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:
/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:
/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:
/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:
/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:
/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
stakesin 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:
/Net_Roster/Boy_Scouts_of_America/Councils/council.asp?cid=304
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
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