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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
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.
Written by Bruce Betler
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).