Camp Rapidan

Marine Camp

A separate camp was constructed one mile to the east of Camp Rapidan to house the Marines who provided the camp's construction, maintenance, and security. The camp initially consisted largely of tents with a few wooden cabins, but more cabins eventually replaced the tents. 

Many Marines were selected for Rapidan duty due to their skills in carpentry, plumbing, and other work needed at camp. When the President was at camp, from 150 to 250 Marines were stationed there; during the winter only about a dozen.

When local Virginians complained that the Marines were not attending church, the President ordered a Navy Chaplain to provide Sunday services in the Marine Camp mess hall.

The Marine Camp was demolished in 1944.

1933-1992: Use by federal officials and Boy Scouts

When President Hoover lost his bid for re-election in 1932, he and his wife offered the camp for use by subsequent Presidents, and donated the camp property to the federal government to become part of the new Shenandoah National Park then under development.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited camp in 1933, but found the terrain too rough for his wheelchair, and the mountain streams too cold for swimming. A plan was drafted to install a heated swimming pool for Roosevelt, but never implemented. In 1935, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes reported, "President Roosevelt is not able to make such use of the camp as President Hoover undoubtedly had in mind. 

Whether it is to continue to be a Presidential camp must, therefore, be left for future determination." FDR went on to set up his retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland at Camp Shangri-La, later renamed Camp David.

During FDR's tenure, Rapidan Camp was used by Cabinet members, particularly Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson who spent much time at camp until he died there in 1939. The camp then fell into disrepair.

In 1946, the Shenandoah Park Superintendent reported that the camp was unused, and requested federal funds for repairs or demolition. In 1948, the Boy Scouts of America were granted a 20-year lease to use it as a summer camp, which was also in accordance with Hoover's wishes. During its use as a Boy Scout camp, the facility was renamed "Camp Hoover." 

As maintenance costs rose, however, the scouts withdrew from the lease in 1958. In 1960, the structures built by the Boy Scouts and many decayed Hoover-era buildings were demolished, leaving only three of the original buildings. From 1960 to 1963, further rehabilitation work was done at camp. Some Presidents have expressed interest in the camp, but Jimmy Carter was the first President since FDR to visit.

Until 1992, the camp was a vacation perk for high-ranking federal government officials including Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and Vice-President Walter Mondale, who was snowed in on one visit and had to be cut out by Secret Service officers with chainsaws. The camp was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1988.

1993-present: Restored, opened to public

In 2004, Shenandoah National Park completed a restoration of the grounds and three remaining cabins to their condition in the era of the Hoover presidency. The three buildings are the Brown House (President's Cabin), the Prime Minister's Cabin, and the Creel. Interpretive signs have been installed to help visitors understand life in 1931, the mid-point of the Hoover presidency. The camp's name has been officially changed from Camp Hoover back to Rapidan Camp. During the restoration, many post-Hoover improvements were removed.

Rapidan Camp is accessible by a 4.1 mile round-trip hike on Mill Prong Trail, which begins on Skyline Drive at Milam Gap (Mile 52.8) - see the guide to the hike at. The National Park Service also offers guided van trips that leave from the Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center at Big Meadows.  During much of the spring, summer, and fall, an interpretive guide stays at camp and provides tours. 

The camp also is accessible from the extremely rough, unpaved Quaker Run Road that starts near Criglersville in Madison County. However, there is a fire gate across the road one mile from camp with very limited parking, and visitors must reach the camp on foot.

Architecture

The Rapidan Camp structures were extremely rustic by modern standards. Some of the early structures such as the original Five Tents had just a wooden floor and three-foot high walls, with canvas tents above.  Even the President's Cabin was built with single-wall uninsulated construction—slats of pine German Siding nailed to studs and exposed on both sides. There are no interior ceilings; rafters and roof boards are exposed. Shower stalls have tin walls and concrete floors.

On cold days, large stone fireplaces provide some warmth, but were not intended to keep the camp warm in winter. There was never a shortage of firewood in Hoover's day because the chestnut blight had ravaged the forest; after her first visit to the Rapidan area, Mrs. Hoover had written "There are innumerable, enormous dead chestnuts standing all over the place."

On hot days, hinged wooden panels fold down to expose large copper screens to provide a great deal of ventilation. These panels and numerous windows cover most of the outside perimeter of the cabins. From 1960 through 1980, they hardly seemed necessary, as the hemlock trees had filled in a thick canopy and kept the shaded grounds cool. However, in the early 1990s, the hemlock woolly adelgid began destroying the hemlock trees, so the surrounding forest is again scattered with dead and fallen trees as in Hoover's day.

The cabins are equipped with electricity and plumbing, with visible wiring snaking along the walls and rafters.

Large elevated outdoor decks were built around existing trees, so the shade of their canopies sheltered the cabin and porch.

A replica of a corner of the President's cabin and surrounding deck is located inside the Hoover Presidential Library in Iowa.

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