Scouting came to Louisiana shortly after the establishment of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Rev. T. M. Hunter of the First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge established the first troop in that year, and two years later, affiliated the troop with BSA. The Istrouma Area Council was officially established in 1919. In 1923, the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge presented the council with a 15-acre (61,000 m2) campsite in Greenwell Springs called Camp Istrouma.[1] After the council outgrew the camp, they raised money to move to the Avondale Scout Reservation located in East Feliciana Parish, doing so by the late 1950s. Istrouma was later sold to the United Methodist Church and serves as a Christian camp to this day.
Since 1935, Scouts from the council serve as ushers and stretcher bearers at LSU home football games at Tiger Stadium.
Organization
The council is administratively divided into four districts:
Nawanganti- Serves cities of Central, Baker, and Zachary in East Baton Rouge Parish, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Livingston, and Pointe Coupee parishes in Louisiana and Wilkerson County in Mississippi.
Sewell-Eagle- Serves the City of Baton Rouge in East Baton Rouge Parish, West Baton Rouge Parish, Iberville Parish, Saint James Parish, and Ascension Parish.
Nashoba- Serves Saint Helena Parish, Tangipahoa Parish (including City of Hammond), Washington Parish, and St. Tammany Parish except for the City of Slidell.
Red Stick- The Boy Scouts of America, Istrouma Area Council collaborated with the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority in 1999 to bring scouting to inner city youth in the Baton Rouge area. These youth don’t have the funding, transportation, or volunteer leadership available to participate in Scouting in the traditional sense. Scouting units that belong to this program are members of the Red Stick District. In 2020, this expanded to include after school Scouting programs as select elementary schools.
Avondale Scout Reservation is a 1,665-acre (7 km2) reservation for Scouting located in East Feliciana Parish, three miles (5 km) east of Clinton, on Louisiana Highway 10. It opened in 1959 and what had been the Avondale Plantation and became the default campground for Istrouma after Camp Istrouma could no longer serve the needs of the council. The property’s main gate is located on Highway 10, and its second “back” gate is located on Highway 63. The property also has over 40 buildings and structures and maintains its own electrical grid and water/sewage system.
The main entrance on Highway 10 is also home to a welcome center that houses the Camp Administrator’s office, a building housing the reservation’s firetruck, and a cluster of ranger’s cabins. Following the main gate is Camp Avondale, also known as the Summer Camp Area. The summer camp area is home to 17 campsites, each equipped with its own bathhouse. The summer camp area is also home to numerous program buildings, including a 300 person dining hall, health lodge, trading post, Stem Center, aquatics area, shooting ranges, staff building, and numerous pavilions. The summer camp area is also home to the Avondale Museum, which houses scouting memorabilia from throughout southeast Louisiana.
About ½ mile south of Camp Avondale is Wood badge Hill, which is home to numerous primitive campsites used for wilderness survival and backpacking treks, along with general use by troops. South of Woodbadge Hill is Camp Tigator, which is home to Paul Perkins Lodge and a dormitory building. Camp Tigator is used for numerous council training programs.
On the backside of the property is Camp McGee, which is home to 28 campsites named after different cities within the Istrouma Area Council. Camp McGee also houses two bathhouses, a Cub Scout Program Building, and an aquatics facility. Camp McGee is mainly utilized by Cub Scouts, but used by other groups as well.
In 2001, the Manship family of Baton Rouge built a campground to accommodate handicapped Scouts. Since then, private restrooms and showers, running water, improved sewage and plumbing, better roads, and electricity have all been added to campsites for use by Scouts and Scouters.[3] In addition, existing buildings have been renovated and expanded.
The reservation is also home to numerous archeological sites, including a cemetery, Indian Mound, and the remains of a gristmill. Avondale sports four lakes and has frontage on Sandy Creek.
Quinipissa Lodge #479 is used by the local Order of the Arrow units. It was established in 1952, and in 1969, the Caddo House at Camp Avondale was dedicated for its use.[4]
