Camp Raven Knob

The official camp of the Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Camp Raven Knob

Camp Raven Knob is located about 50 miles Northwest of Winston-Salem, NC, and 15 miles West of Mount Airy, NC the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It has been in continuous operation since 1954.

Camp Raven Knob location on Google Maps 

Until the 1800s, the area now known as Raven Knob was largely uninhabited. In previous centuries, Saura Indians hunted the area from their camp, about fifteen miles east in the Lovell Creek area of Mount Airy. In the 1800s, settlers began arriving in the area.

The town of Mount Airy was founded in 1876. The road to Galax, Virginia was constructed up through the valleys and trails of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The road passed through a gap, later known as Low Gap. Settlers soon found the Endicott Creek Valley as a good place to call home. 

A large rock outcropping on the side of the mountain served as the perch for various hawks, buzzards, crows, and ravens that soared the skies looking for prey. The local residents started referring to this area as “Buzzard Rock.”

Life in the valley continued along for the next thirty years without much change but then families in the area gradually moved away. In 1937, the front part of the valley was purchased by B. F. Huntley of Winston-Salem; he wanted the land and a cabin for a family retreat. He was president of B & O Furniture Company. 

Huntley built a concrete dam built on Little Endicott Creek in hopes of developing the property but with the outbreak of World War II, he decided to sell the property and moved out of the valley. In 1946, after the war ended, Herman Coe and his partner Sherman Simpson of Dobson, NC wanted to start a “Blue Collar Country Club,” so they purchased the property. As part of their marketed strategy, they  thought it would be difficult to market the name  “Buzzard Rock” so they chose the name “Raven Knob.” 

Stock was offered and prospective landowners picked out their building sites. A dining room was built on the right side of the road below the small lake that had an outdoor bowling alley in front of it.  A new ten-acre lake with a beach and bathhouse was built using an earthen dam at the point of the now-enlarged Lake Sabotta. Seeing his plans come together Mr. Coe started selling homesites. Two matching cabins were built that are still used today as staff cabins. A  home on the hill across from the dining room is known as the executive cabin. Further up the hill, a  mall frame house was built that was known as the “White House.” it was razed in 1975. 

There was not an overwhelming response to Raven Knob, so Huntley decided to open the park to the public. People from all around the area and beyond started flocking into Raven Knob. Frequently bands played after dinner with the tables pushed back and the rugs rolled to allow dancing. On one such evening, when the band was playing, two men got into an argument over a woman that resulted in one of the men being shot in the dining room. 

During this time, the Hickory Council was operating Camp Lasater in Walkertowne, NC. About 1951, the Scouts began the search for a larger piece of property. They reached an agreement with Elizabeth Dillard Reynolds about a portion of her Devotion property located west of Raven Knob on the Mitchell River. In 1953 there was a concerted effort to develop Camp Devotion on the property. While everything seemed to be coming together there were conflicts with the Reynolds family as to exactly how to go about the development, and while the Council had use of the land it did not have title to it. Thus the full-scale development never really took off. 

At about this time, the Scouts were trying to organize a Council Camporee. The Scouts approached Herman Coe about using Raven Knob for this event. Coe finally agreed and the Liberty Bell Camporee was held at Raven Knob Park in the spring of 1954. During the Camporee there was a great thunderstorm that sent torrents of rain through Raven Knob. When he saw Scouts building check dams and filling sandbags to help preserve and conserve his property, he was impressed.  In the weeks that followed, Coe offered to sell Raven Knob to the Old Hickory Council. A contingent of Scouters worked diligently to raise the funds to purchase the property and with the funds raised the initial purchase was made in 1954. 

Robert Vaughn was an attorney with the Petree Stockton legal firm in Winston-Salem and he was associated with Troop 20. While working to collect the monies to purchase Raven Knob, he realized that in time of council mergers and camp closings the fact that a property the size of Raven Knob Park was becoming increasingly difficult to manage within the boundaries of the Old Hickory Council so he wanted to ensure it would be available to the youth of the area for decades. So when the deeds were being prepared for the purchase he entrusted the actual ownership of Raven Knob to the Winston-Salem Foundation in case the Old Hickory Council or even the Boy Scouts of America went defunct. The use of the property was titled to the Old Hickory Council for as long as Scouting existed in northwest North Carolina. In an era In an era of council mergers and camp closings, the fact that Raven Knob can’t be sold by any means has provided solace to local Scouters. In the late 1950s, the Raven Knob chapel was completed and was dedicated to Robert Chandler Vaughn in honor of his commitment to the scouting program. 

Raven Knob was open to scouts on June 1, 1954. A Summer Camp was held there that summer. While not a sanctioned event, it was the first long-term encampment on the property. During the years 1954 through 1959, Raven Knob was transformed into a scout camp. 

Many people were influential in making Raven Knob what it is today. To read a detailed history of the making of Raven Knob use this link. 

While the 1950s were the formative years for Raven Knob, the 1960s, and 1970s were the golden years. It was during this time that traditions began and legends were made. Traditions are what helped to keep Raven Knob entrenched in the minds of Scouts both past and present. One of the most memorable activities has always been the hike to Raven Knob and the view of the surrounding wilderness areas of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

In 1973, Raven Knob became racially desegregated and Claude Davis became the first black staff member.

Another memorable place is the Lake where so many events took place. When the camp was being built, a big project was the construction of a large lake. Other than clearing the trees from the site, the largest and most expensive part of the project was building the dam. John Sobotta, a longtime Scouter from the Mt. Airy area, provided funding to build the dam for the new lake so it was named Lake Sobotta in his honor.  The dock at the waterfront was designed to look like an “F” but when the dock was ordered the “T” design was chosen to allow for a larger swimming area. Lots of activities took place at the lake such as boating, canoeing fishing, swimming, pageants, ceremonies, etc. Sobotta Lake is still creating memories of being a great swimmin’ hole.

I camped as a Boy Scout at Camp Raven Knob in the 1950s. My last memory was in 1969 as an adult when I was there for a Judo Camp. Training took place under a large covered pavilion where we trained with visiting judo masters. I was a color belt then and got my butt kicked by a Japanese national champion.