Camp Lewallen
Camp History
Dating back to 1936, check out all of the changes and improvements that made Camp Lewallen what it is today!
Camp Lewallen dedication Program
On January 3, 1935, the Camp Committee of the Southeast Missouri Area Council voted to buy approximately 35 acres of land from Mr. L.L. Lewallen and family for a campsite. This land is located on the St. Francis River at the foot of Mount Logan, two miles West of Highway 67, two miles East of Sam A. Baker State Park and a few miles from Wappapello Lake.
In the Summer and Fall of 1935 the State Highway Commission and Wayne County constructed a county road into the camp.
On January 18, 1936, Mr. Fred Lewallen, Superintendent of Schools of Chaffee, and Mr. and Mrs. T.A. Ward of Poplar Bluff, donated to the Council 228 acres of land adjoining the 35-acre campsite, making a total acreage of 263 acres. This fine donation gave the Council a splendid wooded camp containing one-half of Mount Logan, two fine springs, and one-quarter of a mile of water front along the St. Francis River.
In June 1938, seven stone and concrete tent bases and a hospital were constructed.
In the Fall of 1939 a dining lodge, shower house and camp oven were constructed, and a fine water system installed.
Old Wayne: A Brit's Memoir
The scenic 580-acre Boy Scout Camp Lewallen near Silva, which opened in 1936, was built on land formerly owened by the family of Minnie Ward's brother, William Lee Lewallen (1891-1918). Accoring to a published account, Lewallen's widow, Essa Vina (Whitener) Lewallen (1890-1947), wanted an adequate road built to their farm; and she came to believe the easiest way to accomplish her purpose was to open a Boy Scout camp there. It originally was part of the Southeastern Missouri Council,but the Greater Saint Louis Area Council took over operation of the property and its programs in 1993. Tens of tousands of scouts from Missouri have enjoyed the use of its facilities over the years.