Camp Eagle Island

Camp Eagle Island Dining Hall viewed from the Main Lodge Ampersand Mountain, Upper Saranac Lake, from boathouse Eagle Island boathouse Camp Eagle Island, also known as Eagle Island Camp, is a resident summer camp located on Eagle Island in Upper Saranac Lake and now owned by the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, part of Girl Scouts of the USA.

The camp occupies buildings originally built in 1903 as a summer retreat for former United States Vice-President and New York State Governor Levi Morton and designed by noted architect William L. Coulter; it was built by contractors Trombley and Carrier. The mainland camp now known as Pine Brook was previously owned by Morton. Camp Eagle Island was included in a multiple property submission for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, was listed there in 1987, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 2004.¹ ²

Camp Eagle Island operated as a Girl Scout camp from 1938, when the Henry Graves, Jr. family of Orange, New Jersey, gave the island to the Maplewood-South Orange, New Jersey Girl Scout Council. In time that council became the Girl Scout Council of Greater Essex County, New Jersey which merged with a Hudson County council in the late 1990s. Further mergers in 2008-09 created Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, which now owns the property.

Camp Eagle Island offered sailing, canoeing, swimming, hiking, campcraft, and various crafts. The camp had many traditions, including the singing of particular songs and a sequence of evening activities during each two-week camp session that included staff introductions and a final night campfire and ice cream sundae party. ³

Camp Eagle Island did not open for the 2009 summer season, with the Girl Scout Council citing several safety issues with the camp that needed to be corrected. They announced that they hoped to reopen for the 2010 summer camp season, ⁴ but the camp did not reopen, and on October 11, 2010, the Council voted to sell the camp. ⁵ ⁶.

A Friends of Eagle Island group has formed to try to prevent the sale.

New York Times, June 24, 1906

FISHING AT SARANAC.

Special to The New York Times.
[...]
Eagle Island Camp, the beautiful new summer home of Levi P. Morton, has been leased by Mr. Monroe Smith of Philadelphia. Mrs. Smith is now in camp.

New York Times, July 17, 1910

SARANAC INN. Edwin Gould Guest of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Graves, Jr., at Their Camp.

Special to The New York Times.

SARANAC INN. N. Y., July 16.—

Edwin Gould, with his mother-in-law, Mrs. George F. Schrady, came up in a private car and spent the week-end as guests of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Graves, Jr., at Eagle Island camp. Mr. Graves met them at Saranac Inn and took them to camp in his new fifty-foot racer boat. Mr. Gould was delighted with Upper Saranac Lake, and inspected a nearby camp with the possibility of leasing it for the remainder of the season.

New York Times, July 9, 1911

Deer Get Their Luncheon by Poaching on Private Gardens.

Special to The New York Times.
WAWBEEK, N. Y. July 8—

Henry S. Graves. Jr., and the members of his house party at Eagle Island camp are favored this season by the visits of a large bald eagle, the first of its kind to visit Adirondack resorts in many years. Mr. Graves's island home received its name from the eagles who nested there years ago, when it was the property of Levi P. Morton. This summer's visitor has been seen by a number of the campers and passing water tourists, and is an unusually large fellow, with black body and wings and snow-white head. The bird has a nest in one of the tall dead pines on Eagle Island.

New York Times, August 30, 1937

BIG ESTATE IS GIVEN TO THE GIRL SCOUTS

Eagle Island in Saranac Lake Presented by Henry Graves to Oranges and Maplewood

WAS LEVI MORTON HOME

Value of Gift Is Estimated as High as $1,000,000—Facilities for Above 100 Campers'

Special to The New York Times.

ORANGE, N. J., Aug. 29.—Henry Graves, formerly identified with large cement interests, has made an outright gift to Girl Scouts in the Oranges and Maplewood of an improved twenty-acre island in the upper part of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks, it was disclosed today by Girl Scout leaders here. Estimates on the value of the gift range from $100,000 to $1,000,000,

Known as Eagle Island, the site, which several decades ago was the Summer home of the late Governor Levi P. Morton of New "York, was officially accepted by Mrs. William F. Campbell of South Orange and Mrs. Franklin Terry of Maplewood. The former represented the Girl Scouts Council of the Oranges and the latter Temple Wood Council.

Story Started Month Ago

The story behind acquisition of the island begins about a month ago, when a search was started for a new site to replace the present camp at White Lake, near Blairstown, N. J., used for the last five Summers by members of the Oranges and Maplewood Councils. Mrs. Archer Bachman of South Orange, chairman of the camp committee, and her husband, who is acquainted with Mr. Graves, learned Eagle Island might be for sale.

They later reported that the Saranac site could be bought for what was called "the astoundingly low figure of $20,000." Mr. Graves, who occupied the island for thirty years, ceased vacationing there last year. Negotiations were started after Mrs. Campbell and camp experts of both councils had visited the site. Plans were mapped for a drive to raise funds—and then came the surprise gift.

Recently representatives of national headquarters inspected the island to determine whether official approval should be given to its purchase. The approval was quickly forthcoming. Several days later leaders here were notified that Mr. Graves had decided to give the island and everything on it to the Girl Scouts in memory of his two deceased sons, Henry Graves 3d and George Coe Graves. Mr. Graves formerly lived in the Oranges.

Contains Large Lodge

About a half mile from shore the island contains one large Adirondacks lodge, fourteen small buildings of log-cabin style, picnic grounds and a tennis court.

There are, boats, canoes and a speed boat which is said to be worth more than $5,000. Bathing facilities include a shallow pool for beginners, a sand beach and a deep pool with a dock for swimmers.

Each building is fully equipped with electric lights and water and sanitary facilities. There are twenty-four large bedrooms, with a bath for every two or three rooms. It is estimated that accommodations are available to house easily more than 100 campers. Facilities at the present camp at White Lake have been taxed beyond capacity.

Interior of the Main Lodge