Butler, H. Karl, Memorial - Peninsula, OH - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Karl Butler, an Akron industrialist, was a small man physically and had severe physical disabilities. He was often in pain and spent most of his waking hours in a wheelchair. During a trip to California in the early 1920s, he visited a fine Boy Scout Camp and came home with a wonderful dream. He envisioned giving his farm and much of his worldly possessions to the building of a beautiful Boy Scout Camp for the boys from the Akron area. Accordingly, he began to buy up options on a number of the farms around his property on Route 303 and south to Truxell Road. While serving as President of the Akron Area Council in 1926, Butler became gravely ill, so ill in fact that he had to cancel a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet President Calvin Coolidge. On Friday, December 10, 1926, he dictated the terms of his will to Mrs. E. B. Rothrock, office secretary for the Boy Scouts.

He died on Monday morning, December 13, 1926. In his will, he bequeathed to the Akron Area Council his farm and the options he had acquired on the surrounding properties, provided the Council would raise $100,000 within five years to purchase additional property and build and equip a first class Boy Scout Camp. Nothing was done regarding the raising of funds for several years. During this time, however, members of the Council Camping Committee visited-over 30 Boy Scout Camps in the eastern United States to come up with the latest and best in camping trends. In 1929, Mr. Paul W. Litchfield, President of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, coaxed Akron's big three rubber companies - Goodyear, Goodrich, and Firestone - to pledge a total of $100,000 to the camp provided the Akron community would raise an additional $125,000 to further the project. On May 11, 1931, the Akron Area Council held a kick-off banquet, and a Manatoc fund raising campaign was launched. The campaign resulted in pledges of $142.000, well over its goal. This is especially significant, since this campaign was held during the Great Depression.

Work on the new camp began very quickly. A strikingly rustic stockade gateway was built at the entrance off Truxell Road. Part of Truxell Road was moved south to permit the building of a dam across Salt Run to form the six-acre Lake Marnoc, which was used for all aquatic activities. Three lodges (Forester, Concord, and Explorer), a Dining Hall with a capacity of serving 400 people, and a Trading Post were built. In 1931, the Akron Lions Club erected an elaborate semicircular stone memorial with a one hundred foot flagpole on the highest point of camp. It was erected to the memory of H. Karl Butler. The new Camp Manatoc, with its 600 acres, although not entirely completed according to plans, was dedicated on June 8, 1932, and opened for camping for the first time on June 19, 1932.

Street address: 1075 Truxell Road Peninsula, Ohio USA 44264 County / Borough / Parish: Summit County Year listed: 1997 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949 Historic function: Recreation And Culture Current function: Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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