Local History: Girl Scout Camps on the Magothy

Here’s a dose of some local history thanks to The Pasadena Peninsula by Isabel Shipley Cunningham.

Girl Scouts who used to host camps along the Magothy River had to take three different forms of transportation to get there. They slept in tents and wore blouses, bloomers and black ties.

"Not only the Grachur Club and Camp Milbur brought young people to camps on the Magothy River; in 1928 the Girl Scouts of Baltimore established Camp Wippoorwill on nineteen acres on the Cockey Creek that had been part of Captain Robinson's farm," Cunningham wrote.

"His three-story former home with wide porches became their headquarters. Previously the site had been used briefly by a boys' camp called Whippoorwill Hill. Girl Scouts would travel by train from Baltimore to Jones Station then by cart to South Ferry Point, and by ferry across the Magothy on Diana.

"They wore white middie blouses, bloomers, black ties, and knee stockings. Swimming, canoeing, sailing, crafts, and singing around a campfire were among their favorite activities.

"Before 1930, the 75 or 80 girls who came to camp for two-week sessions lived in Army tents. Until 1932, they had to carry water from a spring for drinking and cooking."