Camp Buck Toms

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (May 2008)

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Scouting in Tennessee. (Discuss)

Camp Buck Toms is a summer camp owned and operated by the Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The camp is located outside Rockwood, Tennessee, on the shores of Watts Bar Lake.

1 History
2 Facilities
3 External links
4 See also

[edit] History

This section does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

In 1915, the Knoxville Council's first summer camp was held at Camp Helpful, near Elkmont, in what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Four years later, camp was held at a facility in Powell known as The Scout Ranch.

In 1936, the Knoxville Council leased a patch of property on Norris Lake from the Tennessee Valley Authority. This soon became the Council summer camp, named Camp Pellissippi. Pellissippi is the Native American name for the Clinch River; it means winding waters. 1938 saw Camp Pellissippi’s first summer camp season; 75 scouts attended with 600 in attendance the following year. Pellissppi Lodge 230 of the Order of the Arrow is named for the camp.

In 1952 several scout leaders including William Perry “Buck” Toms purchased a plot of property on the shores of Watts Bar Lake using proceeds from a scout show. Three years later, the first summer camp was held at Buck Toms with 155 scouts and leaders in attendance. The first campers arrived by boat, due to the lack of any road to the camp grounds. Electricity was implemented at the camp in 1957.

In 1977, the dining hall at Camp Pellissippi was destroyed by fire. The summer camp was rendered defunct and although the council has retained the property as a campground for troops, it has not served as a summer camp since. This left Camp Buck Toms to serve as the sole summer camp of the Great Smoky Mountain Council.

1994 saw the renovation of Buck Toms with the addition of several buildings, including a dining hall that greatly increased the camp’s capacity.