TWIN LAKE, MICH. — The Owasippe Scout Reservation in Twin Lake is the oldest scout camp in the United States, and as America celebrates its 250th birthday, the nearly 115-year-old camp is reflecting on the history that has unfolded across its more than 4,000 acres.
The reservation, which spans 3 camps, sees nearly 5,000 people over the course of a season.
Grace Sullivan, a scout turned leader, said it remains a summer destination unlike any other.
"You're outside, you're learning new things and new skills that you never thought you would need before."
Carter Lenny, also a scout turned leader, praised what the camp has to offer.
"This camp is pretty amazing. I love it here. In my personal opinion, we have some of the best views, some of the best programs, and there's so much to do," Lenny said.
Javier Montano, Museum Curator at Owasippe, said the camp's legacy is what draws people in.
"The thing that got me was the camaraderie, the heritage of this camp, and what power that this camp has to bring as a difference to young people's lives," Montano said.
The reservation was established in 1911, when a group of Chicago businessmen came together and traveled to Michigan in search of land.
"These group of Chicago businessmen, they got together and they came up here to Michigan, and they found a 40 acre parcel of land. A couple hundred scouts came up here as part of this deal, and the first season was in 1911 and we've been going ever since," Montano said.
More than 100 years of that history can be seen and felt inside the Owasippe Museum. Among the artifacts is a scale model of a steam-powered boat that once carried campers from Chicago to the reservation in the early 1900s.
"They would dock at the Grand Street docks, which is now known as Navy Pier in Chicago, and they would get on the boat, come up this way, and there's a scale model of the Carolina with photos of it actually entering White Lake with scouts on it, and they'd come up that way up until about the 1930s," Montano said.
Also part of that history is Bob Kurth, another Museum Curator, who first came to Owasippe as a scout in 1955. He says the reservation remains special to him.
"This is 56 consecutive years. I haven't missed a summer, and I've been married most of those years, and she's allowed me to do this," Kurt said.
Kurth recalled a camp that looked very different from what visitors see today.
"There was no electricity. If you wanted a cold pop, we still had an ice house on the reservation," Kurth said.
Despite the changes over the decades, Kurt said the natural beauty of Owasippe is what keeps drawing him back.
"The trees are still all beautiful. The animals are still incredible to watch. It's like heaven," Kurt said.
For the scouts who come to Owasippe today, it is about the connections they make — and carrying the camp's legacy forward for another 100 years.
"It's really just that community that it builds, because you run into somebody and learn that they're a scout, and you guys instantly have that connection together," Lenny said.
"You're helping them out, and they see that, and then you know they want to give it back, right? There's a lot of just helping each other in everyday scenarios," Oliver Urban, a scout turned leader, said.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
