Camp Good Luck, believed to be the world’s first 4-H club encampment, was held at Elkwater in southern Randolph County July 29-31, 1915. The camp was organized by Randolph County’s agricultural extension agent, J. Versus Shipman. About 20 boys and girls camped for three days, sleeping in Jackson Crouch’s barn and cooking outside over an open fire. Each camper brought a tin plate and cup, silverware, an empty mattress tick and blankets, toiletries, potatoes, vegetables, bacon, and a live chicken for the pot. Local farmers provided milk. Highlights included killing a big rattlesnake upon arrival, fishing and swimming in the nearby Tygart Valley River, playing games, telling stories and singing around the campfire, and learning about agriculture and home economics. A monument on Becky’s Creek Road off of U.S. 219 south of Huttonsville marks the site of Camp Good Luck.
This Article was written by Bruce Betler
Last Revised on June 12, 2021
Sources
Stewart, Guy H. A Touch of Charisma: A History of the 4-H Club Program in West Virginia. Morgantown: 1969.
Wegman, Werner. History of the First 4-H Camp in the World. Magazine of History and Biography, (September 1942).
Cite This Article
Betler, Bruce "Camp Good Luck." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 12 June 2021. Web. 02 June 2023.
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