| The initial Camp
Hinds property consisted of 135 acres and was purchased for $8,200 - with
buildings that represented an initial investment of $25,000.
In 1927 a row of eight-boy army pyramidal tents with wooden floors was set up in front of the area now occupied by the council ring. Individual steel spring cots with straw mattresses were supplied for each Scout. Seven Scouts and a junior leader were assigned to each tent. It is unclear as to how many campsites
were actually setup, but the 1927 Council Annual Report states that camp
was setup to accomodate 75 Scouts with 125 Scouts attending one or more
weeks. Within two years the site had been extended to the area now occupied
by the dining hall and was divided into "A" and "B" campsites.
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| By
1930 there were four sites named after indian tribes. Frank Bailey
often said, "the original campsites, with indian names like Sioux and Apache
were lined up across the level area now extending from the rec hall to
the dining hall." We only have documentation of the existance of
Pawnee campsite. In 1931 there were four campsites named after
american hereos: Lindbergh, Byrd, MacMillan, and Peary.
Camp continued to grow each year. By 1932 the camp capacity was 176 Scouts per week and the camp capacity in 1939 was 184 Scouts per week. Eight-man tents were still in wide
use throughout camp in 1943. At least some campsites were converted
to four-man tents beginning in 1944. By that time sites in use were:
Boone, Byrd, Beard, Peary, Pershing, MacMillan, and senior camp.
By 1945 all regular troop sites were named after American heroes, and latrines were named after famous colleges. On the river side of camp were Peary, MacMillan, and Peshing campsite with Harvard latrine. On the other side were MacArthur, Boone, and Byrd served by Yale latrine. "Senior Camp" was setup in Tenny Campsite using Princeton latrine. In 1955 Ridgway campsite was added. The next few years saw the addition of Patrick (1958), Baden-Powell (1959), Dan Beard, and Siple. Boys initially attended camp as individuals and camp provided the troop leadership (provisional). Some Scouts started to attend Camp Hinds with their home troop when Camp Nutter was closed in the early 50's. Until 1960, we always had more provisional campers than troop campers. Below is a list of campsite names
in use for various years. This is based on documents and maps located
so far and will be updated when additional documentation is found..
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