ASD
Many Trails, One Camp
To the surprise of many, Camp Shenandoah existed even before Scouting came to the Shenandoah Valley. The original Camp Shenandoah was located at Island Ford, on a farm along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, owned by the Hedrick family. Interestingly, the family did not hold a formal title to the land; instead, it was part of an old land grant, and the family had lived there for eleven generations. The camp was sponsored initially, in the early 1900s, by the Rotary Club of Harrisonburg, and it was open to many youth groups at the time. Several youth groups camped on their designated weekends. The earliest record of Scouts at the site appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in June 1912. The article reported on Boy Scouts from Roanoke and Salem traveling by train, where they were met at the station by wagons to carry their gear to the camp at Island Ford. A number of tents had already been set up in advance. Upon arrival, the Scouts quickly formed ranks and marched to camp under the leadership of J.H. Creighton, Dr. C.M. Maxwell, and Walter C. Treux.
A similar account appeared in the Roanoke Times in 1916, this time describing a group of 50 boys from Roanoke who arrived by train in McGaheysville and then hiked to Island Ford. It is worth noting that the Stonewall Jackson Area Council (SJAC) was not established until 1927. For reasons that remain unclear, the Rotary Club ceased operating the camp and SJAC assumed control in 1930. Dr. Hedrick later recalled that his family would have lost the farm during the Great Depression if the Boy Scouts had not leased the property for $100 a year.
The Lexington Gazette reported on August 27, 1949 that S. Dexter Forbes of Charlottesville, President of SJAC, announced that there would be a new Boy Scout camp. The new camp was to be located southwest of Staunton, in Augusta County, and would replace the leased Camp Shenandoah at Island Ford. The decision to build and develop a new facility came after years of discussion within the Executive Board, which had long recognized that both the camp’s location and program would eventually need to change. The timing became critical, as the lease on the Island Ford property was set to expire in 1950 and could not be renewed. The new Camp Shenandoah near Swoope officially opened for the summer season of 1950.
Camp Shenandoah is owned and operated by the Virginia Headwaters Council (formerly Stonewall Jackson Area Council) and is open for year-round camping. In 1999, approximately 150 acres of land adjacent to the main camp were purchased to establish the Wallenborn Conservation Reserve. Today, the reserve is actively used and managed for wildlife habitat and ecological studies. With this addition, Camp Shenandoah now encompasses a total of 456 acres. Over the years, thousands of Scouts have passed through the camp gates, carrying part of the Scouting spirit along with them into their daily lives.
