Treasure Island (Scout reservation) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Treasure Island is a Boy Scout

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

property located between Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania

Tinicum Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Tinicum Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,995 at the 2010 census.The Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge, a free Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission bridge over the Delaware River, connects Uhlerstown to Frenchtown in Hunterdon County, New...

and Frenchtown, New Jersey

Frenchtown, New Jersey

Frenchtown is a Borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,373....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The property is situated on two islands in the middle of the Delaware River

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

and owned by the Cradle of Liberty Council

Cradle of Liberty Council

The Cradle of Liberty Council is a Boy Scouts of America council created in 1996 with the merger of the former Philadelphia Council and the former Valley Forge Council .-History:The present council is the result of the 1996 merger of Philadelphia and Valley Forge councils...

. Treasure Island was the oldest continually operated Boy Scout Camp 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.

Structures

Among the important buildings on the island are the Kiwanis

Kiwanis

Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...

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

Merit badge (Boy Scouts of America)

Merit badges are awards earned by youth members of the Boy Scouts of America , based on activities within an area of study by completing a list of periodically updated requirements. The purpose of the merit badge program is to allow Scouts to examine subjects to determine if they would like to...

instruction. There is also the Goodman

E. Urner Goodman

Edward Urner Goodman was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America movement for much of the twentieth century. Goodman was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organization's formative years of significant growth when the Cub Scouting and Exploring programs were...

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

Order of the Arrow

The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America . It uses American Indian-styled traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the ideals of Scouting. The society was created by E. Urner Goodman, with the...

ceremonies and the Friday night closing campfire are held.

Treasure Island has a swimming pool

Swimming pool

A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

, and boating was conducted in canoe

Canoe

A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...

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

Camp program

Tube rafting

Tubing (recreation)

Tubing is a recreational activity where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as "donuts" or "biscuits" due to their shape.-Water:Tubing on water generally consists of two forms: towed and free-floating, also...

was offered to Scouts during the summer, and scouts floated downstream to Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania

Tinicum Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

, 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 and canoe trips in the surrounding area were also conducted along the old Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal

Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division)

The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs from the Lehigh River at Easton south to Bristol...

. Climbing

Rock climbing

Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

and rappelling trips also took place at Ralph Stover State Park.

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 in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, whereas Marshall Island is in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Because of this, the archery

Archery

Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

and rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

Ranges were sited on Marshall Island because New Jersey state gun laws are more 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.

Project COPE

Project COPE is an acronym for Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience, a program in the Boy Scouts of America. It consists of different challenges for groups of scouts that involve teamwork and problem solving, or for individual scouts that test agility and individual skills...

course.

External links

http://media.theechoo.com/demo915/clips/JMCDONALD/jmcdonald_2006630_595.wmv
America's Oldest Boy Scout Camps by David L. Eby

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