Treasure Island Scout Reservation

Treasure Island is a Boy Scout camp located between Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania and Frenchtown, New Jersey, United States. The camp is situated on an island in the middle of the Delaware River and owned by the Cradle of Liberty Council. Treasure Island is the oldest continually operated Boy Scout Camp in the country and has had been continuously associated with Scouting since 1913.http://scoutcamp.org/oldestcamps.asp America's Oldest Boy Scout Camps]

In April 2005, storms caused the highest flooding since 1955.cite news |first=Walter F. |last=Naedele |title=Roiled by the river: Boy Scouts struggle to restore a historic camp ravaged by floods |work= |publisher="Philadelphia Inquirer" |date= June 17 2005|accessdate=2007-11-14 ] As a result, Treasure Island was closed to summer campers in 2005 for the first time in twenty-five years. The council spent more than $1 million to rehabilitate the camp in preparation for reopening in June 2006. On June 28 2006, the camp was once again inundated. Its future was in doubt, [http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/15028522.htm Scout camp digs out — again] but it opened again successfully in 2007. On September 10, 2008, the Council Executive Board voted to close Treasure Island for the 2009 season and will evaluate the future of the reservation. [ [http://www.colbsa.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=2308&orgkey=541 Press release] ]

Campsites

The island has twelve camping sites:

tructures

Among the important buildings on the island are the Kiwanis Lodge (handicraft), the Klein Lodge (nature), the Health Lodge, the Trading Post, and "City Hall," which is the main office in control of Treasure Island. In most of the lodges, merit badges can be earned by the scouts. The Unami Lodge is the founding lodge of the Order of the Arrow. The Dining Hall has been in continuous use for many years. There is also the Goodman Stockade, where the opening campfires are held on Sunday nights, and the Ceremonial Grounds, where the Order of the Arrow ceremonies and the Friday night closing campfire are held. The camp's administrative buildings are located near the Dining Hall.

Treasure Island has a swimming pool, and boating is conducted in canoes and rowboats on the west side of the island at the Boathouse.

Camp program

Tube rafting is offered to Scouts during the summer, and scouts may float downstream for about five miles to Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania, where they are driven by bus back up to the mainland across from Treasure Island, and taken by a boat back to the island.

Bike and canoe trips in the surrounding area are conducted on a daily basis along the old Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. Troops often take advantage of the camp's location in a river and near the Delaware Canal State Park. [ [http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=9915&orgkey=1112 Cradle of Liberty Council website] ] Climbing and rappelling trips take place at Ralph Stover State Park.

Marshall Island

Just to the north of Treasure Island lies an island roughly three times as large, called Marshall Island (or Eagle Island). Marshall Island is connected to Treasure Island only by a small footbridge. Treasure Island is in New Jersey, whereas Marshall Island is in Pennsylvania. Because of this, the archery and rifle Ranges were sited on Marshall Island because New Jersey state gun laws are more stringent. [ [http://www.nj.gov/njsp/about/firearms.html New Jersey State Police - Firearms Information] ]

Most of Marshall island is natural and uninhabited. There is a path leading from the archery and rifle ranges that runs north and branches off in two directions. The branch to the left leads to a series of abandoned buildings and an abandoned field, remaining from when Eagle Island operated as a separate camp (Camp Wilson) in the 1970s. The right branch leads to unused campsites and the C.O.P.E. course. [See [http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/DocDownload.asp?orgkey=1112&id=10017 this map] of the camp on the Cradle of Liberty Council website.]

ee also

*Scouting in New Jersey
*Scouting in Pennsylvania
*Order of the Arrow

External links

*http://media.theechoo.com/demo915/clips/JMCDONALD/jmcdonald_2006630_595.wmv
* [http://scoutcamp.org/oldestcamps.asp America's Oldest Boy Scout Camps by David L. Eby]

Notes