake or The Lord’s Pond) in neighboring Sullivan County known as Gold Point (formerly Walden Point). That site was home to a camp owned and operated by the Walden YMCA. Gold Point is not to be confused with Middletown Point, shown as Silver Point on some maps, down the shore to the east.
Why all the references to locations in Orange County on a lake in Sullivan County? To explain that, we’ll need to back up a bit and take a look at a water rights dispute that took years to resolve.
Water Rights Disputes
What is now Lake Wanaksink was owned by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in the second half of the 19th century. The canal company used the lake as a reservoir for the canal and had enlarged it by flooding adjacent land, most of which was also owned by the canal company. When the canal was closed at the end of the century, the company sold off unneeded land such as the lake and surrounding property.
In 1851, before the canal company purchased the lake, a 15-acre parcel was sold and had a boarding house built on the site. The same land was then sold to the canal company before the deed for the first sale was recorded in 1857. The canal company took no action against the operators of the boarding house for the half century they technically owned that property.
While owned by the canal company, the lake was frequently used for recreational and commercial purposes by people “from all over this section of the country.” Again, there is no evidence that the canal company did anything to dissuade this use.
The lake would eventually be sold to Thomas Watts of Middletown. Watts sought to end the public use of the lake and filed suit against Max Burtis, the owner of the boarding house at the time. In 1920, after both Watts and Burtis had sold their properties, the court ruled that Watts was the rightful owner of the lake and that Burtis’s deed was invalid. However, on account of Burtis and his predecessors having occupied the site for more than 60 years, the court deemed that he was entitled to the 15-acre parcel conveyed in the invalidated deed but not property extending into the center of the lake as Burtis had claimed that he was entitled to. With the matter settled, everyone could move on with their lives.
Not so fast. The matter of ownership of the lake needed to be resolved to finalize the sale of the lake and 300 acres of surrounding land to a group from New York City that would form the Wanaksink Lake Development Corporation. This company planned to sell parcels of land around the lake for vacation cottages, which were increasingly in demand at the time. Among the early buyers was none other than the Walden YMCA, which purchased a plot with four acres of land and 400 feet of shoreline. One of the perks of buying in was exclusive access to the lake.
But the issue of others claiming rights to use the lake continued. Next up was John Hannan, who owned a farm and a casino next to the lake and sold access to the lake for boating and fishing, among other uses. In July of 1920, he was served with an injunction to prevent him from sailing boats on the lake. When he continued to use the lake, he was fined $50 for violating the injunction. This might take a while…
In 1922, a proposal was made for the owners of property purchased from the Wanaksink Lake Development Corporation to purchase the lake themselves. The sale was completed that August and the Wanaksink Lake Corporation of Walden was chartered the following month. Just in time for the decision in the case against John Hannan, in which the court ruled that Hannan had the right to use the 9/10 of an acre of the lake that sat over his land and no more. Finally, three owners in, the matter of water rights was closed. Roads, not so much. But that would continue after the camp had gone elsewhere.
Camp, Finally
After several years of legal wrangling, it’s finally time to go to camp! In June of 1923, The Orange County Council announced that Camp Wanaksink would be open from July 5 to August 9 at a cost of $7 per week. The camp could accommodate 50 Scouts per week and transportation would be provided.
Not much information is available about the activities at Camp Wanaksink, but, in 1972, Dick Harding recalled using dynamite to remove some stubborn stumps. That doesn’t exactly seem like proper work for the Boy Scouts, but I guess times were different back then. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that anyone was killed by dynamite during the clearing of land for THIS camp, even though Executive Hunter had Harding, who had experience handling dynamite while working for DuPont, “hold the dynamite steady while it was being moved to the lake in a Model T sedan.”
After successfully surviving their first summer at Camp Wanaksink, the Orange County Council was exploring other options for camp in 1924. Executive Hunter toured several candidate locations in search of a site that could accommodate 100 Scouts per week, double what the previous year’s camp could handle. In the end, they settled on returning to Camp Wanaksink for six weeks starting on July 16. The camp could now accommodate 100 Scouts at a time (no word on whether the previously mentioned dynamite had a part in that) and had a full range of activities, including classes for 30 different merit badges, hikes, a camp circus, field and aquatics meets, moonlight water pageants, and more.
Despite the full program of activities, the council had trouble filling all of the available space. The camp opened with 68 Scouts and the council reached out to the Kiwanis Club of Port Jervis to fill the remaining capacity. This trend continued in the second week. In the end, the camp averaged 73 Scouts per week, well under capacity but still an increase from the previous year. The Kiwanis Club of Port Jervis sent 31 boys to Camp Wanaksink, helping to keep it at or near capacity.
And that was the end for Camp Wanaksink. It’s not clear what happened with the Walden YMCA camp, but the property has since been subdivided and developed.
Spruce Ridge Scout Camp – Shared Space (1925-1928)
This is where the details get a bit fuzzy. I have yet to find any specific mention of the Orange County Council’s camp between 1925 and 1928 and Camp Book 2 doesn’t offer many clues. After a Camp Wanalssirels in Rock Hill in 1924, it has a Camp Wanoksink in 1925 and a Camp De Bruce in 1926 and 1927 before finally arriving at Spruce Ridge Scout Camp on Hunter Lake in 1928 (listed under the Orange-Sullivan Council, which didn’t exist until 1931). Let’s see if we can straighten some of this out.
Our first clue comes from the 1972 retrospective:
“The first camp site for Scouts was at Wanaksink Lake where they cleared what was known as Walden Point and later as Gold Point. From there it was Hunter Lake where canoeing scouts could serenade girls at Camp Townsend on the opposite side of the lake.”
There’s a lot to unpack there, but it establishes that Hunter Lake is our next destination. When, exactly is a bit up in the air. A mention of 120 girls from Middletown camping at Hunter Lake in 1927 states that “the Boy Scouts, of that city and surrounding country camp there every year.” Now, “every year” would seem to indicate that 1927 wasn’t the first year or even the second. So let’s take a look at Spruce Ridge Scout Camp in 1925.
Girl Scout Camp
As with the previous instance, the earliest accounts of activity at Spruce Ridge Scout Camp are about the Girl Scouts. It all began in August of 1925 when 85 Girl Scouts from Middletown assembled at the Middletown Girl Scout Camp, Hunter Lake. A mention a few weeks later identifies the camp as the Middletown Scout Camp at Spruce Ridge. And a retrospective in 1962 includes the following comment:
“Up to 1925, when Spruce Ridge was obtained, summer Girl Scout camps were held at Sylvan Lake in Dutchess County and at Wanaksink Lake.”
The same article includes a photograph from “the time the Middletown Girl Scout Council purchased its first campsite.” No date or location is given, so I had initially assumed that this was referring to Birch Ridge. A 1939 article mentions that the Girl Scouts had recently taken the full title to Spruce Ridge and the Boy Scout and Girl Scout leadership at the time matches those in the photo. Based on this, it would seem that the camp was fully owned by the Middletown Girl Scout Council in 1939 and at least partially owned by the Orange-Sullivan Council prior to that. But what about in 1925?
A timely eBay listing shows a photo album commemorating “the Girl Scouts of Middletown New York during their first summer at their own Spruce Ridge Scout Camp during the month of August 1925.” That link will go stale in a few months, so you’ll just have to trust me on that. I would buy it, but the price is way too steep for the minimal value it would have for this project. But if anyone out there with a connection to Orange County Girl Scouting wants to grab it and get it scanned, it would be much appreciated.
It’s from all of this that we can start to see the whole picture. Placing the Girl Scouts at Lake Wanaksink establishes a connection to the Boy Scouts both before and after 1925. But it’s what we don’t see that might be most significant – what was happening at Spruce Ridge in July 1925? As we’ll see in later years, Spruce Ridge would be open for ten weeks each summer, five operated by the Girl Scouts and five by the Boy Scouts. With the Girl Scouts in camp during August (and not before), July would have been available for the Boy Scouts. It’s not conclusive, but I’m willing to go with that until I can find something that says otherwise.
Camp Townsend
What none of this has told us so far is exactly where Spruce Ridge Scout Camp was on Hunter Lake. To find that, we just need to establish the location of Camp Townsend, mentioned previously as being on the other side of the lake.
Camp Townsend was owned and operated by the Webb-Horton Memorial Presbyterian Church, located in Middletown just around the corner from the headquarters of the Orange County Council, from 1921 to 1967. It was used primarily as a church youth camp for children age 7 to 15. The years of operation mean it both predated and outlasted all other known camps on Hunter Lake. So all we need to do is look at a map of Hunter Lake from 1966 and the end without tightly-packed houses along the shore is Camp Townsend. That makes the other end, to the north, the former site of Spruce Ridge Scout Camp.
And about those girls being serenaded across the lake? Well, with the Girl Scouts occupying the same space as the Boy Scouts at a different time, that rules them out as being the girls in question. But they may not have been girls from the church camp either. A Girl Scout troop from Liberty was at Camp Townsend in July 1926, when the Boy Scouts would have been at Spruce Ridge. This raises the possibility that Sullivan County Girl Scouts may have been camping at Camp Townsend while the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Orange County were at Spruce Ridge. Wondering where the Sullivan County Boy Scouts are?
Horseshoe Pond – On Borrowed Time (1927-1928)
Scouting in Sullivan County was running a few years behind its Orange County counterpart, but things were finally coming together in 1926. While the Orange County Scouts were at Spruce Ridge and the New York City Scouts were looking for a new camp to last the next century or more, the Sullivan County Scouts were organizing a council. They may not have made their goal to function by December 1st, but things were mostly in place by the end of the year. I know the feeling…
After making great progress during the first half of 1927, the new Sullivan County Council 761 announced its first summer camp at Horseshoe Pond on the property of Ernest H. Kiel from July 6 to August 2. Kiel offered the use of his property and facilities for free and the Scouts had flooring for seven tents built, giving the camp a capacity of 24 Scouts and 6-8 adult leaders. At one point, there were 17 Scouts and 6 leaders in camp.
The Sullivan County Scouts were back at Horseshoe Pond in 1928 from July 5 to August 9 at a cost of $7/week, which barely covered the costs even with the property being provided for free. Mr. Kiel even offered the use of a pavilion with electric lights and a radio. 32 Scouts and 6 leaders were in camp during the second week, a notable increase from the previous year. Overall, 54 Scouts attended camp for an average of about two weeks each. The council was hopeful for an even better turnout the next year and a longer operating period.
And that’s when everything started going wrong. Ahead of the Sullivan County Council’s annual meeting that fall, Scout Executive Howard S. Hunt resigned his position. Hunt was then asked to withdraw his resignation and stay on for at least a year, which he agreed to do. But it was clear that he had one foot out the door.
And then they lost their camp. Ernest Kiel had just opened a new hotel on his property in the spring of 1929 and would be needing the camp facilities for the guests. That left the Sullivan County Council, already short on funds, without a cost-effective option for a summer camp location. Hearing of their plight, the Orange County Council offered the use of Spruce Ridge for the summer, bringing the Orange County and Sullivan County Councils together for the first time.
Camp Book 2 shows the Sullivan County Council at a Camp Hunt at Swan Lake in 1929. The council did not operate a camp in 1929 and the camp they did operate in 1927 and 1928 had no name I’ve seen mentioned and was located at Horseshoe Pond in Bethel. Horseshoe Pond is sometimes described as being near Swan Lake but the camp was not at Swan Lake. Which is probably for the best considering that most mentions of Swan Lake I’ve seen have involved drownings
As for Kiel’s hotel, well, 1929 seems like a bad time to have been starting a business catering to the leisure activities of out-of-towners. The only subsequent mention of it I’ve found is from when Kiel’s home burned down in 1931. The hotel, now referred to as a boarding house, was not harmed.
Spruce Ridge Scout Camp – Birth of the Orange-Sullivan Council (1929-1930)
Back at Spruce Ridge in 1929, 45 Sullivan County Scouts were in camp alongside 150 from Orange County during the second of three weeks made available to the Sullivan County Council. Executive Hunter and Executive Hunt were leading contingents of Scouts at a camp on Hunter Lake for the first time. It would also be the last.
Despite their situation, the Sullivan County Council remained committed to finding their own camp for 1930. That all changed when Executive Hunt resigned, for real this time in February. Hunt had accepted a position with the Suffolk County Council on Long Island, so there was no taking this one back. All the council could do was wish him farewell as their problems mounted.
And mount, they did. Less than two months later, BSA regional director Gilbert H. Gendell dropped by unannounced to discuss the council’s fundraising efforts and their search for a new Scout Executive. Gendell also promised to send a consultant, free of charge, in the fall to help with their finances, a move that, while helpful on the surface, can only signal that the council’s days are numbered if they fail to turn things around. Finding a new Executive would be a good start.
To their credit, the Sullivan County Council identified a candidate for Executive quickly, but the candidate declined their offer because he would rather stay off a sinking ship, or, more politely, “he preferred another [position] in his home section.” With no other options, the Sullivan County Council made arrangements to rely on the hospitality of their neighbor and return to Spruce Ridge in 1930. This time, though, the price would go up to $8 per week to account for the need to hire a replacement for Executive Hunt.
Spruce Ridge Scout Camp was set to be better than ever in 1930 with new cabins and other amenities, the result of a $20,000 investment in the camp. The 20-acre camp would be split into six divisions: Plainsmen Camp, Rangers Camp, Woodsmen Camp, and Medicine Men Camp for ranks Tenderfoot through Star, respectively, Pioneer Camp for advanced Scouts and Indian Village for selected scouts. It was almost enough to make you forget about your council’s imminent demise.
Before camp would open though, the remaining Sullivan County Council leadership had seen the writing on the wall and proposed a merger with the Orange County Council, which accepted. The Sullivan County Council would still be on its own for funding for another year or two until the next planned Orange County Council fund drive, but by November its fundraising was back on track.
Almost exactly four years after the Sullivan County Council was formed, final plans for its merger into the Orange-Sullivan Council were announced. The new council would have 1,606 Scouts and 482 adult leaders. Objectives for 1931 were set, officers were elected, and a new era for Scouting in the region was set to begin with the new year.
Spruce Ridge Scout Camp – New Beginnings (1931-1939)
With the two counties (plus maybe a little bit of Pennsylvania) now officially a single council, it figures that summer camp would be bigger and better than ever. Exactly how much bigger might be a bit of a surprise. Spruce Ridge would be open from June 25 to July 30 at a cost of $7 per week for everyone once again. But new for 1931 was Camp Wildwood, open from July 2 to September 3 at a cost of just $5 per week. Several other non-camp trips were also announced, and I have to admit that they all sound like a lot of fun even now. I’m kind of jealous of the opportunities these Scouts had nearly a century ago (Great Depression aside).
Camp was in full swing by mid-July as more details of the program were revealed. A new overnight camp site on the Willowemoc was established and 56 Scouts had already hiked to the site to enjoy a night away from camp. More details about Camp Wildwood were also provided. Situated on 150 acres of land with half a mile of shoreline, the camp was full of opportunities. But not roads. Access was by boat only with no supplies or facilities on site except for what you bring with you or make yourself. It was very much a blank canvas. In the fourth week, the entire camp, 160 Scouts in all, enjoyed a barbecue at Camp Wildwood.
And that’s the last mention of Camp Wildwood I’ve been able to find. Based on the description, it must have been on the east side of the lake. While there is now a road there, most of the land away from the lake remains undeveloped.
Other developments were less documented. In 1932, Spruce Ridge would have likely been the birthplace of Skanondo Lodge 64. With so many opportunities for advanced Scouts, an Order of the Arrow lodge would have made perfect sense at that time.
It also would have been around this time that the council’s first camp insignia would be introduced, a simple layered felt design with a yellow interlocking SR over a green spruce tree referred to as the Spruce Tree emblem. Numbers could be added to designate years of attendance. I have none of these, so links will have to suffice until they go dead.
Executive Hunter resigned in 1933 to return to the ministry. Ernest Blanchard was named as his replacement in 1934.
Camp in 1934 would be held in August as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts apparently swapped schedules. Building a camp museum was on the agenda for that summer. I wonder what happened to it…
New opportunities continued to present themselves as camp enrollment increased. That summer, 16 selected Scouts camped at Mongaup Pond, where they worked on clearing trails in the area. Perhaps it was here that the Scouts of the Orange-Sullivan Council first saw the mountain that would give their next camp its name.
By 1937, amid camporees and jamborees, Spruce Ridge was announced to have a capacity of 135 Scouts and would be open from July 29 to September 2. The reason for the decrease was not given.
Despite that decrease, Hunter Lake was hosting more youth over the summer than ever before. “Special Commemorative Edition of THE PIONEER, Dedicated to the Opening of the New Livingston Manor Central School”, published 19 May 1939 sums it up:
“The area also hosts many summer camps accommodating up to 3000 boys and girls including the Orange-Sullivan Boy Scout Camps at Hunter Lake, Camp Townsend, and Spruce Ridge Camp.”
Spruce Ridge saw one final piece of memorabilia released in 1939, a printed felt patch in the shape of a tent that just says “O.S. Council Camp 1939.” Was there some uncertainty about where the council camp would be that year? This would be the Orange-Sullivan Council’s final year at Spruce Ridge and the last stop before Beech Mountain Scout Camp.
Aftermath
There were some new arrivals at Hunter Lake after the Boy Scouts departed. The Orange County 4-H spent a week at Camp Townsend in 1940 and returned in 1941. They were told that the camp was not available in 1942 and camped elsewhere that year.
The Girl Scouts, as previously noted, left Spruce Ridge after 1942 and opened Birch Ridge Scout Camp in 1948. Birch Ridge hosted several Boy Scout and co-ed events over the years and was sold in 2019-2020.
Camp Townsend closed after the 1967 season and was put up for sale in 1968. Where it went from there is unclear, but the current owners purchased it in the 1980s when it was being used as a Catholic boys’ camp and opened Hunter Lake Campground. It remains in operation to this day as a camp open to all.