Gone, but not forgotten …
By Missy Craver Izard
For more than a century, Western North Carolina has been home to a variety of summer camps. Some have celebrated their centennial and others have closed their gates. Still remaining are about 78 summer camps of all diversities; religiously affiliated, agency supported, private, non-profit, single-sex, coed, sports, music and others. Many of those who have closed their doors may be gone from the rooster of camps to attend, but they are not forgotten.
Camp Windy Wood (1957 - 1986)
Camp Windy Wood was founded in 1957 by Joanne and Bill Waggoner as a traditional boys and girls camp with cabins on either side of a large meadow; one side for boys and the other half for girls. Located on Lake Summit in Tuxedo, N.C., the camp closed in 1986, and the property remained in the Waggoner family. Consisting of about 60 acres, the camp was sold in 2023, and the land and buildings are currently for sale in parcels. Laura Waring wrote to say, “Trailblazers rule. I am a Windy Wood veteran of several happy summers of box turtles and a cold swimming pool — the Polar Bear Club!”
Sky Valley Pioneer Camp for Boys (1948 – 1974)
Sky Valley Pioneer Camp was founded in 1948 by an Episcopal minister named James Young Perry, Jr. and his wife Llewellyn LaBruce Perry of Charleston. “Enter a boy, leave a man” was the camp motto. During his tenure, Perry developed an eight-week program for 40 campers that combined the “rough and ready” pioneer style of living with the values that go into the making of Christian manhood. Campers slept in U.S. Army surplus tents built up on platforms and bathed in the ice-cold lake. The main activities included hiking and making improvements to the camp buildings. At the end of camp an annual hiking cup was awarded to the camper who had accumulated the most miles, a number that usually totaled around 300 miles throughout the eight-week program. Jim Perry died in 1965, passing leadership of the camp on to his son, James “Bo” Perry III, who ran the camp until 1974. The camp was later leased to the Eckerd Foundation, which provided support for children with troubled backgrounds and is now leased by Trails Momentum.
Flintlock Camps (1965 – 1987)
Bill Ross was a WNC camp legend who helped start and run three summer camps in the Green River Valley: Sky Valley Pioneer Camp, Flintlock Camps and Green River Preserve. He met his wife, Bootie Pinckney of Charleston during his time working at Kanuga on his leave while in the military. In 1953, he graduated from the University of Virginia and began a career in education at Porter Military Academy and the Gaud School in Charleston. He went on to serve as head of the middle school at Porter-Gaud School.
In 1966, Bill and his family moved to Spartanburg, where he served as head of the middle and lower Schools at Spartanburg Day School until his retirement in 1991. During their early summers, Bill and Bootie worked at Sky Valley Pioneer Camp and were instrumental in its construction.
Bill and Bootie opened Flintlock Camps for Boys and Girls located in the Green River Valley in 1965 on land owned by the Rice family of Charleston. Many of the traditions of Sky Valley Pioneer Camp were carried over to Flintlock, including the main activities of hiking and building camp facilities. Ross was given permission by the Schenck family to use their 3,400 acres of land adjacent to land (owned by Laurie and Alex Schenck) for hiking.
In around 1987, the Rice family decided to cancel the lease on the Flintlock site, forcing Bill and Bootie to close the camp. Little did Bill know that Sandy Schenck, his once-upon-a-time Flintlock Camper, was contemplating leaving his job to start a summer camp on his family land and that Flintlock would live on in this new camp.
Highland Lake Summer Camps
During World War I, Col. John Charles Woodward and his wife relocated from Georgia and purchased much of the property associated with Highland Lake Club to establish the Carolina Military and Naval Academy for young men. Woodward doubled the size of the Baring-Trenholm-Rhett House to provide dormitory and classroom space for the students and also purchased the rights to use the lake for training the young men.
Although the academy did not survive very long, Col. Woodward continued to run a school for boys called Camp Highland Lake. The Woodwards built a new summer house for their use and while Col. Woodward ran the boys’ camp and academy, Mrs. Woodward operated a girls’ summer camp called Gracemont from their home and its outbuildings. Col. Woodward directed Camp Highland Lake until his death in 1939, which continued into the 1940s by his son, Maj. C. D. Woodward. The 20-room lodge was originally a dormitory built for Camp Highland Lake; in the late 20th century it was rehabilitated and converted to guest rooms for the Highland Lake Inn.
In 1946, the property was sold to Berryman Longino who ran the All-American Boys Camp for one year. The following year, a summer camp and school for young Jewish people Camp Brandeis was established on the site.
The Catholic diocese bought the Highland Lake property in 1955 to be used as a diocesan retreat center and summer camp, Our Lady of the Hills Camp, which opened the next year — the first racially integrated camp in the region. In 1978, the Diocese of Charlotte Youth Ministry office was relocated to the camp.
In 1985, the property was sold to the Lindsey family and the Highland Lake Inn and Conference Center was established at the former camp location. The Lindseys sold the Highland Lake Inn and Resort property parcel to the Grup family in 1999, who continue to run it to this day, although many of the Lindsey family members still live on various parcels of the Highland Lake property and operate other businesses there.
Camp Sequoyah – (1924 - 1978)
Camp Sequoyah was founded in 1924 by C. Walton Johnson in Weaverville. Known as “Chief,” the tall former YMCA worker opened his “camp with a purpose” and named it Sequoyah after the Indian scholar who invented the Cherokee alphabet. He operated the camp for the next 43 years until his death in early 1967. His son, Bill, kept the camp operating for the remainder of the year and then leased the property to Bruce Capps, who ran it for another 11 years and although the camp closed its doors after the 1978 season, for the past 45 years there has been a vibrant alumni presence devoted to preserving the property and the memories. Nostalgia plays a part, but there’s more to it than that. “Sequoyah, they say steered boys toward qualities that last a lifetime — discipline, self-reliance, spirituality and a balanced life.” A website devoted to remembering those formative camp experiences can be found here: https://www.campsequoyah.net
Camp Yonahlossee 1922 – late 1980’s
Camp Yonahlossee, once located near Blowing Rock, was a summer camp for young women operated from 1922 to the late 1980s founded by Dr. Adam Perry (A.P.) and Mrs. Margaret Kephart, a pair of educators from Greensboro. Camp Yonahlossee was the female counterpart to the boys’ Camp Yonahnoka located nearby in Linville, North Carolina.
In 1954, the camp was sold to Mr. and Mrs. George M. McCord and Mrs. Agnes Jeter – fondly known by her campers as “Jete.” The heart and soul of Camp Yonahlossee, Miss Jeter started as a young camp counselor in 1923 and rose to become owner from 1950 to 1981 when she retired. Her long tenure allowed her to touch many lives. “Jete had more influence on my life — other than my parents and church — than anyone,” recalls Vicki Steadman Clement of Greenville, a camper in the 1940s.
The camp’s primary focus was outdoor recreation with programs including horseback riding, archery, rifle shooting, swimming, sailing and fencing. Crafts and dance were also taught. The camp closed in the late 1980s and became a resort focused on equestrian activities. “I had so much fun at camp, recalls Francie Reeves Morrison, Charleston camper in the 1960s. Every camper was a member of an Indian tribe which wouldn’t be allowed today. I was a Shawano. Banners of the Chippewas, Croatans, Tuscaroras and Shawanos adorned the Main Cabin walls. I was also big into horseback riding and Yonahlosee had a great program. I still keep in touch with a friend I made all those years ago.”
“Even though Camp Yonahlossee closed in the ‘80s, after more than 60 summers, and even though its acreage is a beautiful mountain residential community the waterfall still splashes over the rock walls and its campers never leave. You can’t stop being a Yonahlossee Girl,” author Susan Stafford Kelly remembers.
Camp Catawba (1944 – 1970)
Camp Catawba was a summer camp for boys that operated from 1944 to 1970 formerly located near Blowing Rock close to what is now the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The camp was founded by Dr. Vera Lachmann, a poet and professor of classics whose German-Jewish heritage forced her to seek refuge in America in the 1930s. Focused on a balance of recreation and the arts, the summer camp’s activities were particularly informed by Lachmann’s expertise in the classics and literature. Activities included horseback riding, hiking, swimming, archery as well as dramatic performances of Shakespeare, Aristophanes and Chekov, bedtime stories from The Odyssey and The Illiad and musical instruction under the direction of microtonal concert musician and composer Tui St. George Tucker.
The archival collection related to Camp Catawba documents, the operation of the camp and its history, and correspondence with campers and counselors, as well as ephemera and sound recordings related to the camp is available for research at Appalachian State in their special collections research center. Additionally, this collection contains materials related to the camp’s founder, Vera Lachmann, such as poetry composed by Lachmann and her personal correspondence. To learn more, visit the collection guide: https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/1128
Read more about Camp Catawba on the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s website: https://www.brpfoundation.org/blog/remembering-camp-catawba
Camp Burgiss Glenn (1933 – 1988)
In 1926 the Greenville YWCA purchased 130 acres of mountain land near Cedar Mountain, N.C. for Camp Burgiss Glenn in response to a promise of $12,000 from real estate developer W.W. Burgiss. Considered the sister camp of neighboring YMCA Camp Greenville, Burgiss Glenn was a smaller and more intimate setting with a focus on traditional camp activities and close personal relationships. Accredited by the American Camp Association, the basic camp program for girls ages 7-14 included a variety of arts, sports and special events.
A boy’s camp and Camp Burgis Glenn a YWCA girls camp merged in the late 1980s to form a coed camp, YMCA Camp Greenville. Today, Camp Greenville offers weeklong sessions to approximately 200 boys and girls per week.
Former Burgiss Glenn camper and Greenville native Mimi Richardson Shaughnessy attended Camp Burgis Glenn in the 1960’s for years. She can still recall the favored camp song: “Bickety burgess glickety glen is mickety mighty fickety fine can wicketedy we are glickedy glad we are here!”
Summit Camps (1969 – 1986)
Summit Camps was located on 1,400 acres that are part of the DuPont State Recreational Forest today, which consisted of a boys’ camp and a girls’ camp. Camp Summit had its own airstrip used by camp founder and owner Ben Cart and the parents of campers. The camp operated from 1969 through 1986; DuPont bought the property in 1999, including the camp buildings, Lake Julia and the airstrip.
Camp Skyuka (1954-1985)
In 1954, the Spartanburg YMCA built and operated Camp Skyuka, a wonderful summer camp that provided fun filled, happy memories to thousands of children. Located on White Oak Mountain near Tryon, it once was fertile hunting ground for the Cherokee and a hideaway for moonshiners; today it is a picturesque setting for vacationers and permanent residents, one of whom, author Susan Story Speight, captured the history of Skyuka in her book, As We Climb the Mountain, Up the Winding Roadway.
Camp Skyuka was touted as an “outdoor paradise in the clouds” when it first opened its doors in 1954. The much-loved camp director was Evans Cannon, the general secretary for the Spartanburg YMCA. The unique sleeping cabins, mess hall and infirmary were all built of blue granite by local rock mason, J.C. Williams, with the help of a local crew which included three Cherokee Indians. All of the stone came directly from the mountain or from a quarry in Green River Cove. Members of the U.S. Naval Reserve CB Division 6-27 of Spartanburg took part in a project called “Operation Skyuka,” a goodwill development program in which they constructed a rifle range, ball field, and tennis courts, making sure everything was ready for opening day. They even devised a PA system. In the late 1980s, the YMCA board voted to close the beloved summer camp and sell the 100-plus acre property to a developer, who in turn divided the land into building lots and sold them along with the old stone cabins.
The following letter from camper Michael Coffin (1970-73) reflects the feelings that many shared:
The first trip to the camp was sort of magical for a young boy like me. We took a bus up to a spot below the mountain. There we were met by the pick-up truck from the camp. We piled in the back of the open pick-up with our luggage. We then proceeded to ascend the tremendously steep gravel road to the camp. The truck bounced and clattered up the steep grade. It was so cool! I was actually terrified the first time. The road was very rough and rutted and only suited for trucks. I remember my ears popping from the altitude change and the coolness of the shaded mountainside, finally reaching the camp with relief that we didn’t plummet to our deaths down the steep slopes! On first sight, the camp was a wonderment and utterly beautiful. The amazing view from the pavilion was like looking off the side of the world. And, when a thunderstorm would come across the mountain, you thought it was the end of the world! Mr. Cannon made the camp the magical place that it was. He was a masterful storyteller and one of the prime events of the summer camp was the ghost stories told around the bonfire. The meals were excellent. The warm summer days of swimming, hiking and crafts melted into cool nights of bouncing on the trampoline at the pavilion and roasting marshmallows over the campfire. It was a great experience.
For generations, summer camps have been a tradition for thousands of children and these gone-but-not-forgotten camps are just a few of the many that made a significant impact on their lives. At the end of the summer camp was camp — a place where children were allowed to experience independence and to discover themselves spiritually, physically and emotionally.
Missy Craver Izard was born and raised in Charleston, S.C. and resides in Flat Rock, N.C. A retired Summer Camp Director and art teacher, Missy is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, journalist, community leader, and the recipient of several awards including the White House Champions of Change.
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