The early history of youth summer camps on Lake Tarleton is a bit murky; some sources say the first camp opened in 1909, while others say 1916; prior to being Kingswood, the camp was Camp Serrana and Camp Naidni (“Indian” backwards), but we don’t know exactly when those names were used and changed.

But we do know that Bob and Ruth Smith were the directors of Kingswood from 1946 – 1979, and that they ran a wonderful camp. Many years ago a Bob Smith era alum was going through their old papers, stumbled across an old Kingswood brochure, and sent it to us. What a gift! 25 pages of pictures and descriptions of camp program and philosophy!

The Program

The typical day at Kingswood hasn’t changed too much over the years. While the timing and lengths of activities are slightly different than today, the general structure of the camp day has remained intact. And there is no doubt that touch or flag football remains a popular after dinner activity!

Times change, and so do the activities that are in vogue. While we still offer most of these activities, there are some we do not (such as judo and boxing). Or course, we’ve added many new offerings (and have even more new activities we are researching!)

The list of special trips and activities is also really interesting! Look at some of the special events that occurred in the Smith Era:

But the truth is, the Kingswood Camp experience has, more or less, remained the same since the Smith era. Below are pictures that will look very familiar to anyone who has ever been a camper at Kingswood, from 1946 – 2022: