GULF RIDGE COUNCIL, 1938 to 2016 (Tampa) |
Last updated 3/15/26
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merged with WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA COUNCIL 2016, now GREATER TAMPA BAY AREA COUNCIL |
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formerly TAMPA BAY AREA COUNCIL 1925 to 1938 (TAMPA)
merged with FLAMING ARROW COUNCIL, 1932 to 1938 (LAKELAND)
formerly LAKELAND COUNCIL 1926 to 1931 (LAKELAND)
merged with RIDGE AREA COUNCIL 1926 to 1928 (LAKE WALES)
formerly POLK COUNTY COUNCIL 1925 to 1926 (LAKELAND)
formerly SOUTH FLORIDA AREA COUNCIL 1923 to 1925 (LAKELAND)
formerly LAKELAND COUNCIL 1919 to 1923 (LAKELAND)
merged with parts of GULF-HILLS COUNCIL 1927 to 1930 (DADE CITY)
formerly HILLSBOROUGH COUNCIL, 1922 to 1925 (TAMPA)
formerly TAMPA BAY COUNCIL 1919 to 1922 (TAMPA)
merged with FLAMING ARROW COUNCIL, 1932 to 1938 (LAKELAND)
formerly LAKELAND COUNCIL 1926 to 1931 (LAKELAND)
merged with RIDGE AREA COUNCIL 1926 to 1928 (LAKE WALES)
formerly POLK COUNTY COUNCIL 1925 to 1926 (LAKELAND)
formerly SOUTH FLORIDA AREA COUNCIL 1923 to 1925 (LAKELAND)
formerly LAKELAND COUNCIL 1919 to 1923 (LAKELAND)
merged with parts of GULF-HILLS COUNCIL 1927 to 1930 (DADE CITY)
formerly HILLSBOROUGH COUNCIL, 1922 to 1925 (TAMPA)
formerly TAMPA BAY COUNCIL 1919 to 1922 (TAMPA)
KNOWN CAMPS, PROPERTIES, AND CAMP PROGRAM NAMES
CAMP BIZE 1921 to 1925 (Tampa Bay Area Council)
The original long term camp for Scouts from Hillsborough County was Camp Bize, located on Lake Brorein (now called Lake Carroll), in the Carrolltown area of Tampa. This property was obtained by the Hillsborough Council in 1921 for $15,000, from the Tampa Rotary Club. Scouts from both of the councils in Tampa and St. Petersburg were using the camp for multiple ten-day sessions in the summers of 1921, 1922, and 1923, as well as weekend events, training, and meetings. in 1924, Pinellas Council moved their summer camp programs to a nearby YMCA camp. In September 1924, the Hillsborough County Council announced a new property was being purchased by citizens on behalf of the council, an 80-acre tract in the Keystone Lake section of the county, "on the western banks of the smaller lake in one of the most beautiful live oak hammocks in the county". On March 15, 1925, the last Boy Scout event was held at Camp Bize.
CAMP RAINBOW/ CAMP OWEN BROREIN (Tampa Bay Area Council, Gulf Ridge Council) 1924 to present
Camp Owen Brorein is an 80 acre facility located near Odessa, northwest of Tampa. The camp was obtained by the council in 1924, and was originally named Camp Rainbow. The name was changed in 1927, to honor an assistant Scoutmaster that died in an accident at the camp that year. Prior to Tampa Bay Area Council's merger with Flaming Arrow Council (Lakeland), Brorein was one of two camping facilities, along with "Twin Islands", near Inverness. After the 1938 merger that became Gulf Ridge Council, long-term camping was held during the summer between Brorein and the Camp Flaming Arrow program site. Today, Brorein in used by Greater Tampa Bay Area Council for weekend camping and training.
CAMP FLAMING ARROW 1939 to 1940s |
Camp Flaming Arrow was the name of the summer camp program in the Lakeland area, since 1920. Gulf Ridge Council operated the camp program at Lake Juliana, outside Auburndale, in concurrence with weeks at Camp Owen Brorein into the 1940s. In 1943, the site was used by Scouts from Sunny Land Council, as their camp (Camp Flying Eagle) was closed due to contaminated water. No records have been found since the mid-1940s regarding Camp Flaming Arrow as a long-term camp program.
FLAMING ARROW SCOUT RESERVATION 1960 to present
Flaming Arrow Sout Reservation is a council-owned property, located approximately ten miles east of Lake Wales. The property was obtained by Gulf Ridge Council in 1960, and opened for its first summer camp season in 1965. There are two named camp areas on the reservation, around two of the three lakes on the property: Camp Hampton, and Camp George W Jenkins.
CAMP ALAFIA 1973 to present
Camp Alafia is a council-owned camp property, located near the town of Lithia. Best suited for high adventure and primitive camping activities, over 500 acres, with hiking trails, fishing and boating activities, but has no buildings, bathrooms, or potable water.
McGREGOR SMITH SCOUT RESERVATION late 2000s to 2012 |
McGregor-Smith Scout Reservation was originally a 6,000 acre camp property near the town of Inverness, in Citrus County. The camp was created by South Florida Council in the early 1970s, The property was sold in 2004 to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD, also called "Swift Mud"). SWFWMD, in turn, leased the camp to Gulf Ridge Council for a few years. By 2012, the camp was closed, and the tract is now managed by SWFWMD as the Flying Eagle Preserve.
TWIN ISLANDS/ TWIN LAKES (Tampa Bay Area Council, Gulf-Hills Council) 1926
"Twin Islands" appears in newspapers from the 1920s as a Tampa Bay Council camp near Inverness, on Lake Tsala Apopka, a chain of lakes on a bend of the Withlacoochee River. The acquisition of the property was announced in May 1926 as a second camp for the council. In February 1927, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter, and eastern Hillsborough counties broke away from Tampa Bay Council, to form Gulf-Hills Council, based in Dade City. Newspaper articles from 1927 indicated that Tampa Bay was going to use "Twin Islands", while Gulf-Hills were going to "Twin Lakes", both near Inverness. Camp programs in 1927 and 1928 were run in Inverness and at Lake Pasadena, near Dade City.