Troop 149 History

We are extremely fortunate to have had a dedicated Troop Member who served as our Troop Historian for many years.

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Our troop goes back to 1912 when Knox Taylor, President of the Taylor Wharton Iron and Steel Company, introduced Scouting into the Borough of High Bridge, which was two years after the Boy Scouts of America were incorporated, and four years before the organization was chartered by Congress.

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Mr. Taylor took a very active part in the life of the community and was especially interested in the welfare of not only his employees, but of the boys and girls of the town. Taylor was enthused over the idea of scouting when Lord Baden-Powell first adapted his "military scouts" to a program for boys in England.

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Mr. Taylor formed the local scout troop as early as 1912 with the Taylor-Wharton Company becoming the troop’s original Charter Organization. He secured the assistance of Taylor-Wharton’s Superintendent Samuel M. Buck as the Troop’s first Scoutmaster. Sam Buck, who worked up from a Taylor-Wharton painter to works manager then director and finally superintendent, gave almost 25 years to helping scouts in the area, until his death in 1937. Due to this, Mr. Buck was also a recipient of the Council's Silver Beaver Award for outstanding service to boyhood.

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Taylor-Wharton, as the original Charter Organization of the troop, provided the troop use of its old machine shop for a headquarters. The machine shop was in a building that stood where the Union Forge parking lot currently is. The building was a power plant for the Taylor-Wharton Iron and Steel Company. The scouts had one room in the building that they used for troop meetings. The room did not have a high ceiling, but the scouts managed to play basketball anyway. An early scout from the era, Mr. William Trimmer, told stories that they would have to shoot the ball with almost no arch to avoid hitting the ceiling.

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In the troop’s beginning it belonged to the Delaware Valley Area Council, which had its headquarters in Easton, Pa. At that time the troop was designated as V49. The “V” signified it as a “Veteran” troop.

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Troop V49 of High Bridge started out with 8 local boys as scouts. As interest grew, Mr. Taylor provided additional equipment and space in the community center under Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) direction.

 

In 1914, Mr. Buck bought 7 acres of land along the South Branch Raritan River and donated it to Troop V49 of High Bridge to be used by the scouts as an overnight camping location. It appears that, at the time, 7 acres was the maximum amount of land that a nonprofit organization could own without having to pay taxes. Historical material can be found here - History of Camp Buck

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At one time the Troop had a telescope with which the scouts observed the skies and increased their knowledge of Astronomy. The early Scouts remember this telescope as a very enjoyable part of their Scouting experience.

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In 1917, during World War I, the Scouts had a Victory Garden along Nassau Road in which they planted and grew potatoes.

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In 1919, Knox Taylor founded a camp for boys on the town’s Lake Solitude called Camp Solitude, which was under the direction of the local YMCA. The boys later changed the name to Camp Taylor as tribute to Knox Taylor after his death in 1922. The camp cared for ninety five boys during a period of six weeks. A girls' camp was later added where eighty girls could be accommodated. Camp Taylor was later placed at the disposal of the community as a summer camp. Various swim and recreation clubs were established at Lake Solitude along with Camp Taylor. From the time of the lakes creation boating, fishing, swimming and beach recreation was all part of Lake Solitude's various uses.

 

Mr. Bill Trimmer, a High Bridge resident of Highland Avenue, donated the very first set of semaphore flags that Troop V49 had. Semaphore is a visual system conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags. The troop still has these historic flags, and they can be seen on display in the room which holds our troop meetings.

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The first National Jamboree was scheduled to be held in 1935 in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Scouting, but was delayed two years after being cancelled due to a polio outbreak. In 1937, when the rescheduled jamboree took place in Washington, it attracted 25,000 Scouts, who camped around the Washington Monument and Tidal Basin. The event was even attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Our Troop attended this first National Jamboree in 1937.

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In 1938, the year following Sam Bucks death, the troop’s camp on the Raritan River was renamed Camp Buck in honor of him. That was also the year the troop had its first Eagle Scout, George Vieda. Over the past century the Troop has had thirty four Eagle Scouts. Please see our Eagle’s Nest page for more information regarding these scouts.

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The troop’s third Eagle Scout from 1940, Mr. Richard Mewhinney, remarked that he had to do the “Scout Pace” requirement about thirty-times before he was able to complete it. The Scout Pace requirement was where a scout had to travel a mile using a "scout's pace", which was defined as alternating between walking and running, in 12 minutes. He said that the Scoutmaster at the time, Mr. Henry Cragin, would be down by the pond area every Saturday so that the scouts could try to complete that requirement.

 

During the late thirties and early forties the Troop organized the Annual Easter Egg Hunt in High Bridge. The scouts went from door to door collecting money and gifts. These presents were then given to the children of High Bridge during the Easter Egg Hunt. At that time the Easter Egg Hunt was held by the main office building of the Taylor-Wharton Iron and Steel Company, which is still located behind the football fields in the TISCO Complex.

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In 1940, the local High Bridge American Legion Chapter (Herbert Cawley Post 188) took over the charter of the troop from Taylor-Wharton. The new post commander at the time, William Schneider, appointed a new committee to supervise the troop's operation.

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The Troop ran the newspaper recycling program here in High Bridge, which was a way for them to raise money. The papers were stored and bundled in a building between what is now the Intermediate Soccer Field and the South Branch Raritan River.

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In the summer the troop would hold its meetings outside next to the original High Bridge Library, which was across the street from the power plant where the current concession stand is. At that time, what is now the football field for the Hunterdon Huskies was then a pond of water. The scouts would sit on the dirt, which acted as a wall around the pond, during their troop meetings.

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In 1946, the Troop was transferred to the George Washington Council of New Jersey when it was merged with the Delaware Valley Area Council. It was at this time that the “V” was dropped and we became Troop 149 of High Bridge. It was also at this time that Camp Buck was transferred to the George Washington Council. Afterwards it was run as a council camp.

 

In 1948, the High Bridge United Methodist Church took over the charter of the troop from Post 188. They provided us with storage and a meeting room. The church has remained our charter organization for almost 70 years.

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In 1974, the Hunterdon County Parks and Recreation Department acquired the original Camp Buck property and merged it into the Pine Hill Section of the South Branch Reservation. Current information about Camp Buck, now part of the South Branch Reservation, can be found here - Pine Hill Section

 

At one time during the 70’s & 80’s the Troop, under the guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Cardenas, ran the recycling program here in High Bridge, which was expanded from just newspapers to all recycling materials. That was before all the effort and focus was placed on the environment and the reuse of materials.

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In 1999, the George Washington Council merged with the Thomas A. Edison Council to form the Central New Jersey Council.

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In 2014, the Central New Jersey Council merged with Bucks County Council to become Washington Crossing Council.

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If anyone has any information about the troop's history, or the history of Camp Buck, please contact us as we would be interested in obtaining it to add to our records.

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