Bert Adams Scout Camp is a long-term overnight camp owned and operated by the Atlanta Area Council of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

. Bert Adams is located south of

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, its population 14,113. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the United ...

, situated on Lake Bulow Campbell; the camp is one of three major BSA summer camps in the Atlanta Area Council. The camp is named after Albert S. "Bert" Adams, a "beloved leader in the city of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

", and the president of what was then called the "Atlanta Council of the Boy Scouts", during the 1920s. Bert Adams has consistently been listed as one of the best scout camps in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by Boys Life and Scouting Magazines.

History

Camp Friendly

Early proposals for a new

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

in the council began as early as summer of 1916, however, the

entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

delayed any potential progress on these proposals. After the war concluded, one of the original proposers of a new

, Mr. Roland Shine, directed a temporary summer camp, Camp Friendly, which acted as a placeholder until a new permanent camp could be established. After some time, though "successful as a summer event", Camp Friendly, did not fully meet the needs and goals of the council, and was cancelled after its 1922 season.

First Permanent Camp

Construction

After the closing of Camp Friendly, a representative of the council and advocator for the building of a new summer camp, Richard Darby, began the search for a location for a permanent camp. The property he settled upon was located in Vinings, about 11 miles (17.7 Kilometers) north of

. The

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

s the site was located on then were then purchased one by one by Albert "Bert" Adams (the president of the Atlanta Area Council, and the later

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

of the camp) and the Adams-Cates Realty Company, and began the building of the camp. After the land purchase was completed, sporadic and unorganized construction of the camp began shortly after. A

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

was constructed on a creek running through the property, with the resulting 1.3 acre lake being named after Richard Darby, in recognition of his work in championing the idea of building a new camp. Though parts of the camp were still being built at the time, the core of the camp began welcoming scouts in the autumn of 1925. Much to the sadness of the council and Scouters throughout Central and

North Georgia North Georgia is the northern hilly/mountainous region in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of north Georgia were often scenes of important eve ...

, Albert "Bert" Adams died in December 1926, before the construction on the camp could be completed. Shortly thereafter, Chairman Law of the Atlanta Area Council Executive Board proposed that the new camp, once completed, be named in his honor. The proposal was approved by the Council Executive Board unanimously. Due to Adams' death, financial troubles early on, and the slow and relatively unorganized rate of construction, the completion of the building of the camp missed its summer of 1926 deadline. A large campaign in order to raise the remaining $75,000 1926

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

(the equivalent of $1.08 Million

in 2018), began in February 1927. The campaign was hugely successful and its goal was met on April 3 of that same year. On April 3, 1927, a groundbreaking ceremony for what would become the main structure of the camp, a 60 x 100 foot (~19 x 33 meters) dining hall, was conducted by the son of Albert Adams,

Life Scout The advancement program for Scouts participating in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America is symbolized by the earning of seven ranks. The advancement program is often considered to be divided into two phases. The first phase from jo ...

Albert S. Adams Jr.

Dedication

On June 11, 1927, the camp was officially dedicated and opening with a

grand opening An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

ceremony. Many of the general public from cities throughout the

area were in attendance. Among guests of particular note would include,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Clifford Walker Clifford Mitchell Walker (July 4, 1877 – November 9, 1954) was an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A graduate of the University of Georgia in 1897, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Wal ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

I.N. Ragsdale, and Chief Scout Executive James E. West. In his address, West indicated that

was one of only a few councils at that time to own any overnight camping facilities.

Relocation

The camp continued operation at that site for 33 years, until 1960, when a new larger site was found, and moved to.

Current Permanent Camp

Following the 1960 summer season, with the original camp facilities growing old and falling to disrepair, a new site was chosen just south of

. This site has been the location of the camp since that time. The current camp has received multiple

commendations An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award ...

and awards from various scouting magazines for its layout, events, camp staff, and facilities.

2018 Accident

On June 25, 2018, a severe weather storm came into the camp. Elijah Knight (14 at the time), went to his tent with two of his friends, seeking shelter from the storm. Minutes later, a tree came crashing down on their tent, crushing Knight. The other two boys escaped unharmed. Knight was found dead just minutes after.

Climate

Weather

Due to the camp's location in the

region of the American South, the camp often sees moderate to severe

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmos ...

. This particularly includes

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

and

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

. In order to counter this, the council has several safety precautions and campwide alarms in place in an attempt to prevent incident. In June 2018, there was an incident where a Scout was killed as a result of a tree falling on the Scout's tent after severe storm force winds pushed the tree down.

Fauna

The camp is a native home to many of the same animals that are native to both Central and

. In the case of land animals, this includes, but is not limited to:

Black Bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

White Tailed Deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, and American Copperhead. Deer are particularly prevalent, and can be found once or twice in any given week. In addition, the lake, Lake Bulow Campbell is home to several species of freshwater fish. Fishing is allowed on a catch-and-release practice.

References

Links

*{{Cite web, url=https://www.campbertadams.org/, title=Bert Adams Scout Camp {{! Atlanta Area Council {{! 92, website=www.campbertadams.org, language=en, access-date=2018-07-13 Local council camps of the Boy Scouts of America 1927 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures in Newton County, Georgia