HISTORY

KEEP is the latest chapter in a long story of our community’s dedication to saving Camp Kilworth. For over 80 years, the picturesque camp property overlooking Puget Sound was a boy scout camp that hosted a variety of camps and community events. Generations of youth from Federal Way and Tacoma learned outdoor and nature skills in the camp’s forest and 1935 Rotary Lodge.

Since its first attempt to be sold in 2001, local residents and scout families have sought to maintain the property as a camp and natural open space for the community and coastal wildlife. When the boy scouts relinquished the property to the Kilworth Foundations in 2016, a renewed effort began to save the camp for future generations and expand its vision to serve our diverse community. From this effort, KEEP was formed in 2020 to engage stakeholders and raise support for the camp’s future and the preservation of its historic buildings.

KEEP is grateful to Forterra for their leadership and steadfast commitment to save Camp Kilworth. We are thrilled to welcome the YMCA of Greater Seattle to the neighborhood and see the camp filled with the sound of children’s laughter again.

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We encourage you to explore the history of the camp and the community’s preservation efforts in the timeline below and sign up for our newsletter for more information on Camp’s history. As a community space, the camp’s history lives in the experiences of many in our community. If you have a cherished memory of this space you’d like to add to our collection, please submit your story below.

We would like to acknowledge the Historical Society of Federal Way, The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, and 4Culture for recognizing the value of this future historic landmark and supporting our collective efforts to save it through grants and guidance.

THE STORY OF CAMP KILWORTH & beyond...

Camp Kilworth Legacy

Camp Kilworth is a 29.33 acre space of historic structures and coastal forest with a trail system that connects the activity spaces and the natural habitat.

The property is second growth forest with an abundance of native plants, including salal, thimble berry, salmon berry, Indian plum or osoberry, both evergreen and red huckleberries and a variety of ferns. The forest itself is primarily composed of western hemlock, red alder, large-leaf maple, some Douglas fir, with a few yew and madrona trees. Most of the western red cedar was logged off before the site became Camp Kilworth for the Boy Scouts of America.

Structures were gradually built over the eighty-two years the property served as a camp for the Boy Scout of America, Tacoma Area Council of Scouts. Through the efforts of Tacoma Rotary #8, plus other community organizations and businesses, the camp was designed and constructed starting in 1935. Early features included the log style Rotary Lodge and Amphitheater on a bluff above the Puget Sound.

Over the more than eight decades that Camp Kilworth was in operation, thousands of young men learned life and self sufficiency skills presented by the Boy Scouts of America. The camp not only served young Cub and Boy Scouts, it was well used by the Girl Scouts, YMCA, Veterans and local church organizations that held summer camps and other programs at Camp Kilworth. Many public meetings were also held at the Rotary Lodge. It served the community and its youth well over the ensuing years.

The importance of Camp Kilworth goes far beyond its use as a camp for the Boy Scouts of America. It is a place where youth groups, Veterans, community groups and citizens gathered to learn, have fun and relax in Camp Kilworth’s natural beauty.

Camp Kilworth, Established 1934

Located on the shoreline of Puget Sound in what is now the City of Federal Way in South West King County, Camp Kilworth was initially developed for the Boy Scouts of America Troops of Tacoma, which included Browns Point/Dash Point. Camp Kilworth is locally significant based upon it being the only Boy Scouts of America camp located in King County, WA.

From 1934 until 2016, it was one of five camps operated by the Pacific Harbors Council of Tacoma, BSA National. It’s close proximity to Tacoma, both north Pierce and south King counties meant that it was a prime location for Cub Scout Day Camps, weekend over-night camping, to attend meetings, earn merit badges, or participate in award ceremonies and adult training programs. It was built and sustained by sponsorships, donations and contributions of local businessmen, community and service clubs. Camp Kilworth represents how community organizations work together to accomplish cultural values and create communal spaces to pass on to future generations.

BSA grew to be one of the largest youth organizations in the United States. It’s estimated over 110 million Americans participated in Boy Scouts of America at some time in their life.
At its inception, the Boy Scouts of America movement gained momentum across the nation and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

In 1911, when Seattle formed their Council, BSA in Tacoma had eight troops organized In 1921-1922. Rotary #8 worked with the American Legion to procure tents and equipment from Camp Lewis to establish four 2-week camps for boys at Camp Dover on American Lake.
By the next year, a camp was established at Spanaway Lake where Rotary #8 built them a lodge. Assisted by Kiwanis Clubs they built eight cabins within the next two years. By 1924, Tacoma formed its own Council District. The camp was lost in 1930, when the Metropolitan Parks District ruled that their property could not be occupied by an outside agency.
By 1934, W.W. Kilworth deeded acreage on the Puget Sound to the Tacoma area BSA for a permanent camp, Camp Kilworth.

Property Ownership History

The land that Camp Kilworth sits on first belonged to the Coast Salish People of Puget Sound, specifically the Puyallup Nation, who stewarded the land in our region since time immemorial and still live here today.

The first settler claim on the land that we could find was by William Ollard who owned and logged the land from 1907-1930. Remnants of the logging legacy can still be found in the Camp as cedar stumps with spring board notches in them. William Ollard then sold the acreage to Dr. Frank and Minnie Killgore of Puyallup who only retained the property for a few years before selling it to William W. Kilworth & Augusta L. Kilworth on February 27, 1934. The next day, the Kilworths deeded the property over to the Tacoma Area Council of Boy Scouts of America.

Tacoma area Boy Scouts of America used the property for 80 years until the Pacific Harbor Council sought to sell it. However, they were not allowed to profit through leasing the property or permitted to sell the land or any part thereof. A deed restriction required that the property would go back to the Kilworth Foundations if BSA found they had no need of it. Eventually the Kilworth Foundations obtained ownership of the property and chose to sell the property.

William Kilworth

In 1934, Businessmen William W. Kilworth gave the land for this camp to the BSA Council of Tacoma for the purpose of teaching Scout crafts, cooperation, patriotism, courage, self reliance and kindred virtues among boys. Service clubs such as Rotary #8 then developed the camp plan and built the lodge.

William Washington Kilworth was born in Kansas in 1881 and died in Tacoma in 1964. His Father died when he was young so he worked as a paper carrier for the Emporia Gazette. The Editor, William Allen White, took notice of him and became his mentor. He encouraged him to get a good education. After graduating from Princeton, William Kilworth bought a train ticket for Seattle where he initially made money in real estate. He later became a prominent businessman in Tacoma where he started the Washington Handle Company, making broom handles. He got the idea after watching the amount of waste created in the lumber industry. He offered the mills a minimal amount for the rounded slabs considered waste. At its peak his company created 75% of the broom handles produced in the USA. He never forgot the encouragement he received from Mr. White and it engendered “a life-long desire to help others, especially boys through the Boy Scout movement.”

Story

ADD YOUR STORY!

We look forward to adding your story to the growing history of this cherished place. Please submit your story here...

HISTORY

THE KEEP STORY,
& more...

THE STORY OF CAMP KILWORTH & beyond...

ADD YOUR STORY!

We look forward to adding your story to the growing history of this cherished place. Please submit your story here...

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HISTORY

THE KEEP STORY, & more...

THE STORY OF CAMP KILWORTH & beyond...

ADD YOUR STORY! We look forward to adding your story to the growing history of this cherished place. Please submit your story here...

PRESERVATION PARTNERS

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

THE KEEP STORY,
& more...

ADD YOUR STORY!

We look forward to adding your story to the growing history of this cherished place. Please submit your story here...