Treasure Island Scout Camp
Located near Philadelphia
Cradle of Liberty Council

Treasure Island has a rather interesting history. It was originally privately owned by a scoutmaster named Oscar G. Worman who used it for his troop. Philadelphia Council leased the island from him for six years starting in 1913 and also held their first summer camp there in 1913. The council bought the island at the end of the lease in 1919. It was originally called Ridges Island. A council committee was inspecting the 50 acre island in 1913 when one member remarked that the scenic island truly was a "Treasure" and his comment was seized upon immediately as the name for the new camp. Treasure Island Scout Reservation is made up of two separate islands with the other being Marshall Island. What is interesting about this is that Treasure Island is part of New Jersey and Marshall Island is part of Pennsylvania. When they put up a suspension bridge to connect the two islands it was deemed an interstate bridge and required special permission. While their website says Treasure Island is the oldest continuous scout camp in the country, it isn't older than Owasippe which dates back to 1911 (or 1912, take your pick) and with a 1913 established date Treasure Island is tied with Camp Teetonkah as the nation's second oldest camp. Unless you want to disqualify Owasippe since they no longer own the original acreage they started on. According to one Philadelphia Scouter this is apparently the reasoning behind the claim on the Philadelphia website. Even if you subscribe to that line of thought, Treasure Island would still be tied with Teetonkah as the oldest two. Treasure Island had felt patches going back into the teens.