Rapidan Camp

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Camp Hoover
(U.S. National Historic Landmark District)
The Rapidan Camp "Brown House" in Hoover's Time
The Rapidan Camp "Brown House" in Hoover's Time
Nearest city: Graves Mill, Virginia
Built/Founded: 1929
Architect: Hoover,Lou Henry; US Marine Corps
Architectural style(s): Other
Added to NRHP: June 07, 1988
NRHP Reference#: 88001825

[1]
Governing body: National Park Service

Rapidan Camp (also known at times as Camp Hoover) in the Shenandoah National Park in Madison County, Virginia was built by U.S. President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover, and served as their rustic presidential retreat throughout Hoover's administration from 1929 to 1933.[2] The residential cabin used by the first family was known as the "Brown House" to highlight its contrast to their more famous residence, the White House.

Rapidan Camp was precursor of the current presidential retreat, Camp David. Coordinates: 38°29′30.7″N 78°25′15.5″W / 38.491861, -78.420972

Contents

[edit] 1929-1933: Founding and use as Hoover's retreat

Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover on a footbridge at camp
Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover on a footbridge at camp

In November 1928, Herbert Hoover was overwhelmingly elected as 31st President of the United States. While all preceding Presidents came from the Eastern United States, Hoover was born in Iowa and before moving to Washington, DC lived in California. Returning home on a regular basis was more difficult. Contemplating the pressure and spotlight of the presidency, he instructed his secretary to find a site for a retreat that was within 100 miles (160 km) of Washington, D.C., at least 2,500 feet (760 m) above sea level to avoid mosquitoes, and—most importantly—close to an excellent trout stream for fishing.[3] He and his wife had lived together at mining camps for over 10 years, and appreciated the isolation of remote accommodations.

Virginia Governor Harry F. Byrd was a strong supporter of plans to establish Shenandoah National Park, and persuaded Will Carson to lead the effort. Two months before Hoover's March inauguration Carson recommended the President-elect and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, consider establishing their camp at the headwaters of the Rapidan River. The remote, undeveloped site lay on Doubletop Mountain, on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Madison County. The Mill Prong and the Laurel Prong streams join within the camp to form the Rapidan River, and all three are excellent for fishing.

Less than three weeks after his inauguration on March 4, the Madison Eagle announced the Hoovers had selected the upper Rapidan site. The Hoovers personally bought the land, building materials, and furnishings. The Marine Corps provided construction labor as a "military exercise." The Hoovers initially envisioned a village of tents, but soon decided on a more permanent settlement. The Marines built thirteen assorted buildings including a lodge, two mess halls, cabins and a "Town Hall." They also created several miles of hiking trails, a stone fountain, and concrete-lined trout pools. Mrs. Hoover oversaw the project.

To reduce the presidential budget, Hoover decommissioned the Presidential Yacht Mayflower shortly after becoming President. The Filipino mess crew from the Mayflower were transferred to Rapidan Camp, along with the kitchen supplies and china.[4]

The First Lady's bedroom
The First Lady's bedroom

At the 164 acre (66 hectare) site, President Hoover enjoyed fishing in the streams, which were stocked with trout by the Interior Department. While Mrs. Hoover enjoyed riding horses at camp, Mr. Hoover did not enjoy horseback riding to reach Camp Rapidan, and a five-mile dirt road was built. Mrs. Hoover described the drive and camp:

This camp,—at the end of nowhere, with a road that in wet weather lets you sink to your hubs in slushy mush and while there bump over the most amazing boulders…—has electric lights and a telephone and its morning papers. The mail is dropped from an airplane![5]

In a public speech at the celebration of "Hoover Day" in the county seat of Madison, on August 17, 1929, President Hoover stated:

I fear that the summer camp we have established on the Rapidan has the reputation of being devoted solely to fishing. That is not the case, for the fishing season lasts but a short time in the spring. It is a place for weekend rest—but fishing is an excuse and a valid reason of the widest range of usefulness for temporary retreat from our busy world.

In this case it is the excuse for return to the woods and streams with their retouch of the simpler life of the frontier from which every American springs…. Fishing seems to be the sole avenue left to Presidents through which they may escape to their own thoughts and may live in their own imaginings and find relief from the pneumatic hammer of constant personal contacts, and refreshment of mind in the babble of rippling brooks.

Moreover, it is a constant reminder of the democracy of life, of humility, and of human frailty—for all men are equal before fishes. And it is desirable that the President of the United States should be periodically reminded of this fundamental fact—that the forces of nature discriminate for no man.[6]

The outdoor fireplace
The outdoor fireplace

U.S. and foreign leaders came to the isolated and secure location of Rapidan Camp for strategy sessions with the President. His distinguished guests included inventor Thomas A. Edison, aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Supreme Court Justice H. F. Stone, former President Theodore Roosevelt, Psychologist Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and English Prime Ministers Ramsay MacDonald and Winston Churchill.[7]

Camp Rapidan featured a large outdoor stone fireplace which was the backdrop for many photographs of the Hoovers and their guests.

At Rapidan Camp, President Hoover offered to buy Bermuda, Trinidad, and British Honduras from Prime Minister MacDonald in exchange for most of Britain's war debt (from World War I) to the United States. But days later came the Wall Street Crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression.[8] In addition, Hoover and MacDonald came to an agreement that formed the basis of the 1930 London Naval Treaty while meeting at Rapidan Camp, talking for hours sitting on an "historic log".[9][10][11] Rapidan Camp also gave name to the "Rapidan Plan" for deploying the Girl Scouts to help alleviate the economic collapse.[12]

[edit] Hoover's Birthday Opossum and the Mountain School

A well-publicized story arose in August 1929, when a boy who lived in the nearby mountains presented President Hoover with a live opossum on his 55th birthday. Six months later, the President arranged for a new schoolhouse in the area, which had been so rural and difficult to traverse that no school existed previously. The incident resulted in a variety of legends and a great deal of apocryphal media publicity,[13] including tales that the boy had sneaked past the Marine guard to present the President the opossum as a gift.

However, the best understanding of historians is that the story originated weeks earlier when Admiral Joel T. Boone, Hoover's physician, was horse-riding on a mountain trail above camp and came upon a house. He asked the boy residing in the house if he attended school, and learned there was no school nearby. When the President heard the story, he said "Tell that boy if he will bring me an opossum down here I'll give him five dollars." Boone delivered the message, but nothing happened until August 10, the President's birthday, when Boone visited again on horseback. The boy said he had caught an opossum for the President. With the inducement of riding to camp, the shy boy was persuaded to present his opossum directly to the President and his guest, Charles Lindbergh.[14] The President raised money to build a small schoolhouse that included an apartment for the teacher they hired. Pupils ranged from 6 to 20 years of age.[15]

The story of the backwoods mountain schoolhouse was publicized nationally, resulting in donations including schoolbooks, furniture, and a piano. The President took a personal interest in the school, and welcomed its students to the White House on numerous occasions. After Hoover left office, the student body dwindled as the surrounding population was forced via a blanket condemnation law to leave the area for the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1935.[16] The building was transported to Big Meadows on Skyline Drive and used as a ranger station and residence.

[edit] Cabinet Members' Camp

In 1930, Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, Attorney General William D. Mitchell, and Secretary of Agriculture Arthur M. Hyde arranged for the Marines to construct a separate camp for members of Hoover's cabinet, two miles downriver from the President's camp. The Cabinet Camp was built on land planned for pending incorporation into Shenandoah National Park, but still privately owned by the Madison Timber Corporation. A dispute arose about whether an oral contract had been arranged. Marines escorted timbermen off the property "by the seat of the pants," and Madison Timber was assessed property taxes for road and building improvements they could not access. A conflict arose, covered in Time magazine[17], the Associated Press and Madison Eagle newspaper.[18] Under the resulting settlement, cabinet members were allowed to use the camp throughout the Hoover administration, and Madison Timber could resume custody once Hoover left office. Potentially because the road and cabins increased the land value, the National Park Service ran out of park expansion funds before purchasing the Cabinet Camp. Madison Timber later deeded the property to Ward-Rue Lumber Company.

In 1953, a cooperative of 14 families called Rapidan Camps purchased the dilapidated Cabinet Camp from Ward-Rue. Rapidan Camps rehabilitated the cabins and has since grown in membership to approximately 100 families.[19] The camp now has five cabins—three Hoover-era cabins and two constructed since in a similar architectural style. It is designated on local hiking maps as "Rapidan Family Camp" to distinguish it from the name restored to the President's main camp in 2004, "Rapidan Camp".[20]

The Marine Camp
The Marine Camp

[edit] Marine Camp

A separate camp was constructed one mile to the east of Camp Rapidan to house the Marines who provided the camp's construction, maintenance, and security. The camp initially consisted largely of tents with a few wooden cabins, but more cabins eventually replaced the tents. Many Marines were selected for Rapidan duty due to their skills in carpentry, plumbing, and other work needed at camp. When the President was at camp, from 150 to 250 Marines were stationed there; during the winter only about a dozen.[21]

When local Virginians complained that the Marines were not attending church, the President ordered a Navy Chaplain to provide Sunday services in the Marine Camp mess hall.[22]

The Marine Camp was demolished in 1944.

[edit] 1933-1992: Use by federal officials and Boy Scouts

When President Hoover lost his bid for re-election in 1932, he and his wife offered the camp for use by subsequent Presidents, and donated the camp property to the federal government to become part of the new Shenandoah National Park then under development.[23]

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited camp in 1933, but found the terrain too rough for his wheelchair, and the mountain streams too cold for swimming. A plan was drafted to install a heated swimming pool for Roosevelt, but never implemented. In 1935, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes reported, "President Roosevelt is not able to make such use of the camp as President Hoover undoubtedly had in mind. Whether it is to continue to be a Presidential camp must, therefore, be left for future determination." FDR went on to set up his retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland at Camp Shangri-La, later renamed Camp David.

During FDR's tenure, Rapidan Camp was used by Cabinet members, particularly Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson who spent much time at camp until he died there in 1939. The camp then fell into disrepair.[24]

In 1946, the Shenandoah Park Superintendent reported that the camp was unused, and requested federal funds for repairs or demolition. In 1948, the Boy Scouts of America were granted a 20-year lease to use it as a summer camp, which was also in accordance with Hoover's wishes. During its use as a Boy Scout camp, the facility was renamed "Camp Hoover." As maintenance costs rose, however, the scouts withdrew from the lease in 1958. In 1960, the structures built by the Boy Scouts and many decayed Hoover-era buildings were demolished, leaving only three of the original buildings. From 1960 to 1963, further rehabilitation work was done at camp. Some Presidents have expressed interest in the camp, but Jimmy Carter was the first President since FDR to visit.[25] Until 1992, the camp was a vacation perk for high-ranking federal government officials including Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and Vice-President Walter Mondale, who was snowed in on one visit and had to be cut out by Secret Service officers with chainsaws.[26] The camp was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1988.[27]

[edit] 1993-present: Restored, opened to public

Photo from 2007
Photo from 2007

In 2004, Shenandoah National Park completed a restoration of the grounds and three remaining cabins to their condition in the era of the Hoover presidency. The three buildings are the Brown House (President's Cabin), the Prime Minister's Cabin, and the Creel. Interpretive signs have been installed to help visitors understand life in 1931, the mid-point of the Hoover presidency. The camp's name has been officially changed from Camp Hoover back to Rapidan Camp. During the restoration, many post-Hoover improvements were removed.[28][29]

Rapidan Camp is accessible by a 4.1 mile (6 km) round-trip hike on Mill Prong Trail, which begins on Skyline Drive at Milam Gap (Mile 52.8)—see the guide to the hike at [30]. The National Park Service also offers guided van trips that leave from the Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center at Big Meadows.[31] During much of the spring, summer, and fall, an interpretive guide stays at camp and provides tours. The camp also is accessible from the extremely rough, unpaved Quaker Run Road that starts near Criglersville in Madison County. However, there is a fire gate across the road one mile from camp with very limited parking, and visitors must reach the camp on foot.[32]

[edit] Architecture

The cabin porches were built in place around existing trees.
The cabin porches were built in place around existing trees.

The Rapidan Camp structures were extremely rustic by modern standards. Some of the early structures such as the original Five Tents had just a wooden floor and three-foot high walls, with canvas tents above.[33] Even the President's Cabin was built with single-wall uninsulated construction—slats of pine German Siding nailed to studs and exposed on both sides. There are no interior ceilings; rafters and roof boards are exposed. Shower stalls have tin walls and concrete floors.

On cold days, large stone fireplaces provide some warmth, but were not intended to keep the camp warm in winter. There was never a shortage of firewood in Hoover's day because the chestnut blight had ravaged the forest; after her first visit to the Rapidan area, Mrs. Hoover had written "There are innumerable, enormous dead chestnuts standing all over the place."[34]

On hot days, hinged wooden panels fold down to expose large copper screens to provide a great deal of ventilation. These panels and numerous windows cover most of the outside perimeter of the cabins. From 1960 through 1980, they hardly seemed necessary, as the hemlock trees had filled in a thick canopy and kept the shaded grounds cool. However, in the early 1990s, the hemlock woolly adelgid began destroying the hemlock trees, so the surrounding forest is again scattered with dead and fallen trees as in Hoover's day.[35]

The cabins are equipped with electricity and plumbing, with visible wiring snaking along the walls and rafters.

Large elevated outdoor decks were built around existing trees, so the shade of their canopies sheltered the cabin and porch.

A replica of a corner of the President's cabin and surrounding deck is located inside the Hoover Presidential Library in Iowa.[36]

[edit] References

  1. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  2. ^ Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum Frequently Asked Questions. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  3. ^ Weaver, Jr., Warren (8/14/1987), “Washington talk: Presidential Retreats; The Camp That Was Hoover's”, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0D81F3FF937A2575BC0A961948260>. Retrieved on 6 April 2008 .
  4. ^ Wert, Hal Elliott (January 2005). Hoover, the Fishing President: Portrait of the Private Man and His Life. Stackpole Books, pages 185-186. ISBN 0811700992. 
  5. ^ Updyke, Gloria (10/6/2004). Restoring a National Historic Landmark: President and Mrs. Hoover's Rapidan Camp, Shenandoah National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2/1/2008.
  6. ^ Woolley, John T.; Gerhard Peters. Remarks to the People of Madison County, Virginia, at the Celebration of 'Hoover Day in Madison': August 17, 1929. The American Presidency Project. University of California. Retrieved on 4/7/2008.
  7. ^ Philippon, Daniel J. (7/14/1997). The Backyard of Presidents. Landmarks of American Nature Writing. University of Virginia. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  8. ^ Weaver, Jr., Warren (8/14/1987), “Washington talk: Presidential Retreats; The Camp That Was Hoover's”, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0D81F3FF937A2575BC0A961948260>. Retrieved on 6 April 2008 .
  9. ^ "Thalassocrats", Time, 10/14/1929. Retrieved on 4/7/2008. 
  10. ^ Steiner, Zara S. (2005). The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933. Oxford University Press, page 588. ISBN 0198221142. 
  11. ^ Mares, Bill (1999). Fishing With the Presidents. Stackpole Publishing, page 72. ISBN 0811727688. 
  12. ^ Walch, Timothy (2003). Uncommon Americans: The Lives and Legacies of Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover. Greenwood Publishing Group, pages 160-161. ISBN 0275979962. 
  13. ^ Wert, Hal Elliott (January 2005). Hoover, the Fishing President: Portrait of the Private Man and His Life. Stackpole Books, pages 187-189. ISBN 0811700992. 
  14. ^ Lambert, Darwin (1971). Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: The Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park (Chapter V: The Possum-Boy and the Mountain School). Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah Natural History Association, pages 82-100. ISBN 0931606047. 
  15. ^ Woolley, John T.; Gerhard Peters (2/23/1930). Papers of Herbert Hoover: Rapidan Community School. The American Presidency Project. University of California. Retrieved on 4/10/2008.
  16. ^ Gilliam, George H.; William G. Thomas III (1998). The Story of Shenandoah National Park. The Ground Beneath Our Feet: The History of Virginia Since The Civil War. Octagon Multimedia. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  17. ^ "Squatters", Time, 6/22/1931. Retrieved on 4/10/2008. 
  18. ^ Lambert, Darwin (1971). Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: The Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park. Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah Natural History Association, page 143. ISBN 0931606047. 
  19. ^ Jones, Tom. History of Rapidan Camps. Rapidan Camps. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  20. ^ Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Map 10. AT Shenandoah National Park (Central District) [map], 20th edition. (2003) Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  21. ^ Lambert, Darwin (1971). Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: The Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park. Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah Natural History Association, pages 30-31. ISBN 0931606047. 
  22. ^ "Place for a Friend", Time, 9/1/1930. Retrieved on 4/11/2008. 
  23. ^ Woolley, John T.; Gerhard Peters. Letter Proposing Incorporation of Camp Rapidan Into the Shenandoah National Park.. The American Presidency Project. University of California. Retrieved on 4/6/2008.
  24. ^ Lambert, Darwin (1971). Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: The Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park. Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah Natural History Association, pages 120-139. ISBN 0931606047. 
  25. ^ Lambert, Darwin (1971). Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: The Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park. Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah Natural History Association, page 142. ISBN 0931606047. 
  26. ^ Langley, Monica (1981), “Perks at Parks Help Perk Up Vacations of Federal VIPs: If You Rate, a Cheap Holiday Is Yours at National Site; Danger of Being ‘Bumped’”, Wall Street Journal .
  27. ^ Escherich, Susan (4/16/2003). National Historic Landmarks Program: Camp Hoover. National Park Service. Retrieved on 4/7/2008.
  28. ^ Updyke, Gloria (10/6/2004). Restoring a National Historic Landmark: President and Mrs. Hoover's Rapidan Camp, Shenandoah National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2/1/2008.
  29. ^ [|Hedelt, Rob] (10/9/2005), “Renovating Rapidan Camp”, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, <http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/102005/10092005/135879> 
  30. ^ Camp Hoover / Rapidan Camp Guide. Hiking Upward. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  31. ^ Shenandoah National Park President & Mrs. Hoover's Rapidan Camp. National Park Service (5/15/07). Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  32. ^ Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Map 10. AT Shenandoah National Park (Central District) [map], 20th edition. (2003) Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  33. ^ Updyke, Gloria (10/6/2004). Restoring a National Historic Landmark: President and Mrs. Hoover's Rapidan Camp, Shenandoah National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2/1/2008.
  34. ^ Lambert, Darwin (1971). Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: The Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park. Luray, Virginia: Shenandoah Natural History Association, pages 9-10. ISBN 0931606047. 
  35. ^ Jones, Tom. Rapidan Camps Outdoor Plan. Rapidan Camps. Retrieved on 4/11/2008.
  36. ^ Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum Gallery 8. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved on 4/10/2008.

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