Boy Scouts to Church Groups: A History of Camp Istrouma

    "In 1910, the first scout troup was formed in Baton Rouge.  In 1924, the Baton Rouge Rotary Club purchased Camp Istrouma at Indian Mound for the Istrouma Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.  To the original 80 acres of land, 64 more acres were added through different grants from the Rotary Club.  the camp layout was designed by the Engineering Service of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of American about 1935 and consisted mainly of four group camp sites, three of which have four patrol cabins, one leader's cabin and a group kitchen and dining hall building.  One camp site has only three patrol cabins and a group leader's cabin.

    By 1957, the Boy Scouts had outgrown Camp Istrouma.  Many Baton Rougeans got together and raised $235,000 to purchase 1440 acres of land at Camp Avondale in Clinton, Louisiana,.

    Camp Istrouma was purchased from the Boy Scouts of America in 1959 while Rev. D.W. Poole was Superintendent of the Baton Rouge District and Rev. Henry Rickey was Superintendent of the New Orleans District (of the Methodist Church – ed).  The price was $95,000…. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy felled hundreds of trees and totally destroyed or heavily damaged eight buildings, necessitating big-time cleanup and the initiation of a rebuilding program in 1966.  In 1966, two new 40 bed camping units were completed.  Constructed in the shape of an "H", each unit included a kitchen and dining-meeting area and four 10 bed sleeping areas, each with its own shower and toilet facilities.  The cost was about $60,000.  The large kitchen was also completely renovated and equipped, and a deep well of 2,000 feet was dug.  The Camp received $5,007 in insurance money, $5,321 in fallen timber sales and special gifts, and $16,500 in Hurricane Relief Funds given by Methodists throughout the country.

    In 1979,.the dining hall ("Big Top") was enlarged, remodeled, and refurnished at a cost of approximately $40,000.  Funds for the improvement came largely from oil lease revenues which began in 1978 and extended over a 5 year period.  In addition, youth groups sent more than $300 to be applied to windows in the renovated dining hall.  In 1986, Rev. Mon Wilkes retired as Camp Manager after 26 years of service.  In 1995, the dining hall was renamed "J. Monroe Wilkes Hall".  In 2005, the Istrouma Lake Lodge Conference Center opened."

    Today Camp Istrouma is no longer the Boy Scout tent-camping location it was all those years ago.  A lake graces the property with a beautiful fountain, with high water adventure facilities available.  The Lodge is sited on the shores of the lake, built in an Acadian style.  The newly renovated Chapel holds 200.  Some things remain the same, though: the miles of hiking trails through mature pine woods, and the old "Swinging Bridge" over Sandy Creek, built by Boy Scouts long ago.  It is nice to think that today all the cabins are air-conditioned, an unheard of luxury when Camp Istrouma was first built.