Near West Portsmouth in Scioto County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Camp Oyo Boy Scout Camp
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 16, 2019
1. Camp Oyo Boy Scout Camp Marker, side one
In 1926, Ohio Governor Alvin Donahey approved setting aside 55 acres of the Roosevelt Game Refuge for a Boy Scout camp. Since that time Camp Oyo has served Boy Scouts and other groups from Ohio and Kentucky. The name ‘Oyo’ is from an Iroquois word meaning “great water or principal river.” During the peak of the Great Depression in 1933, local Scout executive Harry Wagner approached the Civil Works Administration for assistance in building eight log structures. These improvements encouraged year around camping, earning Camp Oyo the distinction one of the nation’s foremost Boy Scout camps.
Materials for the construction of the camp included blighted chestnut timber cut from the nearby forest and stone from Turkey Creek. Seven log buildings, including the octagon shaped dining hall and a frontier style blockhouse, remain in use. The Simon Kenton Council, Boy Scouts of America owns the camp. This marker is erected in Memory of Lt. Gary Nolan Shy, who was killed in action in Vietnam March 8, 1968. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Erected 2013 by Camp Oyo Staff and Alumni Association and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 9-73.)
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Location. 38° 43.594′ N, 83° 9.234′ W. Marker is near West Portsmouth, Ohio, in Scioto County. Marker is on Shawnee Road just north of Ohio Route 125, on the right when traveling north. It is at the main gate to the camp. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 168 Shawnee Rd, West Portsmouth OH 45663, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Camp Oyo (a few steps from this marker); Theodore Roosevelt Game Preserve (approx. 1.3 miles away); Ohio's Biggest Yellow Buckeye (approx. 3.4 miles away); Shannoah (approx. 7.1 miles away in Kentucky); Twilight / Dedication Panel / Muralist Robert Dafford (approx. 7.9 miles away); Portsmouth Motorcycle Club / Good Times Remembered / Sunset at the Point / Sister Cities (approx. 7.9 miles away); A Struggle To Be Free
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 16, 2019
2. Camp Oyo Boy Scout Camp Marker, side two
Also see . . . Camp Oyo – Simon Kenton Council. (Submitted on December 10, 2020, by Robert Baughman of Bellefontaine, Ohio.)
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 16, 2019
3. Camp Oyo Main Gate and Marker
The brass plaque on the right post reads “Camp Oyo, donated by Portmouth Elks.” On the left post is a small white firearms prohibited sign. The white and green sign on the left is the nearby historical marker.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 6, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 25, 2019, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 492 times since then and 43 times this year. Last updated on June 4, 2023, by Grant & Mary Ann Fish of Galloway, Ohio. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 25, 2019, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
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