1910

Camp Fire was founded in Lake Sebago, Maine by Luther & Charlotte Gulick as America’s first nonsectarian, interracial, national organization for girls.

1911

Camp Fire clubs start up in Federal Way and Kirkland.

1912

Camp Fire Girls of America is incorporated in Washington, D.C., as a national agency. The Ladies’ Home Journal pronounces, “The Camp Fire Girls of America is likely to become as popular with girls as is the Boy Scouts of America with boys. Already thousands of girls are members…It is unlike any other movement ever organized, and it has in its purpose the most marvelous possibilities for girls that any organization has ever offered.”

1915

The first local Camp Fire council is founded in Kansas City.

1919

The Seattle Council of Camp Fire is chartered with Seattle school teacher, Ruth Brown serving as the Executive Director.

1920

Camp Sealth is established as the first permanent resident camp for girls in Washington State. Located on Trimble Island (now Blake Island), 650 girls attended at a cost of $1 per day. The Seattle Council of Camp Fire also opened its first permanent office in the Globe Building on First Avenue (the building in Pioneer Square that most recently was home to Elliott Bay Booksellers).

1921

Thanks to generous community supporters, Camp Fire raises $9,000 to purchase the Vashon Island site where it remains today.

1932

Horseback riding is added at Camp Sealth. Middies and bloomers are required camp attire.

1939

Camp Sealth begins partnering with the American Diabetes Association & accommodates the special dietary and medical needs of 35 diabetic campers.

1958

The Seattle Council of Camp Fire begins selling mints. Previously, donuts and daffodils had been sold.

1959

The Seattle Council of Camp Fire is the largest council in the country serving 22,000 girls.

1962

The WoHeLo Award becomes Camp Fire’s highest achievement and honor. It stands for “Work, Health, Love” and recipients typically spend two years completing projects that demonstrate leadership, service and advocacy.

1975

Camp Fire becomes coeducational welcoming boys in all programs. Today, 46 percent of the youth served by Camp Fire are boys.

2003

Camp Fire begins translating its new curricula into Spanish. The Spanish-language, 52-week deep curricula for grades K-5 are designed to build social skills and academic competencies within Spanish-speaking communities.

2010

Camp Fire Central Puget Sound Council celebrates its Centennial at Magnuson Park in Seattle.

2011

Camp Fire receives a conservation easement from King County forever protecting 101 acres of environmentally sensitive land at Camp Sealth.

2020

Camp Sealth closed for the first time in 100 years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Camp staff provided virtual programming, mailed “camp-in-a-box” to dozens of families, invited families to rent cabins, and provided much-needed child care and social connections for Vashon Island kids impacted by school closures.

2021

In the second year of the pandemic, Camp Sealth and our Seattle Day Camps successfully reopened, safely serving 3,000 youth without a single case of COVID.