Sunset Camp (1921-1924)

Year(s) Operated: 1921-1924
Location: Pleasant View, VA

Desiring a somewhat less remote (than Piney River Camp) location for the 1921 season, Lynchburg Council leadership settled on a site near Pleasant View in Amherst County. The camp, which had a “splendid view of the mountainous country on all sides,” was situated on a ridge on the west side of the Pedlar River, which provided three swimming holes for the Scouts. Typical for Scout camps of the day, Sunset Camp was “laid out and policed with all the neatness and precision of a military encampment.” Nine pyramidal military surplus tents formed a neat line along the crest of the ridge. Nearby was the mess complex, which consisted of a screened dining tent and a rustic frame kitchen shack likely transported from the previous year’s camp on the Piney River.

Sunset Camp began operations on June 27, 1921 with approximately thirty boys attending in the first week. While Sunset was twice as close to Lynchburg as the Piney River Camp, reaching the facility was still a multimodal affair. Scouts traveled twenty-two miles by bus from Lynchburg to Pleasant View, and then proceeded on foot approximately one mile to the camp, crossing a suspension bridge that spanned the Pedlar River. In addition to swimming and baseball, the boys enjoyed games of volleyball and quoits along with lengthy hikes to destinations including the Pedlar Reservoir and Mount Pleasant. Scouts even performed shows and participated in the church choir in the nearby hamlet of Pleasant View. Camp staff included Assistant Camp Directors Major Sam Williams and Lieutenant Walter Menefee, Activities Director Phillip Lightfoot Scruggs, and Commissary Manager Clifton Himmelsbach (son of Camp Director A. J. Himmelsbach).

By the summer of 1923, several hundred boys were attending the camp across several weeks, and meals were one of the many highlights of camp. Cooks for the camp included, at various times, Beauregard West, George Inroy, William Tinsley, and Charles Chambers. Inroy’s specialties included a “blackberry roll” made of berries collected from the area along with “founder’s pudding” of unknown composition. A typical Sunday supper consisted of broiled chicken, three vegetables, hot bread, tea and milk, and custard (all prepared in the kitchen shack from locally-sourced ingredients). Ice cream from Lynchburg was occasionally delivered by various benefactors including the Rotary Club.

1924 marked the final season for Sunset Camp, as the council desired to establish a more permanent summer camp facility.