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Scouting in Massachusetts has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

Early history (1910-1950)

Recent history (1950-1990)

Scouting in Massachusetts today

There are presently ten Boy Scouts of America local councils in Massachusetts.

Annawon Council

The Annawon Council, Boy Scouts of America is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America headquartered in Norton, Massachusetts. It is one of the few small councils remaining in the area. It is responsible for administrating the Boy Scout programs in its geographic region.

Troops

  • Angle Tree District
  • Sachem District

Boston Minuteman Council

The Council serves the greater Boston area. Please see our website at *
  • Flintlock District
  • Sons of Liberty District
  • Sea Walk District
  • Great Blue Hill District
  • ScoutReach District
  • Learning for Life

Cape Cod and the Islands Council

  • Lower Cape District
  • Martha's Vineyard District
  • Nantucket District
  • Upper Cape District

Great Trails Council

The Great Trails Council serves Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Hampshire County, Massachusetts and Franklin County, Massachusetts in the western part of the state. See also: Great Trails Council website.

  • Appalachian Trail District
  • Metacomet District

Knox Trail Council

  • Liberty District
  • Tri-River District
  • Viking District

Mohegan Council

Narragansett Council

Cachalot District
The Cachalot District is a subdivision of the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

=History
= Cachalot Council existed until 1972. It was headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts and served that city and the surrounding communities. Smaller councils began to be consolidated, which led to Cachalot Council merging with the Massasoit Council (see Massasoit District) to form the Moby Dick Council. In this new council, the two former councils became districts. Moby Dick Council maintained the Cachalot Council's office in New Bedford. Massasoit's Camp Noquochoke was sold, and Cachalot's Camp Cachalot remained with the new council.

Cachalot Council's Agawam Lodge 509, Order of the Arrow, merged with Massasoit's Noquochoke Lodge 124 and became Neemat Lodge 124.

In 2001, another merger was announced. Moby Dick Council, which by contemporary standards at its inception was of decent size, had become archaic. It was considered in their best interest to dissolve and merge with another council, and they did so, merging with Rhode Island's Narragansett Council. The new council, which kept the Narragansett name, kept the Massasoit and Cachalot district designations, and also continues to operate Camp Cachalot.

=Packs
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=Troops
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=Crews
=

Massasoit District

The Massasoit District is a subdivision of the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

=History
= The Fall River Council rechartered as the Massasoit Council. It was headquartered in Fall River, Massachusetts and served that city and the surrounding communities of Somerset, Swansea, Westport, Tiverton and Little Compton. The Wampanoag District served Somerset and Swansea, Massachusetts. The Council Office was located in the Women's Union Building on Rock Street. The Massasoit Council existed until 1972.

The primary source for Boy Scout uniforms and gear was McWhirr's department store on South Main St in Fall River. Many Council-wide Scouting events were often held at Lincoln Park in Westport, Massachusetts (see Lincoln Park (Massachusetts)). The Firestone Rubber Company, which had a large factory in Fall River, sponsored the Firestone Award for outstanding Boy Scouts in the Massasoit Council in the 1950s and 1960s. These recognition events were held at White's in Westport, Massachusetts.

Camping for the Fall River Council began in 1917 at Camp Stanford in Fall River and provided an outlet for boys for four years. It was decided in 1921 at a Fall River Council Executive Board meeting that the purchase of a 100 acre wooded area would take place, naming it Camp Noquochoke. Camp_Noquochoke_Round_small.png Additional acreage was purchased in Camp Noquochoke’s later years covering over 110 acres on the eastern shore of the Westport River in Westport, MA. Camp site facilities ranged from undeveloped, to tent sites with platforms, to A-frames ("Adirondacks") to cabins with stoves and bunk beds. The physical facilities were significantly improved in the late 1950s with a new dining hall (constructed by the Navy Seabees) and an in-ground pool. Camp legend, the basis for many campfire stories, was a character named "Three-fingered Willie". Camp Noquochoke continued to serve area youth until 1980.

Smaller councils began to be consolidated, which led to Massasoit Council merging with the Cachalot Council (see Cachalot District) to form the Moby Dick Council. In this new council, the two former councils became districts. Moby Dick Council maintained the Cachalot Council's office in New Bedford. Massasoit's Camp Noquochoke was sold, and Cachalot's Camp Cachalot remained with the new council.

Massasoit Council's Noquochoke Lodge 124 of the Order of the Arrow merged with Cachalot Council's Agawam Lodge 509 to form Neemat Lodge 124.

In 2001, another merger was announced. Moby Dick Council, which by contemporary standards at its inception was of decent size, had become archaic. It was considered in their best interest to dissolve and merge with another council, and they did so, merging with Rhode Island's Narragansett Council. The new council, which kept the Narragansett name, kept the Massasoit and Cachalot district designations, and also continues to operate Camp Cachalot.

=Packs
=

=Troops
=

=Crews
=

  • Quequatuck District
  • Shawomet District
  • Skeleton Valley District
  • Thundermist District

Moby Dick Council #245 was a Council of the Boy Scouts of America from 1972 to 2001.

Formation

The Moby Dick Council (also known as Moby Dick Council of Massachusetts and Rhode Island) was formed in 1972 by a merger of the Cachalot Council of Greater New Bedford and the Massasoit Council of Greater Fall River. The two former councils were small, and fell victim to the BSA's desire to create larger councils. In 2001, Moby Dick Council suffered a similar fate, and merged with the Narragansett Council of Rhode Island, much to the chagrin of many old-timers of both the smaller councils and the larger Moby Dick Council.

Camps

Moby Dick Council originally had two camps: Camp Cachalot was the camp for Cachalot Council, and Camp Noquochoke was the camp for Massasoit Council. Camp Noquochoke was sold due to its smaller size and fewer prospects, and later became a residential neighborhood. Camp Cachalot still remains as a weekend and summer resident camp owned and operated by the Narragansett Council.

Order of the Arrow

Moby Dick's OA Lodge was Neemat Lodge #124, which was formed by a combination of Agawam Lodge #509 and Noquochoke Lodge #124 in 1972. Neemat Lodge and Wincheck Lodge #524 merged in 2001 to form Abnaki Lodge.

Nashua Valley Council

Nashua Valley Council was first organized in 1965 as a result of the merger between the former Wachusett Area Council (Leominster, Massachusetts) and Fitchburg Area Council (Fitchburg, Massachusetts). The Council was further enlarged in 1993 when it was consolidated with the former Monadnock Area Council (Gardner, Massachusetts).

  • Massassoit District
Serves the towns of Acton, Ashby, Ayer, Boxbourgh, Clinton, Fitchburg, Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, Littleton, Lunenburg, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend.

  • Wachusett District
Serves the towns Ashburnham, Athol, Baldwinville, Barre, Gardner, Leomister, Orange, Phillipston, Princeton, Royalston, Sterling, Templeton, Westminster, Winchendon.

The website is http://nashuavalleybsa.org

Old Colony Council

Old Colony Council #249, BSA, is a council of the Boy Scouts of America based at Canton, Massachusetts. Until recently, Old Colony Council owned two camps: Camp Child and Camp Squanto. Currently, the sole camp of the council is Camp Squanto.

Old Colony Council serves the following cities and towns in Massachusetts: Abington; Avon; Braintree; Bellingham; Bridgewater; Brockton; Canton; Cohasset; East Bridgewater; Easton; Foxboro; Franklin; Hanover; Hingham; Holbrook; Hull; Kingston; Marshfield; Medfield; Medway; Millis; Norfolk; Norwood; Plainville; Pembroke; Plymouth; Randolph; Rockland; Sharon; Stoughton; Walpole; West Bridgewater; Weymouth; Whitman; and Wrentham.

Districts
Old Colony Council is split into the following districts:
  • Cranberry Harbors District
  • Great Ponds District
  • Seven Rivers District
  • Squanto District

Order of the Arrow
Old Colony's Order of the Arrow Lodge is Tisquantum #164, which was formed when Tisquantum Lodge #518 and Manomet Lodge #164 merged in 1969. There was a bit of confusion when the National Order of the Arrow Council declared that Lodges no longer needed numbers, incorrectly dubbing the lodge "Tisquantum Lodge #249" (which was first seen on the infamous "Mario Patch", Tisquantum's NOAC flap from 2004) - this misunderstanding persists to this day on Tisquantum's lodge flaps. The proper name for the lodge is now "Tisquantum Lodge, Old Colony Council #249").

Pioneer Valley Council

  • Connecticut River District
  • Knox Trail District
  • Post Road District
  • Springfield District

Yankee Clipper Council

On January 1, 1993 the North Essex Council, the North Bay Council and the Lone Tree Council were merged together to form the Yankee Clipper Council. In December 1999 the Greater Lowell Council was also merged into the Yankee Clipper Council. Today the council has five districts serving a large corner of northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Districts
  • Aquila District - serves the Massachusetts communities of: Cliftondale (in Saugus), East Lynn, Lynn, Lynnfield, Lynnfield Center, Nahant, Peabody, Saugus, South Lynnfield, Swampscott, West Lynn, West Peabody, and Winthrop.
  • Greater Lowell District - serves the Massachusetts communities of: Ayers Village (in Lowell), Belvidere Village (in Lowell), Billerica, Centralville (in Lowell), Chapel Hill (in Lowell), Chelmsford, Collinsville (in Dracut), Dracut, Dunstable, East Billerica, East Chelmsford, Forge Village (in Westford), Graniteville (in Westford), Highlands (in Lowell), Kearney Square (in Lowell), Lowell, Nabnasset (in Westford), Nutting Lake (in Billerica), North Billerica, North Chelmsford, North Wilmington, Pawtucketville (in Lowell), Pinehurst (in Billerica), Riverdale (in Dracut), South Chelmsford, South Lowell, Spaghettiville (in Lowell), Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wamesit (in Tewksbury), West Chelmsford, Westford, and Wilmington.
  • Lone Tree District - serves the Massachusetts communities of: Amesbury, Bradford (in Haverhill), Byfield (in Newbury), East Haverhill, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, Merrimac, Merrimacport, Merrimack College, Newbury, Newburyport, Plum Island, Rowley, Salisbury, Salisbury Beach, South Byfield (in Newbury), South Groveland, Ward Hill (in Haverhill) and West Newbury. Also serves the New Hampshire communities of: Atkinson, Atkinson Depot, East Kingston, Hampstead, Kingston, Newton, Newton Junction, Plaistow, Seabrook, Smithtown, and South Hampton.
  • North Essex District - serves the Massachusetts communities of: Andover, Ballardvale (in Andover), Lawrence, Methuen, North Andover and Shawsheen Village (in Andover).
  • North Shore District - serves the Massachusetts communities of: Annisquam (in Gloucester), Asburygrove (in Hamilton), Bakers Island (in Salem Harbor), Beverly, Beverly Farms, Boxford, Carltonville (in Salem), Clifton (in Marblehead), Danvers, East Boxford, East Gloucester, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Hathorne Station (in Danvers), Ipswich, Lanesville (in Gloucester), Littleneck (in Ipswich), Magnolia (in Gloucester), Manchester by the Sea, Marblehead, Middleton, Pigeon Cove (in Rockport), Prides Crossing (in Beverly), Riverdale (in Gloucester), Rockport, Salem, Salem State College, South Essex, South Hamilton, Topsfield, Wenham, West Boxford, and West Gloucester.

Camps
  • Camp Onway - Raymond, NH
  • Lone Tree Scout Reservation - Kingston, NH
  • Camp Wah Tut Ca - Northwood, NH

Yankee Clipper also operates two Cub Scout day camps; one in Chelmsford, MA and Camp Nihan, Saugus, MA.

Girl Scouting in Massachusetts

Camp Muriel Flagg is a locale in Williamstown, Massachusetts named for Muriel Flagg, a Girl Scout leader and teacher. Originally a Girl Scout camp, it opened in June 1964 and probably ceased operations in the late 1970s or early 1980s. It is located at an elevation of 1004 feet and is 1.5 miles north of Williamstown in Berkshire County Latitude

There are six Girl Scout council offices in Massachusetts.

Girl Scouts of Montachusett Council, Inc. Worcester, Massachusetts Web Site: http://www.mgsc.org

Girl Scouts, Patriots' Trail Council, Incorporated Boston, Massachusetts Web Site: http://www.ptgirlscouts.org/

Girl Scouts of Pioneer Valley East Longmeadow, Massachusetts Web Site: http://gspv.org

Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts, Incorporated Middleboro, Massachusetts Web Site: http://www.gscsm.org

Girl Scouts of Spar and Spindle Council, Inc. North Andover, Massachusetts Web Site: http://www.ssgsc.org

Girl Scouts of Western Massachusetts, Incorporated Leeds, Massachusetts Web Site: http://www.gswma.org

See also

External links

Youth Organizations of Massachusetts | Boy Scouts of America Local Councils | Girl Scouts of America Local Councils

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Scouting in Massachusetts".

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