HISTORY OF COUNCILS IN THE BSA

FEATURED STATE: TENNESSEE

By Ed Henderson

Every month, the Scouting E-Zine focuses on a different state of the union to see how Scouting has evolved over the past 90 years. In our first feature, we focused on Missouri Council History. In this issue we will take a look at how Scouting has changed in the Palmetto State. If you would like for us to profile your state next send an e-mail to info@honorpub.com and we will research your state next.

In this issue of the Scouting E-Zine we are going to focus on the history of Boy Scout Councils in the Volunteer State.

Unlike other states, Tennessee's six councils have all been around for at least half a century with relatively few mergers. Besides the six councils based in the state, Shawnee Trails Council covers a very small area of Northwestern Tennessee around the town of Fulton in Weakley County.

Three Tennessee based councils extend their reach into other states.

* Sequoyah Council based in Johnson City covers the Appalachian region of
Southwestern Virginia

* Chickasaw Council based in Memphis covers only Shelby County in Tennessee
but thanks to a Mississippi merger in 1993 now covers a significant chunk of
Mississippi and a small portion of Arkansas.

* Cherokee Area Council (one of two councils currently with that name) based
in Chattanooga covers a few counties in Northwest Georgia although there has
been some swapping of Georgia Counties with Northwest Georgia Council in
Dalton GA over the past 20 years.

The entire state of Tennessee is in the Southern Region of the B.S.A. with
the regional headquarters based out of Kennesaw GA.

The earliest record of any Scout Council forming in the state goes back to
1915 with the establishment of a Memphis Council and a Knox County Council.
At one time or another eleven different cities in Tennessee were the host of
a Boy Scout Council Service Center.

WEST TENNESSEE AREA COUNCIL http://www.boyscouts.tn.org/ based in Jackson TN
is geographically the largest council in the state, covering nearly all of
the counties west of the Tennessee River as it divides the state 90 miles
west of Nashville. In 1924 there was a West Tennessee Council (Council #
687) in Jackson but the stock market crash of 1929 forced many local
councils to disband as was the case here in 1930 when the area went into
Direct Service from the national office. Nine years later a new West
Tennessee AREA Council (Council # 559) was formed and has remained
operational to this day. The Council operates Camp Mack Morris
http://www.boyscouts.tn.org/camp_mack_morris.htm a 480 acre camp directly on
the Tennessee River which allows for a full range of High Adventure Sailing
and Water Skiing activities. The camp has been in operation as far back as
1946 and attracts units from across the Eastern half of the United States.
Even with the closing of the nearby National Scout Museum the camp has
flourished with troops from 11 states camping there in the summer of 2001.

To see all of the unit websites within this council visit:

http://www.scouter.com/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp
?cid=305

CHICKASAW COUNCIL http://www.chickasawbsa.org based in Memphis TN covers
only Shelby County at the Southwest corner of the state but due to both
merger acquisitions and population growth in Memphis, the council is one of
the two largest in the state in terms of the size of the professional staff
and the number of youth served. As we said earlier, in 1915 there was a
Memphis Council (Council # 558), ten years later in 1925 the name Chickasaw
Council was adopted. In 1993 the Delta Area Council (Council # 300) based
in Clarksdale MS folded into the Chickasaw Council. At the time of the
merger this area of the state was rated as the poorest in the nation, but
that was before Riverboat Casinos brought new jobs and an expanded tax base
to the area. For a brief period from 1925 to 1929 it should be noted that
the town of Indianola operated the Sunflower River Council (Council # 692)
before it was disbanded. The primary camp for the Chickasaw Council is the
Kia Kima Scout Reservation
http://www.chickasaw.org/program/Camp2001/index.htm, located a good distance
outside the council boundary near Hardy Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains near
the Missouri state line. Despite the distance away from most scout units,
the camp is definitely a regional camp, attracting scores of troops from
Texas and other states. Kia Kima is a true Scout Reservation with a number
of different sub camps and special programs going on. The main subcamps are
Camp Osage & Camp Cherokee but the camp offers programs and a range of
diverse opportunities including a Golf Academy. High Adventure is covered
with the Ozark Venture Base & Adventure Quest. The council has no camps in
Tennessee but it did pick up two camps from the Delta Area Council that it
continues to operate. Camp Currier
http://www.chickasaw.org/program/campcurrier/ located in Eudora MS and
functions the primary Cub Scout facility for the council. Located within
easy driving distance of Memphis, on 600 acres, the camp gets a good deal of
use year round. The last facility, Camp Tallaha, is located in Charleston
MS, a good deal further south in rural Mississippi. It continues to operate
as a regular long-term summer camp a few weeks each summer.

To see all of the unit websites within this council visit:

http://www.scouter.com/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp
?cid=301

MIDDLE TENNESSEE COUNCIL http://www.mtcbsa.org/ based in Nashville TN is a
large council, both in land area and in membership. The council can trace
its origins back to 1920 when the Nashville Council (Council # 560) was
organized. In 1929 the name changed to Nashville AREA Council before
finally becoming the Middle Tennessee Council in 1949. In its distant past
there were several short lived councils in other nearby cities that
eventually folded into the modern day Middle Tennessee Council. Clarksville
TN had an unnumbered council of the same name from 1917 to 1919. In 1927
Tullahoma TN established the Davy Crockett Council (Council # 15) but it
lasted only three years before disbanding in 1930. Similarly in 1928 the
town of Dickson established the first "Middle Tennessee Council" (Council #
555) which also faded in 1930. It would be another 19 years before the
"Middle Tennessee" name was reprised as the name of a Boy Scout Council,
this time at the state capital of Nashville. The council has three camp
properties http://www.mtcbsa.org/html/camps.htm with Camp Boxwell located on
the shores of Old Hickory lake in Wilson County serving as the main
facility. The 1,182 acre Boxwell Scout Reservation has first rate
facilities representing a significant investment. The Grimes Canoe Base is
one of the few council operated Canoe bases in Southern Region and is
located directly on the Buffalo River near Flatwoods TN. The council has a
third property for weekend, primitive camping & Camporee use in Rock Island
TN called the Charles E. Parish Scout Reservation

To see all of the unit websites within this council visit:

http://www.scouter.com/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp
?cid=303

CHEROKEE AREA COUNCIL http://www.chattanooga.net/boyscouts/index.htm may be
one of the most common names for a Boy Scout Council in the history of the
BSA. At one time or another councils in five states were called either
Cherokee or Cherokee Area Council. Two of those councils survive to this
day with one being in Bartlesville OK and the other based in the historic
city of Chattanooga TN (Council # 556). The earliest council based in
Chattanooga was started in 1918 as the Chattanooga Council before adding
"Area" to its name in 1925. In 1944 the current name of Cherokee Area
Council was adopted and it has continued with that moniker into the new
millennium. One of the two smallest councils in the state, Cherokee reaches
high into the Appalachian Mountain Range and has built a strong emphasis in
Whitewater High Adventure. The council is also host to two of the most
popular show caves for overnight stays by Boy Scout Troops in the nation:
Cumberland Caverns and the Lost Sea. The council camp is the Skymont Scout
Reservation http://www.chattanooga.net/boyscouts/skymont.htm which is a
2,460 acre tract of largely wooded land in Grundy County, TN. on the
Cumberland plateau. There is an extensive history of the camp and details on
two prior camps with many humorous anecdotal stories which can be viewed by
visiting http://www.chattanooga.net/boyscouts/moreskymonthistory.htm.

To see all of the unit websites within this council visit:

http://www.scouter.com/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp
?cid=300

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN COUNCIL http://www.korrnet.org/boyscout/ began in 1915
as the Knox County Council (Council # 557). Meanwhile two other small
Tennessee towns also developed councils that lasted only a few years. In
Lenoir City, the Cumberland Council (Council # 768) was established in 1927
and in LaFollette TN a council of the same name (unnumbered) operated for
two years from 1921 to 1923. With the depression of 1930 Knox County and
Cumberland merged to form The Knoxville Area Council (Council # 557). This
lasted until 1943 when the current name of the Great Smoky Mountain Council
was adopted. The council camp is Buck Toms which consists of 750 acres in
Rockwood TN. It is the only major Scout Camp in the state without a web
presence. The council also operated Camp Pellissippi at 290 acres, located
in Andersonville TN.

To see all of the unit websites within this council visit:

http://www.scouter.com/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp
?cid=302

SEQUOYAH COUNCIL http://www.scbsa.org/ based in Johnson City TN has
undergone the most changes in its evolution as a modern Boy Scout Council.
At one point the council that serves the Northeastern corner of the state
was briefly headquarted on the Virginia side of Bristol, a city truly split
down the middle with the downtown main street resting directly on the state
line. The earliest council organization in the area came to Johnson City in
1919 with the formation of a council of the same name (Council # 559). In
1923 the name changed to Washington County Council for two years. In 1925
the name was changed for several months to the Appalachian Council before
again changing its name to the Cherokee Area Council (Council # 559). This
Cherokee Area Council is completely separate from the council based in
Chattanooga that adopted the same name 19 years later in 1944. As the
Cherokee Area Council, Johnson City continued to host a Boy Scout Council
for four more years before the stock market crash of 1929. Up in Bristol,
the Chief Benge Council (Council # 713) had also formed in 1925 and was
similarly affected by the economic conditions of the period. In 1929 the
councils merged and took Bristol as the headquarters city, pulling up stakes
in Johnson City for the first time since first organizing a council there in
1919. At the time of the merger the council came to be called the Chief
Benge - Cherokee Council and was based in Bristol VA. With the council's
main population base still residing in Johnson City, the council reorganized
again just two years later where it took its modern form as the Sequoyah
Council (Council # 713) in 1931. It should be noted that there is currently
a very similar sounding Sequoia Council based in Fresno California (Council
# 27). Sequoyah Council operates Camp Davy Crockett near Kingsport TN on
1,800 acres. There are two websites that provides limited information about
the camp: http://www.scbsa.org/camp.htm (Official) and
http://troop250.virtualave.net/CDC.htm

To see all of the unit websites within this council visit:

http://www.scouter.com/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp
?cid=304

The author maintains the links at SCOUTER.com's NetRoster Service and the
Scout Camp Database as well as the ScoutCamp.org for Tennessee. For
corrections contact him at BigEd@usscouts.org

Where would you like the Scouting E-Zine to take you next??? Write us at
info@honorpub.com and tell us which state's history you want to read about
in our next issue!

The author maintains the links at NetRoster, Scout Camp Database and the ScoutCamp.org for South Carolina. For corrections contact him at BigEd@usscouts.org

Where would you like the staff at the Scouting E-Zine to take you next,
write us at info@honorpub.com and tell us which state's history you want to
read about in our next issue!

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