A History of Camp Masonite Navarro
Around the turn
of the
century the area we now know as Camp Masonite Navarro, was home to the
"California Logging Camp". The area now occupied by administration
buildings and the old dining hall served as mess hall and social hall
for some
50 to 75 loggers. Those with families lived in nearby towns and stayed
at the
camp while they worked and went home on days off.
Logging was
much different
in those years, using two-man saws and pulling the logs to the river
with horses
or the help of the train. In most cases the logs were transported to
the mill
by river, in this case the Navarro River, and in appropriate times by
train. In
both cases they were then milled in nearby Fort Bragg and taken to
destinations
unknown.
As the logging
industry
grew, both in size and sophistication so did the camp. As more houses
went up
the need for lumber went wild, and automation stepped in, bringing the
era of
two-man saws to a close. When pick trucks came on the scene it meant
that lumberjacks
could throw their power saws in the back of their 4-wheel drive trucks
and
drive to the job site instead of camping in the woods. Logging camps
were
slowly phased out except in very remote areas.
By 1954, the
Scout way of
camping changed, too, and a summer-style camp were established. Scouts
would go
to camp now for a week at a time and with their leaders and spend
several days
working in fun and advancement.
By this time
the Masonite
Corporation had purchased the land that ran along highway 128 to Ukiah
and
North to South for many miles. Late in 1955 the birth of a camp came to
pass.
The Masonite Corporation and the Sonoma Mendocino Area Council of BSA
entered
into a lease agreement at $1 per year for what became Camp Navarro.
The camp
operated every
year and remained just the way the loggers left it. In later years many
changes
became necessary. As our members grew so did the camp. The dining hall
became
larger and sleeping areas were made for campers. The camp remained
virtually
the same throughout the seventeen years of lease usage.
In the early
1970's Harold
Alexander, then Council Executive and the SMAC Executive Board, started
making
progress toward the donation of the property. On August 29, 1973, Camp
Navarro
became the property of the Boy Scouts of America and 50 acres of
Redwoods and
river frontage became known as Camp Masonite Navarro. Masonite was
added as a
means of showing appreciation for the gift.
