There wasn’t anything special about Hawthorne’s Youth Camp when it was completed. It had cabins, a mess hall and recreation areas like most other camps. In fact, somewhere in the United States, you could probably find a few bigger and better camps, though It might have been said that the Hawthorne Youth Camp was considered above average when compared to other facilities in the state.
There is one thing that made the Youth Camp stand above all others in the state (its name actually indicated the difference). Hawthorne Youth Camp was truly a community project.
From the beginning, it had been a project for which residents of Hawthorne had contributed their time, money and physical effort to make the camp “a dream come true.” It was their contribution to the future of their community.
Though the camp was less than half completed, those working on the project had set up standards which other communities and groups would have found difficult to surpass.
The camp idea originated after the completion of the Hawthorne Youth Center, Club Gunga Din. At that time, Hal Chauncey, director of the Center, and Loren Barton – assisted by several of the club members, instituted a program to provide a mountain campsite for the community. With the help of City Manager Carl Wirsching, the group learned that a site had become available in the Angeles National Forest. Another agency had secured the site and then had returned it to the US Forest Service because they lacked funds for development.
Our community leaders quickly obtained a special use permit for the site from the Forest Service in the name of the Hawthorne School District and Club Gunga Din
The first attempt to develop the site failed. This failure did not result from a lack of enthusiasm, for when the permit was obtained, the group immediately began to think about how they would set up the camp. The Hawthorne Rotary and Kiwanis clubs joined in the effort by dismantling a surplus building at the Washington School campus with the intent to deliver the materials to the campsite for reconstruction. When the plan was deemed inadvisable, the salvage lumber was sold and the proceeds were used later to install a water line into the camp and to reimburse another group for grading the access road.
Interest in the project waned as a result of some unforeseen developments. First, Hal Chauncey resigned his post at Club Gunga Din to accept a position as coach of Hawthorne High School. Then, several of the people spearheading the drive for the camp had to deal with personal- or business problems and were unable to support the project as much as they had before.
In February 1954, the Hawthorne Coordination Council adopted the development of a youth camp as one of its projects. Mayor Victor Zaccaglin and members of the City Council asked the Coordination Council to study the possibility of providing a camping facility in the mountains. The Coordination Council appointed a committee with instructions to obtain information about the existing project. Serving
on the committee were David Archibald, Ray Beck, Bob Burris, Glen Bye, Walter Crane, Dempsey Du Toit, Hal Eide, Bob Hartzell, Dave Rice, Reese Walton, Victor Zaccaglin, Vincent Ziegenbein, and Meno L. Wilhelms, chairman.
The report submitted to the City by this committee on July 22, 1954 was one of the most complete documents on a recreation program ever produced by any group. This report served as a guide for the development of the campsite after the City Council received and adopted it. In effect, the campsite committee report became the master plan for the development of the Hawthorne Youth Camp.
In the report, the committee pointed out that, “the campsite is located on the north slope of the San Gabriel Mountains, southeast of Valyermo at Jackson Lake. It is approximately one-half mile north of Pearblossom Road, directly across from Jackson Lake and approximately four miles northwest of Big Pines. Access to the campsite may be gained either through Pomona, Upland, the Devore cut-off, up Highway 59 to the Big Pines turn, or up Sepulveda Boulevard, which is Highway 6 through Little Rock and Valyermo to the campsite. Both routes are approximately 100 miles from the City of Hawthorne. The general area is known as the Big Pines recreational area.
Jackson Lake shown at the left of the entrance to the camp. Plotting the area where the mess hall will be constructed.
