1910 Luther and Charlotte Gulick start America’s first nonsectarian, interracial, national organization for girls. It begins at the Gulick’s unusual summer camp for girls on Lake Sebago, Maine.

1911 Camp Fire clubs start up in Federal Way and Kirkland.

1912 Camp Fire Girls of America is incorporated in Washington, D.C., as a national agency.
The Ladies’ Home Journal pronounces, “The Camp Fire Girls of America is likely to become as popular with girls as is the Boy Scouts of America with boys. Already thousands of girls are members…It is unlike any other movement ever organized, and it has in its purpose the most marvelous possibilities for girls that any organization has ever offered.”

1913 National introduces the Blue Bird program for younger girls, which offers exploration of ideas and creative play built around family and community life.

1919 The Seattle Council of Camp Fire is chartered. Ruth Brown, a Seattle school teacher from Michigan, becomes the first Executive Director of the Seattle Council. Ruth promotes Camp Fire in a weekly Seattle Post Intelligencer column, the Junior P.I.

1920 Camp Sealth is established as the first permanent resident camp for girls in Washington State. In its first year, Camp Sealth is held on Trimble Island (now Blake Island); the camp name is chosen in honor of the birthplace of Chief Sealth. 650 girls attend the first season of Camp Sealth, the cost is $1 per day.

The Seattle Council of Camp Fire opens its first permanent office in the Globe Building on First Avenue (the building in Pioneer Square that most recently was home to Elliott Bay Booksellers).

1921 Camp Sealth relocates to Vashon Island, where it remains today. With support from the Kiwanis Club, The Seattle Times, The Mountaineers, and others, Camp Fire raises nearly $9,000 for the purchase of the Vashon Island site - 186 acres, which had been the Luceta Beach Resort. Today Camp Sealth comprises 400 acres.  

The Seattle Council of Camp Fire is the second council to have a local Camp Fire magazine. The first monthly issue of The Torch is published and continues to run through the 1940s.

1922 The office of the Seattle Council of Camp Fire moves to the Arcade building (destroyed, where the Seattle Art Museum is now located).

Camp Sealth campers and counselors help put out a forest fire on Vashon Island, as they also do in 1924.  

1924 A benefactor purchases a World War I supply ship, Camaraderie, for the Council. After renovations, the ship serves as Council offices until 1929. It is first anchored at the foot of East Garfield Street, and then relocated to 3154 Furhman Street in 1928.

1929 Campers earn honors for destroying caterpillar eggs and nests to help combat an infestation in the orchard at Camp Sealth.

1932 Horseback riding is offered at Camp Sealth. Middies and bloomers are required camp attire.

1934 The Seattle Betsuin Camp Fire group is first chartered and remains active until the intervention of WWII. This marks the beginning of our Council’s treasured partnership with the Seattle Japanese Buddhist Temple.

1939 Plans to accommodate diabetic campers at Camp Sealth are finalized.

1941 Camp Fire promotes homefront activities to support the war effort. Camp Sealth has a victory garden and no awards are made out of metal.
On the national level, Camp Fire Girls raise money to purchase a medical relief plane.

1954 The Kit-No-Ma Council of Bremerton purchases Camp Niwana. The youth members chose the name “Niwana,” meaning “to swim under blue skies.”

1958 The Seattle-King County Council sells mints for the first time. In earlier years donuts and daffodils had been sold.

1959 The Seattle-King County Council serves approximately 22,000 Camp Fire Girls and is the largest Council in the United States.

1960 Camp Fire celebrates its 50th anniversary with the "She Cares . . . Do You?" program. Camp Fire Girls plant more than 2 million trees, build 13,000 bird houses and complete several other conservation-oriented tasks.
In honor of the anniversary, a commemorative stamp is issued.

1962 The Wohelo Medallion becomes Camp Fire's highest achievement and honor. The Medallion is named for Camp Fire's watchword, "Wohelo," which stands for "work," "health" and "love." Recipients typically spend two years completing projects that foster leadership, teaching, service and advocacy.

1964 Through the Metropolitan Critical Areas (MCA) Project, Camp Fire launches a national effort to reach low-income, predominantly urban girls. The purpose of the three-year MCA project is to meet the special needs and promote the healthy social development of these youth and to locate, train and retain neighborhood volunteers.

1971 The Karuna Award is developed at the Seattle Betsuin and sanctioned by Camp Fire Girls’ National Office and the Buddhist Churches of America. The award marks a spiritual achievement for junior high youth.

1975 Camp Fire expands its horizons and encourages boys to participate in all Camp Fire activities. Today, 46 percent of the youth served by Camp Fire USA are boys.

1978 Boys attend Camp Sealth for the first time. A session of camp cost $50 - $70.

1983 National introduces the Adventure program for third- through fifth-grader boys and girls and completes the task of program revisions focusing on the inclusion of boys. In this club level, children experience activities focused on the outdoors, creativity, family and community.

1988 National introduces Teens in Action as a one-time social issue campaign to energize the older youth program. Today, Teens in Action, Camp Fire USA's service-learning program for teens, serves over 60,000 teens.

1991 In 1991, the Seattle-King-County Council merges with Kit-No-Ma Council of Bremerton to form the Central Puget Sound Council

1997 Camp Fire and the nation celebrate the first-ever Absolutely Incredible Kid Day® -- a call to action for all adults to communicate through letters their love and commitment to children on the third Thursday of each March.

1999 At the national convention in Seattle, the new mission of Camp Fire is announced, "Camp Fire builds caring, confident youth and future leaders." This mission is leading the organization in the new century.

2000 National introduces the Community Family Club model, designed to provide parents and other caring community adults the opportunity to interact positively with children and teens.

2003 National begins translating its new curricula for small-group programs into Spanish. The Spanish-language, 52-week deep curricula for grades K-5 are designed to build social skills and academic competencies within Spanish-speaking communities.

2005 National introduces the Little Stars small-group program for ages three to five. Little Stars helps build confidence in children as they form lasting relationships, gain a sense of belonging and develop a feeling of emotional commitment by adults.

2006 Central Puget Sound Council office moves from the building of the old Waldo General Hospital at 8511 15th Avenue N, Seattle to its current location 4241 21st Avenue W, Seattle.

2009 Central Puget Sound Council serves 12,670 youth and families.

2010 Camp Fire USA celebrates its Centennial at Magnuson Park.

See pictures of our Centennial Celebration on Facebook!