From about 1912 on, camping became the direct responsibility of the Local Councils, and Council Camps began to spring up all over the country. Some time during the early teens, the Local Councils in the New York metropolitan area began concentrating their resources on the relatively new Interstate Park just southwest of Bear Mountain, New York. Several of the Councils established summer camping facilities centered around the man-made Kanowahke Lakes. With the increased demand for public recreational areas, the Boy Scout camps closed and moved after the 1926 camping season.
The author is aware of the following councils that maintained camps at Kanowahke Lakes and the locations to which they moved. Readers who recognize additional camp names are encouraged to contribute them.
Richmond Council - Camp Aquehonga moved to T.M.R.
Bronx Council - Camp Ranachqua moved to T.M.R.
Brooklyn Council - Camp Tahlequah moved to T.M.R.
Watchung Area Council - Camp Watchung moved to Glen Gardner, NJ
During the 1930s the area became a favorite of the New England based Intercollegiate Outing Club. As the twentieth century draws to a close, the park and the lakes are still there. The region is still a popular camping spot, and the Appalachian Trail passes directly through it.
Initially mail from the Scout Camps was taken to be posted at Tuxedo Park, N.Y. At some time during the early 1920s the volume of mail had grown to the point where the U.S. Post Office Department authorized the seasonal establishment of a full service Post Office at the camp and the commissioning, on a seasonal basis, of a U.S. Postmaster.
The cancel that was applied by hand at the Post Office was a standard four-bar cancel that on very rare occasions can be found on a Kanowahke Lakes Scout Camps postcard.
Currently, only three other U.S. Seasonal Boy Scout Camp Post Offices are known:
- Ten Mile River, New York
- Treasure Island, New Jersey
- Owasippe, Michigan