Treasure Island is a former

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

property located between

Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania Point Pleasant is an unincorporated community in Tinicum and Plumstead Townships of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies on both sides of Tohickon Creek by the creek's confluence with the Delaware River; the creek is the dividing ...

and

Frenchtown, New Jersey Frenchtown is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. Frenchtown is located along the banks of the Delaware River on the Hunterdon Plateau thirty two miles northwest of the state capital Trenton. As of the 2010 United States Ce ...

, United States. The property is situated on two islands in the middle of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

and was owned by the

Cradle of Liberty Council The Cradle of Liberty Council (#525) is a Boy Scouts of America council created in 1996 with the merger of the former Philadelphia Council (covering the city and county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia) and the former Valley Forge Coun ...

. Treasure Island was the second oldest continually operated Boy Scout Camp, behind

Owasippe Scout Reservation Owasippe Scout Reservation (OSR), located in Twin Lake, Michigan is the resident camp operated by the Pathway to Adventure Council (formerly Chicago Area Council) of Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the ...

in Michigan, in the country and had been continuously associated with Scouting since 1913. In April 2005, storms caused some of the highest flooding since 1955. As a result, Treasure Island was closed to summer campers in 2005 for the first time in twenty-five years. The council spent more than $1-million to rehabilitate the camp in preparation for reopening in June 2006. On June 28, 2006, the camp was once again inundated. While its long-term future was in doubt, it opened again successfully in 2007 and 2008. However, on September 10, 2008, the Council Executive Board voted to close Treasure Island for the 2009 season, the camp remained closed for the 2010 season and is now permanently shuttered. It was announced on March 2, 2018 that Treasure Island was sold to Haubert Outdoor Oriented Adventure Hospitality, LLC, a family-owned business that intends to re-open the historic property as a commercial family campground. Haubert, with a partnership with the Friends of Treasure Island, have made Treasure Island available to Scouts free of charge.

Structures

Among the important buildings on the island are

Unami Lodge Unami Lodge, One is the Order of the Arrow (OA) lodge of the Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the founding Lodge of the OA, having celebrated its centennial in 2015. The current Unami Lodge resulted from the 1996 merger ...

, the

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizatio ...

Lodge (HandiCraft), the Klein Lodge (nature), the Health Lodge, the Trading Post, and "City Hall", which was the main office in control of Treasure Island. During the summer, most of the lodges were used for merit badge instruction. There is also the

Goodman Goodman or Goodmans may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Goodman Games, American publisher. * Goodman Global, an American HVAC manufacturer. * Goodman Group, an Australian property company. * Goodmans Industries, a British electronic co ...

Stockade, where the opening campfires are held on Sunday nights, and the Ceremonial Grounds, where the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. The society was created by E. Urner G ...

ceremonies and the Friday night closing campfire were held. The stone fixtures of the Ceremonial Grounds, where the

ceremonies were held, were excavated, transported, and reassembled at a new location within the Summit Bechtel Scout Reserve in West Virginia. Treasure Island has a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, and boating was conducted in

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

s, rowboats and Sunfish sailboats on the west side of the island at the Boathouse.

Camp program

Tube rafting was offered to Scouts during the summer, and scouts floated downstream to

, where they were driven by bus back up to the mainland across from Treasure Island, and taken by a boat back to the island.

Bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

and canoe trips in the surrounding area were also conducted along the old

Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from the entry locks near the mouth of the Lehigh River and terminal end of the Lehigh Canal at ...

Climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

and

rappelling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

trips also took place at

Ralph Stover State Park Ralph Stover State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Plumstead and Tinicum Townships, Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a very popular destination for whitewater kayaking on Tohickon Creek and rock climbing on High ...

Marshall Island

Just to the north of Treasure Island lies Marshall Island (also known as Eagle Island). Marshall Island is connected to Treasure Island only by a small footbridge. Treasure Island is demarcated within the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

border of the

, whereas Marshall Island is within the river's

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

boundary. This distinction afforded the

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

and

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

ranges for the camp to be sited on Marshall Island, as Pennsylvania state gun laws were less stringent. There is a path leading from the archery and rifle ranges that runs north and branches off in two directions. The branch to the left leads to a series of abandoned buildings and an abandoned field, remaining from when Eagle Island operated as a separate camp (Camp Wilson) in the 1970s. The right branch leads to unused campsites and the C.O.P.E. course.

Order of the Arrow

In 1915 the

(OA) was founded at Treasure Island by the Camp Director,

E. Urner Goodman Edward Urner Goodman (May 15, 1891 – March 13, 1980) was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) movement for much of the twentieth century. Goodman was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organiz ...

, and Assistant Camp Director Carroll A. Edson. The W. W. W. (the original name of the OA in the

Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...

language) was designed as a camp honor fraternity that would emphasize the ideals of Scouting through the use of ceremonies and American Indian lore. At the beginning of the camping season, Goodman explored the island to find a suitable site for the Council Fire and for the rituals of his new program. A natural amphitheater was chosen on the south side of the island that was secluded from the rest of the camp. On the day of the first induction campfire, July 16, 1915, Goodman and one of his staff members, Harry A. Yoder, cleared the brush for the new ceremonial grounds, built the altar, and cut a trail leading from the camp. This new ceremonial ring continued to be used for OA ceremonies and for the camp's campfire programs until Treasure Island closed. At the end of the camping season that year, the new Order contained twenty-five members who selected the totem and names for

References

External links