History of the Council

Scouting is Narragansett Council and Southeastern New England has a rich and storied tradition going back to 1910. 

The Narragansett Council, Scouting America is part of a worldwide Scouting movement with over 57 million Scouts & volunteers in 176 National Scout Organizations. Scouting began in England in 1907 when the British military hero, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, organized the first Scout camp. In 1908, he published Scouting for Boys and formed what would become the British Boy Scout Association. 

As a result of a “good turn” performed by an English Scout in London for Chicago publisher William D. Boyce, Scouting came to America. Scouting America was incorporated in 1910 and chartered by Congress on June 15, 1916. 

Scouting in Rhode Island began as the Rhode Island Boy Scouts which was first organized as a voluntary association on September 6th, 1910. On April 13th, 1911, it was chartered under state laws for the purpose of giving boys of Rhode Island an organization in which they could be formed into groups that mirrored the newly formed national Boy Scout Program. From 1910 to 1917, Rhode Island Boy Scouts established groups (troops) throughout Rhode Island, except in Newport, Blackstone Valley and Woonsocket. In these locations, troops were organized and affiliated with the National Council, Scouting America. 

In 1916, the first Scouting charters in Massachusetts were granted to the Fall River and Fairhaven-New Bedford Councils. These charters would provide area youth in 17 communities throughout Newport, Bristol and Plymouth counties 

In 1916 perhaps the most significant event in our history happened, and that was the purchase of 130 acres of the old Palmer Farm in Rockville, RI. The purchase was the result of a search by the Rhode Island Boy Scouts Scout Executive, Donald North, who viewed 30 different sites.  This would begin the history of the storied Camp Yawgoog which is now the second oldest continually operated Scout Camp in the Country and the second largest by attendance. Camp Yawgoog has grown over the years to now encompass 2,000 acres in Southwestern Rhode Island and has served hundreds of thousands of youths from across the globe. The crown jewel of Narragansett Council, Camp Yawgoog is the national leader among Scout camps. 

In 1917, Rhode Island Boy Scouts ‘merged’ with the National movement. Under the terms of the agreement, the Greater Providence Council was formed to take over the operation of the Scouting Program and supervision of troops. The National Council recognized the date of the Council’s organization as September 6th, 1910, and granted all members back service to that date. The National Council also agreed that the Rhode Island Boy Scouts could maintain its corporate identity so that it could continue to receive bequests, hold funds and properties and acquire other funds and properties in the future; thus, the formation of Rhode Island Boy Scouts as an independent corporation with the purpose of supporting Scouting in Narragansett Council. 

In 1929 and 1930, the Greater Providence Council Scouting of America merged with the Newport County Council, the Pawtucket-Central Falls Council and the Woonsocket Council to form the Narragansett Council. 

In 1930 Annawon council was organized, but it was not until January 9,1931, that it was incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, and legally established as of April 20, 1933. At the time of organization, the Council included the communities of Attleboro, Mansfield, Norton, Taunton, Raynham, and Berkley 

In 1935 along with filing articles of incorporation the Fairhaven-New Bedford Council rechartered as the Cachalot Council supporting the towns of Wareham, Marion, Freetown, Rochester, Mattapoisett, Dartmouth and Acushnet. The Fall River Council rechartered as the Massasoit Council providing Scouting leadership to Somerset, Swansea, Westport, Tiverton and Little Compton. 

For 29 years, the Cachalot Council utilized the local Fairhaven-New Bedford Boys’ Club facilities of Camp Maxim. In 1945, the Cachalot Executive Board conducted a fund- raiser to purchase and construct Camp Cachalot, meaning “white whale” in Carver, Massachusetts. Camp Cachalot served youth until 2022. 

Camping for the Fall River Council began in 1917 at Camp Stanford in Fall River and provided an outlet for Scouts for four years. It was decided in 1921 at a Fall River Council Executive Board meeting that the purchase of a 100-acre wooded area would take place, naming it Camp Noquochoke. Additional acreage was purchased in Camp Noquochoke’s later years covering over 110 acres on the eastern shore of the Westport River in Westport, MA. Camp Noquochoke continued to serve area youth until 1980. 

Camping in the Annawon Council began after considerable study in 1934 when the Council purchased 25 Acres on Darby Pond in Plymouth for use as a camp site. The site was known as "Camp King" and was purchased from Phillip Cole for $2,500.00. From July 15 to August 19, scouts camped on the shore of Darby Pond at Camp Annawon. In 1935 the camp would come to be known as Camp Norse. 

Both the Cachalot Council and the Massasoit Council continued to grow until 1972 when they merged to form the Moby Dick Council. 

On July 1, 2001, the Moby Dick Council headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts, merged with the Narragansett Council in Providence, Rhode Island, adding 17 more cities and towns in Massachusetts to the 6 cities and towns the Narragansett Council was already serving.  

On September 10, 2015, the Boards of Annawon Council and Narragansett Council each voted to accept a plan of merger, with the new Council maintaining the name Narragansett Council. At that time the Order of the Arrow Lodge adopted the name of Annawon’s lodge, Tulpe Lodge.  

Today the Narragansett Council serves youth across Southeastern New England including 30 towns in Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island and Pawcatuck Connecticut. Narragansett Council operates Camp Aquapaug, Buck Hill Scout Camp, Camp Champlin, Camp Norse Camp Sandsland, and Camp Yawgoog.