A Short History of Camp Shohola and the Greeley Area.
The word "Shohola" is defined by local
historians as meaning peaceful or tranquil, usually referring to the
flow of the water of the Shohola Creek. Camp Shohola is located
on part of the original "Walking Purchase,"
land "sold" by the Lenni Lenape Indian nations to William Penn in
1737. Just outside of the community of Shohola, the "Place of
Peace", archaeologists have discovered remains of villages and camps
of the Lenni Lenape and their ancestors indicating that have
inhabited the lands around Shohola for more than 10,000 years.
The Lenni Lenape departed the area in the late 1700's for Ohio
and Oklahoma where their descendants live today. The area was
explored and settled by Europeans just after the American Revolution.
With the discovery of coal, and the construction of the Delaware
and Hudson Canal and Gravity Railroads in 1828, the area experienced
significant increases in population with many communities being founded.
In 1841, Albert Brisbane, and a group of men, including Horace Greeley, organized the Sylvania Association,
a Socialist Commune, on the banks of the Taylortown Creek just east of
camp. The colony consisted of 3200 acres of land, including the
land which is now Camp Shohola. The experiment in socialized
living failed when the young, inexperienced, wilderness
challenged colonists did not plant crops in the summer of 1845,
claiming a "July Frost" had blackened their fields. The "Utopian"
colony was immediately abandon. There are many remains of the old
Sylvania Association including the foundation of the 1828 grist
mill.
The area was revitalize with the construction of the Erie railroad in
1848. The Pocono Mountains provided coal, lumber, bluestone and
ice to metropolitan areas up and down the east coast.
Unfortunately Shohola was also the location of one of the worst
railroad accidents in the history of the railroad industry, "The Great Shohola Train Wreck".
During the American Civil War, a troop train collided with a coal
train killing or injuring more than three hundred soldiers.
In
the mid 1870's the Taylortown Creek was dammed, forming Lake Greeley.
A logging camp and lumber mill were established on the land where
Camp Shohola is today. There are still many remnants of the
140 year old facility with the original company store of
the Greeley Lumber Company being used as our CommTech
building. Constructed in 1879, it is easily the oldest building
in camp. Another old building is the original two seat, plaster
walled, out house of the Taylor family. Used today as our archery
shed, it was constructed in the early 1920's and even had an
electric light for those night time trips.
Electricity to the community of Taylortown was supplied
from a generator located in the old sawmill on the Taylortown Creek.
Foundations and stone walls of the old Taylor homestead,
accidentally burned in 1931, remain on the north side of the lake.
A
small village build up around
the lumber camp was named Taylortown, after Thomas Taylor, the original
owner of
the Greeley Lumber Company. He sold the company in 1888 which was
renamed the Lake Greeley Lumber
Company, a partner or subsidiary of the much larger Shohola Lumber
Company. The
Shohola Lumber Company was owned by the Pennsylvania Coal Company, a
major corporation in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania
Coal Company had a very close working relationship with the Erie
Railroad, and shipped all of the cut lumber on the Erie.
This is why Camp Shohola is on Lake Greeley.
More than 300 lumbermen and boys worked in our camp until the forests
were cleared of trees. The community of Greeley, originally
called "That Greeley Place" in reference to the Sylvania
Association, was formed as a result of the logging industry,
with a post office being established in 1892. After the area was
cleared of lumber, the loggers moved on, abandoning the mills,
buildings and cabins. The few remaining residents used Lake
Greeley as a supply of ice in the winter and for recreation in the
summer.
Camp
Shohola is one of the oldest summer camps in the country, and was
officially formed as a summer camp in 1903, with the construction of
the Lake Greeley Lodge for dining and recreation. The owners improved
some of the lumber camp cabins for sleeping, constructed new
recreational facilities, and named the organization "Camp Shohola"
one of the Lake Greeley Camps. The large heated lodge, with
12 bed rooms, would accept visitors for 1 dollar per day
during the summer camping season, with camper cabins being available
before and after the regular camping season for families to enjoy the
beauty of the Lake Greeley area. Famous author Zane Grey, enjoyed
fishing on Lake Greeley and stayed at the lodge many times around the
turn of the last century. 
With the well known "Shohola Glen Summer Resort" and amusement park
nearby, the area was fast becoming an escape from the summer heat of
the cities. The Shohola Glen Resort, started in 1882, was
the original of the modern theme parks. Please visit the links
for more information on the Shohola Glen Resort. You may also
find information and links on the Shohola Historical Web Page.
The ornate 1852 Shohola Depot, on the Erie Railroad, greeted thousands
of visitors daily to the area, mainly due the the one dollar round trip
excursion fare. There were more than 100 resorts, rooming houses
and hotels in Shohola Township by 1900. Before the days of
interstate highways, most Camp Shohola campers, along with thousands of
other boys and girls, would take the train to camp each summer.
Just like we hire buses for transportation today, we would
contract with the Erie Railroad for entire coaches, to transport boys
and girls to summer camps. Campers would take scheduled trains to
Hoboken, NJ, and with thousands of other young campers, board one of
the many "Summer Camp Specials" serving hundreds of camps in the Pocono
and Catskill Mountains. It was certainly a logistics nightmare at
the Hoboken terminal during the peak years. The Erie Railroad
discontinued the summer camp specials after the 1962 summer season
with other railroads following shortly thereafter.
In 1921, the Philadelphia-area Catholic Church began a summer family
camp program on our side of the lake using some of the remaining
buildings vacated by the logging operation. The cabins were
rebuilt and new buildings were constructed. The oldest cabins in
camp, re-constructed in the 20's and 30's, are 3,4 and 5 on the
lake side of the hill, plus 8, 10, 11 and 14 on the north side.
Cabin ten, originally the directors home, was called "The Castle"
because it sat on the top of the hill overlooking the other cabins.
If you look carefully, you can see nail marks on some of the
boards of the old cabins, especially the roof boards, indicating they
have been salvaged from earlier buildings.
In
1925, Carl Hummel, pictured above in 1928, purchased both of the Lake
Greeley camp sites, significantly expanding the Lake Greeley Camp
facilities. Please notice the octagon shaped cabin in the
background. With both camps initially called Camp Shohola, in
1932 he renamed the girls camp located on our side of the lake, "Camp
Skyland for Girls" which continued until 1939. Please check out
the eighty year old pictures of the camps in the Shohola Museum.
The Camp Shohola girls were fortunate, as we were one of the
first camps the U.S. with bathroom facilities in each cabin.
We also received our first telephone in 1932 with the number R22,
for "Rowlands 22". Our recreation hall was constructed in 1932 to
allow separate performing arts programs for the girls. If you
examine the walls of the rec hall carefully, you can find names and
dates of Camp Skyland girls from the 1930's. With no dining hall
on our side of the lake, the girls would walk across the Greeley Lake
Road to eat in the Lake Greeley Lodge dining hall, with the Boys from
Camp Shohola. Across the lake, "Lake Greeley Camp", has been owned by the Buynak family since 1961 and is still using
the same name as when established in 1903. The 100+ year old
lodge and uniquely designed cabins are well maintained and in
excellent condition.
In 1940, Mr. Hummel sold Camp Skyland for Girls, and the name "Camp Shohola" to Cecil Rodney and his two partners thus forming "Camp Shohola For Boys" on our present site. As a completely separate camp for the first time, the construction of our own dining hall was a necessity.
Our dining hall was built on the location of the old lumber camp
mess hall. It was intentionally placed on top of a naturally
flowing artesian spring, that allowed a continuous supply of fresh
clean water for cooking. The spring continues to flow today
into a small pond in from of the CommTech building, and can be used a a
backup water supply for the camp. The dining hall has had nine
additions since initial construction in 1940. The first few years
were very difficult due to the start of the Second World War and
Mr. Rodney quickly placed Camp Shohola for sale. Our
Camp Shohola newspaper "The Argus" was first published in 1940 and we
have an original issue of the first printing in our museum collection.
The camp newspaper was previously called the "Lake Greeley
Trail", first published in 1903.
Benjamin Frank and Helen Barger, bought Camp Shohola from Mr. Rodney
and his remaining partners in 1943 and took on a new partner, Edwin
Zavitz. In 1949, Frank and Helen Barger purchase the remaining
shares held by Zavitz and became sole owners. "Pop" Barger
started the traditions of signing the scroll, taking group photos
resulting in a complete pictorial record of all campers and staff who
have come to camp since 1943. He also recorded the Green and White
competition winners at the front of the dining hall which remain today.
In the picture on the left, Harley Baker and Pop Barger show off
a fish supposedly caught in Lake Greeley. Many years later they
admitted to purchasing the fish at the Hawley Fish Market and claiming
it was from the lake.
Frank C. Barger took over the leadership at Camp Shohola after his
father's death in 1967. He, and his sister Debby also have had a
long association with Camp Netimus, our sister camp in Milford, PA,
which was purchased in 1950.
Camp Shohola has experienced significant flooding of the Taylortown
Creek over the years, but Hurricane Diane, in August of 1955 was
by far the worst. We lost tennis courts, the main bridge, the
flood control dam, and had major damage to the barn and nature cabin.
The nature cabin was lifted from the foundation and floated
downstream. After colliding with two trees and using automobile jacks
to lift the building, a new foundation was placed underneath. The
building is one a very few in the country where the location was
not selected by humans.
As director, Kit with his wife
Marilyn, increased the size of camp from 127 to 165 boys, added
activities and facilities which included a soccer field, two more
tennis courts, a new archery range, pavilion, CommTech addition, two
buildings for non-cabin staff, a ropes course and windsurfing kayaking,
and bicycling programs. Our CommTech program, started in 1966 by Tom Gibson, is one of a kind, with activities unique to the summer camping industry.
When Kit retired in 2001, his son Duncan with his wife Holly, became a third generation of Barger family owners and directors.
So when was Camp Shohola really founded?
1. In 1841 with the establishment of the Sylvania Association, partially on our property?
The association did have many aspects of summer camping, but I agree, this is stretching the claim.
2. In 1874 as Thomas Taylor's Greeley Lumber Camp?
Pictures prove there were many boys working in the camp, assisting the lumberjacks, and the dining hall crew.
3. In 1888 as a division of Shohola Lumber Camps on Lake Greeley?
4. In 1903 as "Camp Shohola" of the "Lake Greeley Camps", on the other side of the lake?
The name "Camp Shohola", describing a traditional sleep-away summer camp, was used for the first time.
5. In 1921 as a primitive Catholic family camp on our side of the lake?
6. In 1925 as "Camp Shohola" on both sides of the lake?
This date was used on the cover of the camp catalog, describing the founding of Camp Shohola until the early 1960's.
7. In 1932 as "Camp Skyland for Girls" on our side of the lake?
The first time youth occupied cabins on our side of the lake in a separate traditional camp facility.
8. In 1940 as "Camp Shohola for Boys" on our side of the lake?
Undeniably, "Camp Shohola For Boys" existed on our side of the lake as a separate traditional summer camp facility.
9. In 1943 with "Pop" Barger purchasing a significant share and becoming director of Camp Shohola?
With 1943 painted at the first date in the
front of the dining hall, this date is used today as the founding
of Camp Shohola.
10.In 1949 with "Pop" and Helen Barger as sole owners of Camp Shohola For Boys Inc.?
Most of the printed promotional materials refer to 1903, 1925 or 1943 as the founding dates of Camp Shohola,
with 1943 being used most often today.