The five original campsites at the time of Horseshoe's opening in 1928 were stockade sites. They were today's Sherwood Forest, Boonesboro, Kit Carson, Davy Crockett and Bayard Taylor. A sixth stockade site, Clifton Lisle, has since been added.
Camp Horseshoe Stockades
When Camp Horseshoe opened in 1928, today's Sherwood Forest campsite was known as Camp Unami, the Indian Lore camp.
Boonesboro was originally named Camp Daniel Boone and was the site of the Pioneering and Nature camp. The name "Boonesboro" comes from Boonesborough, Kentucky, founded in 1778 by Daniel Boone as one of the first English-speaking settlements West of the Appalachian mountains.
Camp Kit Carson was one of the Beginner camps for new Scouts when Horseshoe first opened. It changed to a troop site when the camp program shifted to camping with your home troop and leaders.
In the early days when Scouts did not come to camp with their home troop, Camp Davy Crockett was one of the Beginner camps for new Scouts. The site is named after Davy Crockett, the frontiersman who died at the Battle of Alamo on March 6, 1836.
Bayard Taylor campsite is named for the Chester County writer. During the first three years of Horseshoe, this site went through three names, Old Ironsides, Camp Mason-Dixon and Pirates.
The construction of the Lisle campsite began in 1985-1986. Col. Clifton Lisle's widow contributed some money and Camp Horseshoe abandoned the old Shawana site by the pool and literally moved the Adirondack shelter up where Lisle is today. It began as a platform tent site, but over time the camp converted it to a stockade site. The Smith Foundation funded the construction, and Dick Bensing designed it and oversaw the construction.
This article by J. B. Rettew gives a brief history of the original Camp Horseshoe stockade sites. It first appeared in the July 2001 issue of the The Octoraro Loop.
This article by Ernie Heegard appeared in the July 2006 issue of the HSRAA Octoraro Loop.
This Ernie Says article by Ernie Heegard originally appeared in the Summer 2007 edition of the HSRAA Octoraro Loop.
The first set of early photos were found amoungst the Council archives. Their exact history is unknown but the were likely to have been used as promotional material.
The last few photos were contributed by Jean Brown (via Bill Waxbom), widow of HSR Alum Donald C. Brown, district judge for Chester County.
