CAMP RACCOON

1919-1924

In the spring of 1919, the Scouts began earnestly searching for a permanent campground to call their own. They set their sights on a plateau area of Raccoon Mountain, in Pan Gap, near the Police and Fire Outing Club. The area, nineteen miles from Chattanooga, was on the Tennessee River at Douglas Ferry landing and consisted of a 200-acre plot of land.  On older maps the area is still identified as Scout Valley (or Scout Hollow).  Chattanooga Boy Scouts knew that this place would be perfect to establish a "permanent camp where traditions will seem more real; where canoeing will actually take place; where campfires will burn and cast flickering shadows upon real, primitive woods, and where hearts and faces will be kept warm and ruddy under the searching shafts of an unobstructed sun."
 

Reports said that it was "beautifully situated, surrounded on all sides by great picturesque mountain peaks about an hour's journey from the city."  The land "forms a ledge on the side of Raccoon Mountain just at the foot of the sheer cliffs of granite, about 200 or 300 feet in width and about half a mile long."  From one side there was a very rugged slope about three-quarters of a mile in length, terminating at the Tennessee River.
 

The camp could be reached either by river or highway, but in either case "a journey through the wilds" was necessary.  "The general direction of the property is a line running parallel to Main street and extended across the river, Moccasin bend and over Raccoon mountain.  About an hour is required to reach the camping grounds by road over the mountain.  At Lake Lookout the conveyance must be left and walk of twenty-five minutes through the most rugged scenes of the hilly country confronts the camp visitor.  The site lies just above Douglas' ferry."
 

"Two immense boulders placed only a few inches apart, through which the water flows at one point, make it possible to easily dam the gulch and create a lake."
 

Much of the camp was built by Boy Scouts.  For example, the dam was constructed entirely by the Scouts working under the direction of an experienced engineer.  Much of the work on the buildings were done entirely by the boys under the direction of several foremen.

The Scouts planned two main buildings: The first was a community house built like a hunting lodge, log-cabin style. The other was a mess hall capable of serving sixty Scouts at a time. Four smaller buildings—three small cottages and a community dining room—were also planned.  Not afraid of the hard work it would take to make their dreams come true, Scouts themselves built the structures under the supervision of more experienced adults.  In addition, the Scouts dammed the stream that snaked through the camp to form a lake and constructed an athletic field.  This stream was known as  Pan Gap Branch

The Council enjoyed successful summers through 1924 at Camp Raccoon.  In 1925, pressured by continuous growth of Scouting in Chattanooga and problems with the water supply, the Council sold the property and used the money to purchase 93 acres on North Chickamauga Creek near Hixson that became Camp Tsatanugi.

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