Something about the idea of summer camp seems so old fashioned. I can’t imagine girls today wanting to attend camp. But my area, which has had thriving camps since the 1910s still has a few that seem to be doing fairly well.
Above is a group shot of Camp Dellwood, which was located about five miles from where I live. I can remember it as a child in the 1960s, or rather, I remember the sign and the archery range, which was all that was visible from the highway. It must have closed by the 70s.
In this close-up you can see that in 1931, these campers were still wearing bloomers. but most of them are pretty short – over the knee. It could be that these were “special” uniforms, as I can’t imagine that they wore all white to hang out in the woods!
There was also, just up the road from Camp Dellwood, Camp Junaluska. Here is an ad from a 1941 Vogue.
As far as I know, there is only one girl’s camp remaining in my county – Skyland Camp . It sits on a hill just across my little town. In the morning we can hear their announcements and at night we can hear their recording of Taps. This camp was started in 1917 on the site of an old hotel. The hotel was being closed, and an impulse, a woman guest bought it at a public auction on the site. The hotel still stands, though it has seen better days.
But Hendersonville, about 45 miles away, has a thriving camp industry. Last week all the camps held a job fair, and they were swamped by job seekers. And not just the usual collage students looking for a fun summer job – many of the applicants were out-of-work adults looking for a temporary job to make ends meet. Hopefully the camps will be full and will provide these needed jobs.
Comments:
Posted by sonia:
this is beautiful just love your site I have only just started on my own site. Thanks for letting me visit nice.
Saturday, February 21st 2009 @ 1:53 PM
Posted by Nancy:
I attended Camp Dellwood from 1966 until it closed in 1973. What fun to see these photos on your website!
Thursday, April 23rd 2009 @ 5:56 AM
Posted by Lizzie:
Nancy, Thanks for posting. I want to know more!!
Thursday, April 23rd 2009 @ 6:48 AM
Posted by Dale:
I started attending Camp Dellwood after Camp Montreat closed. Loved the pictures! Thanks for posting.:)
Thursday, April 23rd 2009 @ 3:51 PM
Posted by “Sparkles” Margaret Crum:
What a great pic! My in-laws, the Crums purchased Dellwood in the 1940’s and you are right about it closing…1973 to be exact. I attended as a camper and counselor from 1960-1972. A camp reunion was held in 2006 and 2008. Great memories!:)
Wednesday, May 6th 2009 @ 1:28 PM
Posted by Kathryn Glover:
I attended Camp Dellwood in 1962 & 1963, then was an Arts & Crafts Director in 1969. The Krumm.s ran the camp then. I have great memories from being there.
Monday, June 15th 2009 @ 7:54 PM
Posted by Beverly Griffin:
I attended Camp Dellwood for several years in the fifties. I know for sure I was there in 1954 because the cost of a first class postage stamp went up from three to four cents that summer. Fred Crum, who was the camp director then, introduced my parents (Edna Earl Clausel from Memphis, Chattanooga, and Lookout Mountain, TN, and Ashton Thomas Griffin Jr. of Goldsboro, NC) to each other. I have fond memories of Dellwood and also of its companion, Camp Hemlock for boys. I fell in love every summer with at least one Hemlock camper. Note to Margaret Crum- I tried to link to “Sparkles” without success. If remember correctly, the Crums had two children. You must have married one of them. Are there any records of campers’ names from the fifties? I remember a few names, but mostly just first names. Buried somewhere in some closet or attic corner of my house, I think there is a box of photos containing pictures of the camp. If I find them, I’d be happy to share. Cheers, Bev
Sunday, August 23rd 2009 @ 8:33 PM
Posted by melanie:
My sister and I visited the Asheville area recently to find the Dellwood Camp area where our mother and 2 aunts were in 1930-33. We discovered (after asking about 6 people) where the camp was located. It is off of Old Clyde Road, which is just east of 209 on the dam side of Junaluska Lake. Turn left into FoxFire Estates. The camp was located at the top of the semi circle road. The old water fountain and some steps are viewable from the road. o:)
Tuesday, September 15th 2009 @ 10:55 AM
Posted by Lizzie:
Melanie, That is good to know. I need to ride over there and take photos.
Thursday, September 17th 2009 @ 11:26 AM
Posted by Vicki Murdock:
I have a friend Margaret Brice who was a counselor in the mid 1930’s. I’d like to have any photos of Western NC summer camps from the 30’s to teach the current camp “kids” what it was like generations ago. Has anyone heard of Camp Tonawanda in Hendersonville? It was used by the Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC
Wednesday, March 31st 2010 @ 9:58 AM
Posted by C Dibble:
I attended Camp Hemlock in the 50s . . . and last rode by the site in about 1978 when the gym – deserted – was still visible from the highway. Talked with a fellow camper today and we were trying to pinpoint the exact location and not having much luck. US 19 near Dellwood … but where? I see Eagle’s Nest on the map. Any landmarks today on US 19???
Thursday, July 1st 2010 @ 8:04 AM
Posted by Lizzie:
CD, I really don’t know the exact location of Hemlock, but I may be able to find out.
Friday, July 2nd 2010 @ 6:19 PM
Posted by J.D. WHITEHEAD:
THINK WE FOUND WHAT WAS CAMP HEMLOCK.HEMLOCK LOOP IS A ROAD TO THE LEFT BETWEEN WAYNESVILLE AND MAGGIE VALLEY. HAS TO BE IT. IN HEMLOCK FOREST.NOW A SUBDIVISION. ACROSS THE HIGHWAY IS A CAMPER PARK ALONG A CREEK OR RIVER.
Tuesday, July 13th 2010 @ 8:22 PM
Posted by Charlie:
Nice memories.
My father told me that his aunt started it. She must have been the woman guest who bought it.
I believe Camp Hemlock was an outgrowth of Camp Dellwood. It was boys and Dellwood was girls. They were almost the same camp, even shared a dining hall.
Thursday, October 7th 2010 @ 12:01 PM
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I attended Camp Dellwood the last three summers it was open in the early 70s. My brother attended Camp Hemlock the previous three summers. It was up the hill on the other side of the common dining hall. I loved my summers there!
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Around 1947, the same facility was Camp Dellwood for girls for some weeks. It would then convert to Camp Hemlock for boys for the rest of the summer. From comments by others, it appears that in some other years
both camps operated simultaneously.
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Carl, thanks so much for that information. I’d be interested in any other things you have to share about the camps. Lizzie
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I was a counselor and riding instructor at Dellwood in 1958-1960. Margie— was the head counselor. Linda Vick was another riding instructor. We had some great times.
Sissy (Carpenter) Piechocinski
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My sister and I attended Camp Dellwood I think it was 1958 and ’59, but not sure. I do remember it was wonderful and I had so much fun. I loved swimming in the lake, the walks during the misty mornings, all the arts and crafts, the Friday night dances with the boy from Camp Hemlock, the archery, the beautiful mountains and the horse back riding was my favorite dad was former cavalry. Those were wonderful Summers. I remember the ring being next to the highway and across the highway grew huge sunflowers
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I actually attended, then worked as a counselor, at Camp Hemlock ’69 & ’70. The Crums owned it then. My sister went to Dellwood.. The open side gym at the entrance bottom of the hill and riding rink just off Soco Rd. Swimming pond 1/2 down hill from cabins . Athletic field up the hill with tennis courts to the right. My mom was from Waynesville and knew about the camps.
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P.S. The Dellwood riding ring was located right on Hwy. 19.
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I am writing a book on the camp my parents ran in the 60’s Camp Junaluska for Girls, the first in Haywood County. PLEASE send me any information you have. I see next to nothing available on this camp and it is a shame. I am on Face Book under Donna Walker-Carlson
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I attended Camp Junaluska for Girls as a camper and counselor – great memories! Tried to locate where it was in Waynesville without success. Would love to hear from former campers.
Carol Pascal
cpascal1945@gmail.com
912 – 294 -1978
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I attended Camp Dellwood at the age of 9 the summer of 1955. I was one of the youngest campers and I remember a fellow camper fromGeorgia, Nell Congo. I attended along with my older siblings who had been to camp the previous summers. I was from Holly Hill,SC which is inOrangeburg County. I believe the Crums who ranthe camp were from Orangeburg. I had a wonderful time and am in Maggie Valley today. I have finally found where Camp Dellwood was. It is where Hemlock Loop is and Summit Drive off of hwy 19. In 1967 I came by the site. The open gym was still there ,and I found the cabin I had stayed in. I talked to someone who said condos were beginning to be built on the site. Today there are houses all over the mt. Was told the water pond is still there where we took swimming lessons. Will go to see it today. Will write more later. Would love to hear from others who attended. Still have camp booklets. Those are some of my best memories.
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NOTE: I’ve moved this post by Jean Shuler Felkel to this post just to keep all the information together:
Enjoyed the information that you had in the past on Camp Dellwood. I have just returned from a trip to Maggie Valley where I was trying to locate where I had spent time at Camp Dellwood in the 1950′s. My sister attended one summer. Then my brother attended the next summer. The following summer I attended along with my sister and brother. Camp Dellwood was the girls’ camp, and the adjoining boys’ camp was Camp Hemlock. It was a wonderful camp, and I still have so many great memories of the time that I spent there. At that time, the boys and girls attended the same weeks but everything was separate except that we all ate in the same dining hall — girls on one side, boys on the other. Then on the weekends, we had a cookout together and dances together. I still have memorabilia from the camp, and pottery mugs that we made during crafts. One summer I made one for my mother, and the next summer I made one for my dad. My parents kept the mugs all these years, and I have them now. I fell in love with horseback riding and wrote home to my parents that I wanted a horse. We lived in the country, and my daddy bought us a horse!
I found out that the Maggie Valley Police Dept. building is now located on property that used to be the camp. If you ride on Hemlock Loop, you are on the location of part of the former Dellwood and Hemlock Camps, I was told. The swimming area is still there but is overgrown now.
Jean Shuler Felkel, Camp Dellwood camper in the 50′s
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The Camp Dellwood that I attended was located in the vicinity of Hemlock Loop near Maggie Valley. I too was told about a camp near Lake.Junaluska on Clyde Rd having Dellwood in its name. That must have been a different camp unless Camp Dellwood began there and later moved to the Hemlock Loop area. Would love to hear from someone who knows the early history of Camp Dellwood and if there is any connection regarding the two locations.
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Jean, I’m beginning to think that the camp to which you are referring was Camp Junaluska. I have an email in to someone who probably knows, and I’ll post here when I find out. Lizzie
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NO,No,No! I know where Camp Dellwood that I attended was. It was between Waynesville and Maggie Valley on Hwy 19—- where Hemlock Loop is. I thought some others searching for Camp Dellwood may be confused by wrong information given by locals too young to know about Camp Dellwood. I wonder if some people searching for Camp Dellwood are being told that the location may have been on Clyde Road as I was told by someone. That is another camp – not Camp Dellwood.
Thanks for your correspondence. I do have booklets, etc. packed up from my camp days at Camp Dellwood if you are interested or anyone else
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Sorry, bad communication on my part. I mean the OTHER camp on Clyde Road was probably Camp Junaluska. Sorry for the confusion!
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And yes, I’d love to have scans of your bookets if you ever have the time to make them.
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For those of you still following this thread, I have heard from the daughter of the last owners of Camp Junaluska, and it is as I thought. It was Camp Junaluska that was located on the Clyde Highway, just east of Lake Junaluska. See Melanie’s post above for the location of this camp.
Camp Junaluska was one of the very first camps for girls in the US, being established in 1908
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Thank you Lizzie, Yes I am Donna Walker Carlson. Camp Junaluska for girls was where Foxfire Estates is now. You can still see the camper’s names carved into the trees and several original stone stairs. One very long steep stairway from lake Palcoy (Named after the founder Ethel J McCoy and her sister in law Palmira) up the hill and the original stairs to the Senior Lodge were kept by the owners of the new home atop the ampitheater where the Lodge sat. Also both original spring water fountains are there and most of the pines are original. It is officially the very first girl’s camp in the south east! Founded by the very first Camp Fire Girl’s leader of Florida. She actually founded it several years before 1908 but in a different location in Waynesville before choosing the hilltop where it was located from 1908-1970. My parents Mr and Mrs. CW Walker owned it from 1960-1970. I am writing a book on the camp on Face Book. We are collecting information and stories now. We have 750 photos so far from 1910-1970 covering every decade. I invite anyone interested to look me up on Face Book under Donna Walker Carlson. Request “friending” me and I will sign you into the Camp site and make certain you only recieve notices and news-feed from the camp site and not my personal page. Everyone is encouraged to upload any photos or stories you wish to. It is free! I will be uploading many hours of camp film later along with the pages of the book as it is written. Right now there is a rough draft of the introduction. We need any and all information on the people who were involved in both running the camp such as Perry Bramlett, Virginia McKay, Dell Mallory, Palmira and Ethel and everyone’s memories. It was a wonderful place and reunions are going on now. We have found over 80 campers spanning many decades. Come find an old friend. Most are on Face Book and I have emails for most everyone. Thank you, Donna. Come join the fun!!!!
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Donna, How great to finally find a former Junaluska camper!! I was in Waynesville several years ago, and tried to locate where Camp Junaluska for Girls was located but couldn’t. I was your counselor in the cabin, Linger Longer–we all had such a fun-filled summer. Some of my fondest memories are as a camper and counselor at Junaluska!!! I was there when Mrs. McCoy owned it, and when your parents did. Also, my mother went to Junaluska also. I still enjoy singing our wonderful camp songs.
Please email me, and I try to find you on Facebook. I would love to come to a reunion. Also, please send me specific directions of where it was located, for I will go there. I look forward to reading your book. I recall that you played the guitar very well.
I am not on Facebook, but will be soon.
Carol Pascal. 912. 2941978
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Pingback: Camp Dellwood, Part II | The Vintage Traveler
During the school year of 1946-1947, a person came to Windsor, Va to sign kids up to go to Camp Dellwood. Two of us went. Phyllis Joyner who was older. We went to the two week session. I loved it and thought it was all wonderful. I took riding, crafts, riflery, archery, and swimming. The lake was really cold. I thought the mountains were beautiful and one day they took us to Biltmore Estates. About five years ago, I went back and could still remember some of the same things I saw when I was ten years old in the house. I still have the booklet the Crumns sent to advertise and a couple of years ago I spent hours on Google Earth trying to find the spot where the camp was located. Camp Hemlock was the boys camp and they came over for a social one night. Dellwood leaves me with some of the best memories of my childhood.
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What great memories!I’m glad you’ve had the chance to revisit the mountains of NC.
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The Crums were the best! I worked for them the summer of 73′. Cabin counselor, rifle range, and tennis instructor. I remember playing real football for my first time. (What most Americans call soccer.) Some redheaded preacher’s boy (Presbyterian), UNC Chapel Hill man, introduced us to rainbow soccer. Fantastic. I also remember swimming in the lake and was attracted to a beautiful life guard. But my eyes were only for my girlfriend who worked in Brevard at another summer camp. I really enjoyed driving from Maggie Valley to Brevard via 276 in my MGB convertible.
I preached my first sermon on Dorcas of Acts 9. An African American cook at the camp prophesied I would become a preacher. Nonsense, I told myself. I was ordained in 1982, Presbyterian sort. I hope to preach Acts 9 again tomorrow morning here in Hong Kong, September 8,2013. Dorcas, raised from the dead in Jesus’ name. If you are feeling like a “dead Gazelle”, Christ is near. Just call out.
Thank you Crum family for the wonderful summer of 1973.
James Buckner
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James, thanks for sharing your memories.
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Went to Camp Hemlock in 1951. Cabins were Catawba, Cherokee, Chataqua, Hiawassee, Eagles Nest (mineat age 11), Sawago, Tapoco, Wabash (Old guys) Remember riding rink, archery range, rifle range, lake, mess hall, Remember a dance with girls from Camp Junaluska. First time I da held a girlsheheld
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Remember a dance with girls from Camp Junaluska. First time I held a girl’s hand and it felt good. Counselor was Alan Hetzel from Charleston S.C., a ministeral student somewhere. I was from Danville Va. at the time. Friend also from Danville was Nick Warren, now deceased
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I attended Camp Hemlock in the late forties. I remember the Crums (Fred and Leona came to our home in Ky to tell us about the camp, I was there for 8 weeks for 2 summers. We got to hike to the top of Eagles Nest and camp overnight. Great memories
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Pingback: Camp Dellwood, Part Three | The Vintage Traveler
Want a free video/slide show of 1950’s Camp Dellwood (and Hemlock, to some degree) in North Carolina? Read on.
I attended Hemlock from 1955-57 (I think!). Great times. But it was a friend of mine, Carol Sanders, that went to considerable trouble to put together a slick (well, not THAT slick!) slide show interspersed with a few videos — with her explanatory comments. The whole show is 27 minutes long.
IF you would like Carol to send you a copy, you’ll have to work it out with
her. It’s a big file, and not online. Contact Carol @ sandersch@aol.com .
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Does anyone on this board know who W.M. Morris is? I found something of his from Hemlock Camp. I would love to return it to it’s rightful owner of a family member of the owner.
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Wow, I am so excited to have found this site! I attended Camp Dellwood for 8 weeks in 1972. I now live in the Smoky Mtns in Tennessee, and on a recent drive to Asheville, tried unsuccessfully to locate where the camp had been. I have so many fond memories from that summer, and now after reading these posts, will be better able to find the site. I have many photos from that summer that I treasure, one in particular of me adding my name to the scores of ones from previous years on the ceiling above our bunks on our last night. Paula Harrison
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I attended camp Dellwood also in 1970-1971 or 72. Great memories! I too fell in love every summer 😊 Loved archery and swimming in the cold water
Arts and crafts. I remember listening for the Scottie dog making rounds after lights out and him getting sprayed by a skunk! Such fun!
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I attended Camp Junaluska for girls near Waynesville NC – also great memories of summer camp fun! Would love to hear from former campers/counselors.
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I was in Camp Hemlock in the early 70’s and I remember the Dellwood girls very well. There was a dance that highlighted all the awkwardness of adolescence. Memorable times.
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