The original
gateway welcoming Scouts to Camp Hinds was at the head of the camp road,
about where the two stone walls stand today. It was much narrower
than the present opening, perhaps sixteen feet wide, and used two tall
poles to support an iron pipe, hanging from which was the Camp Hinds sign.
The sign itself was of wood, made by Frank Bailey, with the camp name and
scout badges shown on the front and a farewell greeting on the back.
That sign stood until about 1965 when the road was widened and the wooden sign retired to the rail of the craft shop. In 1967 Frank Maguire, assisted by Frank Bailey, Steve and Dave Curry, and others set out to design and erect the current sign. We placed it at the tree line instead of the head of the road so that it could be seen by people coming and going along the road; therefore the letters were made big enough so they couldn’t be missed! Under the "CAMP" were smaller letters spelling out "Pine Tree Council" and under "HINDS" was "Boy Scouts of America". Most recently, the lower lettering was removed and relaced with the plaque from the Niss Scout Sevice Center. Although the plaques should be preserved, it ruins the symmetry of the original gateway design. As for the stone walls, we know that a volunteer group erected it but we are not sure who or when. At one time there was a drawing of the stone pillar project - it was supposed to have a metal pole in each pillar and a metal sign going across the road. Don't know where the drawing went or why it wan't finished - perhaps the funding source dried up. |
(Click any photo below to see it larger) |
Dean B. Zaharis Created: November 9, 2010 Last Update: March 18, 2021 Send comments to: FriendsOfHinds@gmail.com |