The Camp Michaux is located in 
     Michaux State Forest. 
     See Yahoo Travel Listing

On your GPS receiver, you can find the location:                      40° 02' 16"N   -77° 20' 27"W
                   40.0379°N       -77.3404°W

     The white clearing on the 2002 NGS topo map is the site of the camp.  Michaux Road is the main road running N/S.  The Upper, Main and Lower Service roads are have gates off Michaux Road and are easy to find.  The red dashed line is the Appalachian Trail. 
     The clearing to the right of Michaux Road is "Vesper Hill."  The "swimming pool" is the original dam on Toms Run.  Bunkerhill  Road is not shown on this map but runs along about the 1200' contour line.  Above "Sanitary Filter" is where the AT  passes the old barn now hidden behind a stand of trees.

    Detail from an older topographic map that shows the camp buildings in the CCC/POW era.  The four barracks in the upper left of the compound were apparently were built by the military to supplement the CCC barracks.  The lower two were removed by the church camp to make room for the swimming pool.  The church camp Pavilion and the "Steps to Nowhere" are off the top service road between the two sets of barracks.  

      
The camp had an extensive water and sewage systems.  The "Sanitary Filter" was the sewage treatment plant and can still be located south of Bunkerhill Road near the bridge over Toms Run about 200' east of the road.                   

See if you can find 'Possum's GeoCashe
Yahoo Maps - Zoom in and select "Aerial Image"
TeraServer     Topo - Aerial Photos - Sharpest
TopoZone       Topographical Maps.  
GlobeXplorer Satellite Image - Best tree separation

The Appalachian Trail (AT) follows Michaux Road cuts across to Bunker Hill Road passing the old barn wall.    Hiking the AT near Pine Grove Furnace has pictures of the camp.

Many of the buildings were sold for their lumber when the church camp closed. The Infirmary was moved to another camp in the area. 

The camp is now virtually unrecognizable after thirty years of encroaching forest but if you remember it from the past, you can still identify many locations.  Apparently the underbrush was "cleaned up" for a CCC reunion a few years ago but is overgrowing for perhaps for the last time!

On your visit, try to locate the following:

1. CCC Sign off of Michaux Road
2. Old Barn on AT
3. Old Farm House on AT east of Barn.
4. Vesper Hill with one remaining bench
5. POW's name on bridge over Tom's Run
6. Sewage Treatment Plant
7. Base of guard tower on Michaux Road by AT
8. Main Camp Road
9.    Michaux Lodge at entrance
10.    Third Service Corps Marker on camp road
11.    Calvin and Zwingli Barracks
12.    CCC Fountain
13.    Lower Guard Tower next to Fountain.
14.    Recreation Hall, Office, Basketball Court.
15.    Dinning Hall loading Dock
16.    The Incinerator Ramp
17.    Old Swimming Hole and Pump House
18.    New Swimming Pool
19.    Upper Dam on Toms Run
20.    POW date the on south wall by Upper Dam
21. Lower Service Road & Building Remains
22. Upper Service Road at yellow gate
23.    Log Cabin at entrance to USR
24.    Log Cabin on USR
25.    Guard Tower off Upper Service Road
26.    POW dinning Hall
27.    Pavilion Floor
28.   "Steps To Nowhere"
29. CCC Arrow Flagpole Base north of Fountain
30. "Star" Emblem on central lawn
31. Latch for POW stockcabe gate
32. Church camp Flag Pole NW of the Star
33. Three Barracks
34. Infirmary

Historical Resources

Detailed history of the camp and furnace
by M.S. Reifsnyder  -  RTF Format   -  HTML format

“A History of Camp Michaux”
buy Helen Louise McAdoo.
(see note from her brother below)

 
1960 Camp Michaux Youth Fellowship Training Conference 
Camp History

Wartime Memories Project
Gettysburg College Collection
German POWs in the U.S.
(Takes a minute to translate.)

                     A Short History
First there was Pine Grove Furnace which became an extensive manufacturing complex.  To feed all the workers, Bunker Hill Farm was one of several in the area contracted to supply produce.  The AT follows Bunker Hill Road from the Furnace to where the barn wall still stands.
     The need for charcoal to fuel the furnace resulted in the total deforestation of South Mountain.  The iron ore pit eventually flooded to form the park's lake and the furnace closed.
     Early in the 20th Century, the land was an ecological disaster and during the depression became an ideal location for a CCC Camp to reclaim the land.   The first crews lived in railway cars near the furnace.  They hiked in to build the first log cabins and Michaux Road.  Eventually they constructed the barracks and other camp buildings.

  If you are in the area, visit Kings Gap State Park north of Camp Michaux.  It has a wonderful view of the area from the summit of South Mountain.  It was another area devoted to the manufacture of charcoal. "The camp at Huntsdale Pennsylvania, USA was on what is now the C H Masland estate - Kings Gap. The camps existence was kept relatively secret during the war, and there was little know about it by the locals. It was located in proximity to Camp Michaux, but was not a part of that base. The camp was primarily used to house high ranking prisoners in relative comfort, in order get information from them."   Wikipedia

   See: A short History of the CCC
     At the beginning of W.W.II, the military needed a site close to Washington to interrogate German officers.  The first were from captured U-boats and later from north Africa.  The camp was so secret that even the local residents did not know of it's existence.
See:  INTERROGATION CENTERS

     After the war in 1946, the Presbyterian, UCC and E&R churches converted the area into a summer camp.  They removed some of the buildings, barracks, stockade and eventually added a swimming pool and pavilion.

          What remains of the camp
  From the main entrance gate down the main camp road about 150'  you can find the Third Service Corps marker on your right and further on the CCC Fountain and the foundations for the administrative buildings of the camp.  

        
  The loading dock for the camp kitchen/dinning hall is at the end of the main camp road.   Across the road to the south are the remains of the loading ramp from the incinerator and the Old Swimming Pool.
         
              Ye Old Swimming Hole and Dam
  South of the main road past the dinning hall, you can find the remains of the pump house and the large pond that was the "new" swimming hole on Tom's Run before the last pool was constructed. 

North of the dining hall are the remains of the final swimming pool built in 1954.  Above the pool, you can still find the paved floor of the "pavilion" and north west of that, under some bushes are "The Steps to Nowhere" and the upper parking lot which is now a bird banding sanctuary.  Watch the poison ivy patch!  It may be easier to find these from the upper service road.

       
                     Upper Dam on Tom's Run
     There is a trail from the end of the road at the loading dock.   If you continue down the trail to its end, you will come to water supply dam on Toms Run built by the CCC.  On the top of the south wall about 20' from the dam is a date by a POW who must have done some repair or upgrade.  
    
                         Remains of the Cabins
    Cross the bridge at the dam above to the Lower Service Road.   Follow the LSR a few hundred yards to the right (west) to locate the piles of lumber that are the remains of the camp buildings.  
   Turning turn left (east) on the LSD takes you to the Old Swimming Pool, Dam and Raceway
   You can also access the Lower Service Road  at the yellow gate off Michaux Road south of the main camp entrance.

Pennsylvania CCC Archive

  Directions from Pine Grove State Park:

1)  Drive south about 2 miles
2)  Turn right onto Michaux road.
3)  The road will level off to cross Tom's Run.
4) Baker Road is on the right with a place to park. 
5) Across from Bunkerhill Road is the gate for
    Main Camp Road . 

Landmarks on Michaux Road

Across the road from the gate below

    
      Gate on Michaux Road to Main Camp Road
     Where the paved portion of Michaux Road ends about 100 yd. past Bunkerhill Road, you will find a yellow metal gate on the left which is the entrance to the "upper service road" to the camp.   

     A few feet further up Michaux Road on the right, there is the "white blaze" where the AT cuts off from Michaux Road and cuts across to join Bunkerhill Road past the parking area.  The foundations for one of the guard towers can be seen at this corner.   Follow the AT down the hill and on your left are two huge pine trees that are hiding the wall of the old stone barn.

         
     Between the upper and lower gates and set back off the camp side of Michaux road is a commemorative marker for the first CCC Camp S-51 329 Co. in Pennsylvania.  "S" designates the camp is in a state forest.   By the early 1900's the demand for charcoal for the Pine Grove Furnace had virtually cleared the mountains of trees.   The CCC reforested and restored the area.

MATERIAL WASTED BY CCC at S-51
PA Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources
Company 329 Archive

 
           Winter Photo of Watchtower and Guard House CCHS
One of the two original CCC cabins and the NE watchtower south of the upper service road.  

 
    You can still find the foundation blocks of the above guard tower near the upper service road.  The others are on Michaux road across from the upper service road gate south of the AT and the third is near the CCC Fountain.   

A History of Camp Michaux
(HTML)
Detailed History
(RTF  Word document)
by Rev. M.S. Reifsnyder UCC 1955

“A History of Camp Michaux”
   buy Helen Louise McAdoo.

SITE SURVEY SUMMARY SHEET
Detailed history of the camp as of 1966

POW Interrogation Centers
Detailed description and photographs.
Information on MEMOVOX Recorder

Camp Crossville
“To Win Our War with Butter and Beefsteaks”: Camp Crossville and the Treatment of Axis Prisoners of War  by Gregory Kupsky

Arial Photograph With Camp Landmarks
             

     The 1994 USGA Arial photograph (topo map)shows the camp abandoned but recognizable before it was totally overgrown.   The clearing in the center marks the locations of the barracks and main lawn.  Clearly visible are the lines of tall pines lining the path from the fountain to the NE corner of the camp.
(AT) is the Appalachian Trail
     Church campers will remember a large building to the NE of the chapel with a large screened porch that was used for meetings.  This was the POW mess hall  within the barbed wire fence.  What was the church camp dinning hall was the military staff dinning hall .

       
CCC boys from the Pine Grove Furnace Camp constructing a road.  Source

     WAITE REX F.  B. 6/15/1917 D. 7/29/1986
     (Syracuse, NY)

    It was drawn from memory many years later and has a lot of inaccuracies when compared with later maps. 

Larger view of complete map.

Early view of CCC Camp - 5/23/24
View From South Mountain looking SE to Little Rocky Ridge
Capt. Charles Elcock was the commanding officer at the time  8/22/1933 to 10/24/1934
Photo published by the Post Exchange Studio Des Moines, IW
I purchased a small set of original photos relating to the CCC and Camp Michaux, from the Bedford Street antique mall in Carlisle. The images pertain to the Pine Grove Furnace CCC Camp S-51, Company 329 (labeled on the above photo): mostly it's group shots with no names, snaps of the interior of the mess hall, cook crew, and camp administrators.      --  Andre Weltman  -  January  2005

             
               CCC Camp from Big Hill looking north
Later view of the CCC camp.  The center of the camp was a large flag pole just north of the "fountain." - Details
The painting below was done by the POW artist from approximately the same point.
       Note that the "X" and flag pole in the CCC photo is not the same location as the "X" of trees in the POW camp.

Barracks  Steps?  Showers     Barracks         POW Mess     Tower      Fountain         Infirmary   CCC Cabin    Stone Barn
                  Latrine       Dinning Hall       Rec. Hall                   Lower Camp              Michaux Rd       Gate     Motor Pool
    Center detail of the 20" X 30" of Camp Pine Grove done by a POW who was a professional artist.    Accompanied by a guard, he climbed 450' up "Big Hill"  and sketched the view; upon returning to the camp he painted the picture on a sheet of masonite.
   At the far left are five barracks and lower two in the center group that were apparently removed by the church camp.  The log cabins in the upper right were the first ones built for the CCC camp as administrative offices and were the staff lodgings for the church camp.      The original painting and other photographs are now housed the local historical society in Gettysburg.

Four of the paintings done by POWs on the barrack walls still survive in the new Michaux Lodge at the UCC Hartman Conference Center in Milroy, PA.  Stop in and see them!

Auf da Alm da gibt's Koa Sind, ( weil koa Teifi aufimmt )
"There exists no sin on the high mountain meadow, ( because no devil comes up here )."
In 2004, a friend and I were hiking the Appalachian Trail. We read in our hiking guide we would be passing Camp Michaux. It was so fascinating I didn't want to leave.   We then visited the U.C.C. Conference Center where we saw the paintings.  No one at the Center knew the meaning of  "Auf da Alm da gibt's Koa Sind, (weil koa Teifi aufimmt)."  I contacted Professor Klaus Jaeger at Juniata College who translated it from the Upper-Bavarian dialect.
Ladygirl,  Huntingdon,  PA  -   2007

         
The Yucca plants in the center photo can still be seen growing wild around the camp!

This Painting on wood is in the Michaux State Forest Office

Detail of much larger picture panoramic view Aug. 7-19, 1949
Note the lower guard tower supports, the generator shack and buildings in the background.
The picture was donated by the camper in the lower left corner.
"I found your site after talking to Bruce Druckenmiller at the Hartman Center.   I believe you have seen the
picture I donated to The Center of the E&R junior camp of 1949.  I camped there every year through
1955 when I served as a counselor in junior camp for 1 week.  In 1956 I served for 3 weeks.  I served
for 5 weeks in 1957.  This ended my association with Camp Michaux until years later when I
stopped by to find the camp destroyed.  I really enjoyed seeing the pictures on your site that
brought many memories."  -  Don  July 2003

Postcards     
    
Postcard from 1948 or 1949 contained in a fold out set of 10 in an envelope.
If you have any of these early cards, I would love to have high resolution copies. 
These old postcard images were found on eBay or bought at the camp store. 

   
    I think these are later cards.  Trees in front of the chapel
      are twice as high as those in the older set above.

  
Taken from the same spot on the lawn as the one of the chapel above.                 

The following cards are from another set with a different style of captioning.
 
Note POW Paintings in Rec Hall                              Winter Views Views

This series must have been taken very early in the history of the church camp.
Note the size of the trees, the white stones and the guard tower. 
Picture appears to have been taken from the dinning hall looking east to the entrance.

 
Was this taken with Infra Red film or a deep red filter?  Note the black sky and white trees.

Compare these late 1950s postcards with the black and white postcards above.

C
Note the size of the pine trees in different pictures of the Chapel

Vesper Hill Postcard circa 1960
You can see the top of The Old Barn above the speaker's head and "Big Hill" beyond.
See the remains of Vesper Hill

View Postcard of Vesper Hill with a hand written note on back from 1968
Story of the Card
     One day I did a Google search for "Camp Michaux."  I found the above card being auctioned by a collector for $2.  I coped the image and sent a copy to Rev. Richard Sigler who is noted below.  It turns out that the girl sending the card and the recipients were members of his church at that time!  I bid on the card and after winning the auction (there were no other bidders) I sent it to him and he gave it to the archive committee of the church.
In February of 2007, I received an e-mail from North Carolina from another member of the same church.
Small world!

Pioneer Camp 1970 - One of the last postcards.

  "Ye Old Swimming Hole at Camp Michaux R. D. Gardners PA"
Early postcard shows the Pump House on far right, small shed and original dam.
Appears to be the same vintage as the one of the entrance above.
Even though the pump house is located by this dam, the early CCC maps show a pipe line to the pump house from the dam further up Tom's Run.  The CCC camp emphasized sanitation and they would not have located the water source downhill from the sewage septic tanks in the camp. There were two water tanks above the camp to maintain pressure. The main concrete tank is marked "Water" on the topographic map at the top of the page.  A second steel tank was located in the forest directly above the church camp pavilion.
  Does anyone know when the sewage treatment plant was built ?
The "Army" map still shows just "leaching ponds. My guess is the church camp built it.

    Details of dam on "Ye Old Swimming Hole"
Photograph was taken by a councilor and copied at the 2004 Reunion.
"I can say for sure that in 1948 we swam in the old swimming hole. I believe the same was true in '49. It was
nothing more then the dammed up stream. Lots of mud and you did not put your feet down! It was located down
the "road" past the dinning hall on the left side.  There was a "pump" shed there. Most times we hiked to Laurel and Fuller Lakes to swim." - E. Smith, NCC

The "New Swimming Pool" taken from the dam on Tom's Run

Postcard of the "New Swimming Pool" (above) on Toms Run

   "The church camp enlarged the pool, put  in a sand bottom, sluiceways to channel in the water, concrete walls and a diving board sometime in the very early 1950's. The sluiceways formed a "Y" with Tom's Run about 100 yards upstream from the pool. One sluice channeled the Run and emptied back in to the stream bed below the spillway of the dam. The other sluice entered the pool at the side opposite the dam up toward the road. There were slots in the walls of the base of the "Y" so boards could be put in to control how much water went up each arm .You can see these sluices in the photo of the "new' pool." - Dave Robinson (See letters below.)    This expensive project  was only used for three or four years till the last pool was built in 1954 to comply with state health regulations.

Old Swimming Pool Today - 2006 Camp Walk
To find it, follow the Main Camp Road slightly past the Dinning Hall and look for a trail on your right.
You will pass the pump house foundation near the dam.
The incinerator ramp is to the north east of the pump house directly behind the dinning hall.

 
Postcard of the New Pool opened in June of 1954.       Later with fence and grass replacing the sand.    

Full Screen Version of the map
Defense Environmental Restoration Program Site Map 1996 (Relabeled)
This map does not show the Upper and Lower Service Roads or all the barracks.
The "Hospital" became the church camp's caretaker's house where the Hockleys lived. 

 
             Chapel - Knox - Witherspoon - Crafts Building - Flag Pole and the "White House" circa 1959-61
The "Star" would be in the patch of grass by the girls left elbow.
Zwingli, Calvin, and Calvin Annex were the names for three of the church camp barracks.
See Dave Robinson's description of the camp below
"Hi from Oregon!  I stayed in both Zwingli and Calvin Annex, the girls' barracks. The boys were housed in Calvin. Zwingli is the barracks to the right of the rec hall on your map. Calvin is the building directly across the road from Zwingli, and Calvin Annex is the smaller building to the left of Calvin. " Regards, M. H.

The Last Days

Chapel in 1970
Looking east with the "White House and flag pole in the background.

The Chapel was in poor shape and was torn down and the foundation blocks removed in 1970.  This means that the southern most foundation blocks you can see today are from "Knox".  At the time of this picture, the "White House" storage building was painted brown.  A picture from the same series shows that the Administrative building between the Mess Hall and the Rec Hall had been removed previously and was just a patch of grass befor the camp closed.

Around the winter of 1970 or 71, an oil valve stuck open on the heater in Michaux Lodge. (The POW interagation building just inside the current gate on the main camp road.)   The oil flooded the floor which caught fire and distroyed the lodge.   The lodge was the only heated building where a winter care taker could live.  The church people wanted to rebuild the lodge but they did not want to put any money into it unless the State Forest people would renew the lease.    For some reason, the forest people wanted the camp out of the forest so they would not renew the lease. The church groups owned a tract of land on the west side of the forest that they offered to exchange for the camp land but the forest service would not except the offer.

SITE SURVEY SUMMARY SHEET
The above contains a detailed history of the POW camp condensed from DEFR pdf file

Third Service Cops Patch
"....On 1 April 1945 a detachment of the 475th Military Police Escort Guard Company was sent to a Military Intelligence camp at Pine Grove Furnace, PA. This was a camp that reportedly escaped inspection visits from the International Red Cross. It was a “side” camp of Carlisle Barracks."   

Historic Dates

CCC Camp	1931 - 1941
POW camp established	Dec.   1942
Operational	20 May   1943
Declared surplus	20 Nov.   1945
POW Lease Terminated	14 Jan     1946
Leased to UP/UCC Churches	1 July    1947
Lease terminated	31  Dec.  1972

     
          Third Service Corps Marker in 1961.
     Located on the north side of the main camp road about 150' from the entrance gate.  It seems to have been constructed at the end of the POW era since it lists the date the POW camp was closed and contains the emblem of "The Third Service Corps" which ran the camp.  The squares may have been just decoration or once contained other emblems that have been removed.  

            
          The Third Service Corps Marker in 2002
The marker, off the main road near the entrance, is one of the few identifiable remnants.    Note that the shrubs are now trees and the marker has sunken into the ground!  In a few years it to will probably be totally overgrown.

 
     Inside of the Chapel showing construction details of the barracks.  Choir practice was held here and the director taught us to sing "Let Us Break Bread Together" as 'When I fall on my face with my knees to the rising sun' - which is impossible to unlearn!

  
     1960 Postcard of Chapel looking south towards dinning hall.  The Chapel was one of the CCC and POW barracks but had new siding and entrance  added.   The height of the trees can help establish the relative dates of pictures of Chapel pictures.

    
                   The Swimming pool in 2003
    The diving board mounts at the end of the swimming pool that is now a swampy pond.  It is one of the largest remaining features but the hardest to find!

  
  Looking NE to the bath house and  cabins in 1961
     The "Pavilion" and "The Steps to Nowhere" are out of the picture to the left.  The chapel is the building in the right background.  Pool was completed in 1954.

 
     Visitors on the 2002 CCHS Historical Walk standing on the pool deck showing the diving board mounts at the left.

The CCC Fountain is remarkably preserved.
What looks like lumps of colored glass are slag from the Pine Grove Iron Furnace.

              
   From the upper service road at the site of the first CCC cabin looking towards the Fountain.
The rows of trees planted by the Army can be clearly seen in the aerial photograph above.    
The CCC paths were relocated by the Army.
          
     In the center of the path, directly above the fountain you can find the concrete 'arrow' pointing north that was the base for the CCC flag pole with a lightning arrestor wire still visible. 
   Follow the path between the trees  and you can find in places the stones that once lined it.   These stones were at one time painted white and the trees were just seedlings. 
    To the east of the fountain you can find the "L" shaped foundations of the infirmary.    The church camp bell tower was located just west of the fountain.     This photo from www.TheProppers.com

     
   If you stand at the fountain and walk up into the clearing to the NW (see picture above), you can still find the "star" down the hill from the flag poll.  Walk to the west to find the footers for the chapel.  Past the chapel, the pool is down the hill and the pavilion is up the hill.

   All that is left of the buildings are the cement support posts and bathroom floors and pipes.
   Looking north-west from main road.   You can still locate the remains of three guard towers which will be four concrete blocks about 8' apart.  One is located near the fountain and the other further up the hill near the service road.

Looking south from CCC flag pole to the Fountain during the CCC period of the camp.

"Steps to Nowhere"
The steps can be found between the pavilion floor and the Upper Service Road.   They are so overgrown that they are easy to miss.

 
          Old Stone Barn in 1961 looking NE 
     The wall still stands but is now completely hidden by massive pine trees!  It is located just north of the AT as it cuts across from Michaux Road to Bunkerhill Road.

 
     Main camp road in front of Recreation Hall
looking east from dinning hall.
     The chimney is connected to the old metal stove shown in the foreground of the adjacent picture.
Remains of the concrete basketball court are behind the Rec Center.

  
                         The Recreation Hall
     Here were displayed the best examples of the POW artwork on the walls.  They were originally painted on the fiber board walls of the barracks and were removed and framed.  Many were landscapes from Germany but some were of American subjects.  
     The snack bar is at the far end.

Presbyterian State Wide Youth Leadership Conference 1961 Aug 2-27?
(Wrong dates since it was only a one week camp.)
This is my camp picture the last year I was there.  
If you are in any of the group pictures, I'll be glad to e-mail you a higher resolution image mail a CD.

"Steps to Nowhere"
Traditional site for taking camp pictures.
How they appeared in 2003 looking down from the Upper Service Road

"The 1935 Hahn served Camp Michaux until it was sold to a private collector and restored.
Today it resides in the Pennsylvania Fire Museum in Harrisburg,
still with the Union Fire Company name on the apparatus."

There was a pump house to the left of the "new" pool as you faced it from the dining hall. It was between the pool and the incinerator and new office building. It had an inlet in the pool and was used only for pumping water through the fire fighting system. The building housed a pump with a 6 cylinder car motor that I can remember Bill Hockley firing up when we did fire drills. We accused him of goosing the pressure up on the pump to see how many of us crew members he could knock over as we held the fire hose. We used to enjoy those fire drills as it gave us a chance to take the old fire engine out for a spin.  Sometimes we got halfway to Caledonia since we wanted to make sure the battery got a good charge. And of course we had to make sure the siren still worked. -  Dave Robinson

             A Sermon (PDF File) by Pastor Thomas Darr of the Angel of Joy Lutheran Church
                         Transfiguration Sunday March 2, 2003  Title: "My Chosen, Listen to Him!"
     "When I was a teenager, I was a camp counselor at Camp Michaux in Gardners, Pa.To this very day,when I think of the camp ’s name,I get wonderful thoughts about my experiences there. For Michaux was the place where many of us had “mountain top experiences,” just like Moses,Elijah and the disciples in our Gospel lesson for today.
     Mountain top experiences are so real that you can almost see God, you can almost touch him. They are special, out of the ordinary experiences with the Creator of the universe that will transform and transfigure you. They are the kind of experiences you take with you down into the valley of life. Such wonderful moments that show us where we’ve been , who we are, and where we are going. Listen to Him!...”

 
Rev. Dick Sigler debates with campers in 1961

     One of the most admired leaders at the Synod of the Trinity's Youth Leadership Conference in 1961 was Rev. Richard E. (Dick) Sigler.     One night at dinner in the mess hall he announced that, "The United States is without a president!"  Then to dead silence, he continued, "President Eisenhower has just left for a conference in Europe."  I think that was the last time he tied that bit of humor.
     He was at the Carlisle Presbyterian Church when the camp closed.  His recollection is that the state had only leased the camp land and would not sell it or exchange it for other forest lands.  Apparently, they did not want the camp in the state forest so they would not renew the lease.  I had dinner with him occasionally until he moved back to the Harrisburg area.  His wife had also been a camp counselor at Michaux and they recently took a return visit.
    I knew Rev. Silger since I was six or seven in the late 1940s. He did his ministerial internship under my father at the Homewood Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh and was a frequent guest at our house.
     Another conference leader was Dr. William Orr. He was a good friend of my father and had been his favorite seminary professor of Greek and New Testament Theology at Western Theological Seminary.  He was also the favorite teacher of Fred Rodgers  who asked Dr. Orr, ‘What is that one little word that will fell the prince of darkness, that word that will strike down evil?’ After a few quiet seconds, Dr. Orr replied: ‘One little word: forgive, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’ He went on, ‘You know, Fred, there is only one thing evil cannot stand, and that is forgiveness."  (See link)  (It was my uncle, Rev. G. Mason Cochran, who as Mr. Rodgers homiletics professor, convinced him that his ministry should be children television rather than adults.)  One of Dr. Orr's favorite stories about himself was that after conducting a service one Sunday, a lady met him at the church door and exclaimed, "That was a lovely reading of the New Testament scripture, what translation were you using?"   To which Dr. replied, "Madam, that was my translation!   I was read from the original Greek!"

    My favorite story about Dr. Orr was told by Mrs. Orr.  As a prank, his seminary students signed him up for a visit by the Seventh Day Adventists.  They knocked at his door one Sunday afternoon and he graciously invited them in.  For two hours he listened intently to their spiel and asked such wonderful questions that they were sure they had a new convert.  When they concluded and excused themselves to leave, he said, "Wait! Now it's my turn!" and for the next two hours he refuted every point of their presentation with Biblical references while his wife was in tears restraining her laughter in the kitchen.  

    Another favorite leader of mine was Rev. A. Vanlier Hunter who became a theologian at The Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies.  They have posted his essay (version 2) on-line
"'The dead in Christ will rise first for there's no one deader than a Presbyterian!." 

    Rev. Bill Southerland, currently the Parish Associate at Beulah Presbyterian Church, remembers that in the late 60's every time there was a storm, the electricity would fail and the emergence generator would stumble to life for a few minutes before dying.

Lee Schaeffer - Web Master

The above brochure was reproduced from a copy that was sent to me by J. G. - Oct 2003

  
My copy!
Published by Cooperative Recreation Service
which is now World Around Songs   --  History

Camp Michaux Reunion - Saturday June 19, 2004.
Hosted by: Gary Fisher (Squirrel)  LFisherGary@aol.com

1960-1970 Camp Staff at the Reunion
Russ Weer - Garry Fisher- Donna (Cohick) Weer - David Schoonover - Dave & Sue Robinson - Cheryl (Schoonover) Tritt

Also present was Lisa John, a park Ranger who is working on a brochure and walking trail of the camp.  She has a great collection of photographs from the CCC and POW era at the park office. (As of 2007, I belive she is no longer at the park.)


We were able to locate the base of the CCC flag pole which is an "arrow" pointing due north with a lightening rod grounding cable still visible.  It can be found directly above the fountain in the middle of the parallel row of pine trees.  The shadow of the CCC flagpole in the center photo marks it's location.  Note the path that runs to the log cabin that would later become the POW guard house.  The paths were all rerouted for the POW camp.  The path  was relocated to run to the other log cabin by the upper gate off Michaux Road.  This is were the trail of pine trees now stands.  Study the pictures of the CCC and POW camp above to see the differences.

The photo of the fountain was taken from the CCC flag pole looking south.
The photo of the CCC flag pole was taken from the fountain looking north.

The fountain in this picture seems to have a lower wall that it does today.  It must have be rebuilt at some later date..
I have the entire collection of these and and many personal photos provided by the people at the reunion available on a CD. Just send me your name and address!

Remains of the Buildings
The weather was dry enough to locate several piles of lumber at the end of the lower service road near where the path crosses Tom's Run on the south west corner of the camp grounds.  Just past this area is a clearing that is believed to be one of the "frontier camp" tent camping areas.