Sylvania in Lucas County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
The Council Lodge ⎯⎯⎯ Miakonda's Visionary
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Photographed by Craig Doda, December 6, 2024
1. The Council Lodge Marker
Inscription.
The Council Lodge, also, Miakonda's Visionary. ⚜️.
The Council Lodge. Built in 1934 as a W. P. A. project by the Federal Government. the Council Lodge is the most famous of all buildings at Camp Miakonda and certainly the most unique. It is believed to be one of a kind in this country. Designed by Great Depression era architect Paul Robinette. it is eight sided and stands over four stories high. Mr. Robinette also designed the famous five Spanish Colonial-style Toledo Zoo buildings of the same time period. With a wood beam frame and custom made lighting fixtures the Council Lodge has no known peer. Originally designed and built to have indoor open air campfires in it, the building was equipped with a power vacuum fan that would pull the smoke out of the building from the indoor campfires. The custom made lighting fixtures in the Council Lodge were created by artisans of the Great Depression era. Surrounding the outside of the building at the top of each of the eight walls are tablets that have cast into them Scouting awards and merit badges from that era. Each wall has two tablets mounted for a total of sixteen. The building is sixty feet wide in diameter and is exactly 52 feet tall from the floor to the tip of the weather vane that rests on the vented cupola at the top of the building. Having deteriorated over the years, the Council Lodge was completely renovated in 1996. and restored to its original grandeur.,
Miakonda's Visionary. Raymond S. Loftus was the Toledo Council Scout Executive from September 1925 through September 1937 when he resigned to become the executive director of the Greater Toledo Community Chest. He was born in Detroit and grew up in Toledo. He joined Scouting in Toledo after he was discharged from the Army when world war one ended. He became the Assistant Toledo Council Executive in 1919 under J. St. Clair Mendenhall. In April 1920 he became the Council Executive at Logansport Indiana then transferred to the Milwaukee Council as Council Executive. From there he came back to Toledo as Council Executive in 1925. It was during his administration that Camp Miakonda was developed through the Great Depression projects provided by the Federal Government. Ray Loftus was the visionary and organizational force behind everything that took place at Camp Miakonda from 1925-37 when it reached unparalleled heights among Scout camps in the nation. Ray was a long time member of the Toledo Rotary Club and did not miss a meeting in 35 years. He was the secretary-treasurer from 1930 until his death. After he died. a large donation was made by the Toledo Rotary toward the Pioneer Scout Reservation development fund in Ray's name. Reservational Headquarters at P.S.R. is named after Ray Loftus. He died at age 70 in 1964.
The Council Lodge
Built in 1934 as a W. P. A. project by the Federal Government. the Council Lodge is the most famous of all buildings at Camp Miakonda and certainly the most unique. It is believed to be one of a kind in this country. Designed by Great Depression era architect Paul Robinette. it is eight sided and stands over four stories high. Mr. Robinette also designed the famous five Spanish Colonial-style Toledo Zoo buildings of the same time period. With a wood beam frame and custom made lighting fixtures the Council Lodge has no known peer. Originally designed and built to have indoor open air campfires in it, the building was equipped with a power vacuum fan that would pull the smoke out of the building from the indoor campfires. The custom made lighting fixtures in the Council Lodge were created by artisans of the Great Depression era. Surrounding the outside of the building at the top of each of the eight walls are tablets that have cast into them Scouting awards and merit badges from that era. Each wall has two tablets mounted for a total of sixteen. The building is sixty feet wide in diameter and is exactly 52 feet tall from the floor to the tip of the weather vane that rests on the vented cupola at the top of the building. Having deteriorated over the years, the Council Lodge was completely renovated
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in 1996. and restored to its original grandeur.
Miakonda's Visionary
Raymond S. Loftus was the Toledo Council Scout Executive from September 1925 through September 1937 when he resigned to become the executive director of the Greater Toledo Community Chest. He was born in Detroit and grew up in Toledo. He joined Scouting in Toledo after he was discharged from the Army when WWI ended. He became the Assistant Toledo Council Executive in 1919 under J. St. Clair Mendenhall. In April 1920 he became the Council Executive at Logansport Indiana then transferred to the Milwaukee Council as Council Executive. From there he came back to Toledo as Council Executive in 1925. It was during his administration that Camp Miakonda was developed through the Great Depression projects provided by the Federal Government. Ray Loftus was the visionary and organizational force behind everything that took place at Camp Miakonda from 1925-37 when it reached unparalleled heights among Scout camps in the nation. Ray was a long time member of the Toledo Rotary Club and did not miss a meeting in 35 years. He was the secretary-treasurer from 1930 until his death. After he died. a large donation was made by the Toledo Rotary toward the Pioneer Scout Reservation development fund in Ray's name. Reservational Headquarters at P.S.R. is named after Ray Loftus. He died at age 70 in
Location. 41° 41.726′ N, 83° 40.711′ W. Marker is in Sylvania, Ohio, in Lucas County. It can be reached from West Sylvania Avenue 0.3 miles east of North Holland-Sylvania Road, on the right when traveling west. On the grounds of Camp Miakonda, Erie Shores Council, Boy Scouts of America. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5600 W Sylvania Ave, Toledo OH 43623, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on the Lake Erie Shore and in the Toledo Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American Midwest, on the Great Lakes, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 30, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 8, 2024, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 119 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 8, 2024, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
