Camp WaBak’s Beginnings

Last Friday, I visited the Greenville Main Library in the hopes of researching Charles H. Yates, a man who was a very kind benefactor to the Girl Scouts.  The Yates Lodge at WaBak is named after him.  When I arrived at the library, I found out that The Greenville News archive is only indexed from 1990 to the present.  Uggghhhhh… and there went my plans for cross-referencing Charles H. Yates and Girl Scouts.  I’d have to know specifically which issue I wanted to look up or at least have some kind of date to go by. 

So, I turned to my next project which was to find any articles about Camp WaBak through the years like I did for Camp Mary Elizabeth.  Again, I was out of luck doing an involved research project, because at least at this point in time, I don’t have specific dates or even months to try to narrow down what issues to browse.

But, according to the timeline of the 50th Anniversary booklet, the original land for the camp was purchased in May of 1948 for $2000.  So, I asked for help from the library staff who set me up with the 1948 editions of The Greenville News on microfilm.  I started with May 1st and quickly scanned through it page by page (thank goodness I’m a fast reader) – and almost immediately found a small blurb on the front page of May 2nd!

Scout Council To Discuss Camp Site

The purchase of a camp site for the Greenville County Girl Scout Council will be discussed at the regular meeting of the council in the Council Chamber of City Hall Wednesday at 10:30 a. m., Mrs. Helen Fisher, executive director, said yesterday.

A few days later, the May 6th, 1948 edition on the front page featured this:

Girl Scouts To Buy Camp Site

A committee headed by Jack Dupree, chairman, was named yesterday in the regular meeting of the Greenville Girl Scout Council to proceed with plans to purchase land in upper Greenville County for a camp site to be used by all Girl Scout troops and adult membership, Mrs. R. R. Asbury, public relations committee chairman, announced.

No definite site for the camp or purchase price has been set by the council yet, Mrs. Asbury said.

A motion was passed expressing regret at the recent death of Mrs. A. F. McKissick, long a leader in county Scout work and more recently member of the national advisory board of the Girl Scouts.  Mrs. David Woodson had charge of the program.

Later in the month, this clipping was found on page 2 of the May 18th, 1948 edition:

Scouts Secure Land For Camp

Ten acres of land a mile and a half off the River Falls road in upper Greenville County were sold by Clyde Brooks of Ware Shoals yesterday to the Greenville County Girl Scout Council as a site for troop cookouts and overnight camping trips, it was announced by the camping and activity committee chairman, Jack DuPree, yesterday.

Sold to the council for a fraction of its worth, according to Mr. DuPree, the tract included a five-room lodge and outdoor cooking shed which will be used by the troops for spending time out-of-doors cooking, living in cabins and tents, or having instruction classes in camping techniques.

Some 400 girls, including 377 intermediates, 21 senior scouts and 74 leaders and assistants, will benefit from the camp which is a result of a search begun in earnest this year after Camp Cateechee officials notified the council that the camp would not be available as a permanent Girl Scout Summer camp after this season.

Mr. DuPree said yesterday that the camp site “is not the goal of the county Girl Scouts in searching for a permanent area for summer camps.  It affords the local Girl Scouts with an area that can be used until a better camp site can be secured.

Wow!  So originally, this land was only intended to be temporary!  At some point this obviously changed, because the first camp was held in the summer of 1949.  To find out more about this decision, I’d have to skim every issue of the newspaper between June 1948 and May or June of 1949.   Until the paper is indexed, this is a tall order for even the fastest reader.  I asked the Greenville library staff if there are any plans to index it, and they said not anytime soon.  They requested that it be added to the Newspapers.com library, but they didn’t sound hopeful.

So for right now, this project is in a holding pattern until there’s some way to either index The Greenville News or to find more specific dates.  I have been told there’s more information about WaBak in a storage unit owned by our council where a lot of the Old 96 legacy council’s historical items went to reside at the time of the merger until they could be catalogued.  However, getting into the storage unit seems to be a question mark, so who knows if this will happen anytime soon.  Anybody have a bobby pin and a credit card?  It always worked for Magnum P.I.!  😉

Addendum 2/20/17:  I was told by Lois that the correct capitalization is WaBak, so I’ll be correcting this throughout the blog.

Addendum 5/2/17:  I was remiss in adding this additional piece of information from the  Camp WaBak 50th Anniversary Booklet:

The Early Years:  1948 – 1949

In May of 1948, Helen Fisher, Council director, purchase a 10-acre tract of land for $2,000 on behalf of the Greenville Girl Scout council. The land was located in Upper Greenville County near a waterfall on Gap Creek at the foot of Osborne Mountain. A large and cookout house were sold with the land. The lodge, built in 1933, bore the name WaBak, so it seemed appropriate to keep that name for the camp.

In 1949, the first summer camp was held. 19 girls attended, each paying a fee of $17. Five cabins  and a shower house were built under the leadership of Jack DuPree. A 15 foot dam was constructed to make a fish pond and swimming pool. Various Civic clubs and private donors provided funds. Electricity was installed.

Addendum 5/26/18:  Here’s the original May 17th, 1948 deed:  1948 wabak deed  It also looks like an additional 1 1/2 acres was purchased for $170 later that summer on July 19th.  Here’s the deed for it:  1948 wabak deed 2