After working as summer counselors at a boys' camp in North Carolina, former Furman University roommates and basketball teammates Nield Gordon and Everette Pigg envisioned their own boys' camp in 1956.  The coaches and their wives found farm property for sale ten miles up the Blue Ridge foothills in picturesque Mountain Rest, SC. With the purchase of this property, now 60 acres completely surrounded by Sumter National Forest, they were on their way to establishing Camp Chatuga.

The farmhouse became the camp dining hall and is the only original building still on the site--with numerous additions. The cornfield with a spring-fed creek winding through it became the 15-acre lake. The old apple orchard became tennis and basketball courts.

The farmhouse became the camp dining hall and is the only original building still on the site--with numerous additions. The cornfield with a spring-fed creek winding through it became the 15-acre lake. The old apple orchard became tennis and basketball courts.

Chatuga was named for, though spelled differently from, the nearby Chattooga River and the Chattooga Ridge on which the camp is located. "Chattooga" is a word the Cherokee Indians adapted from the Creek, "Tsa-tu-ge", which means "we crossed here."

Since Coach Gordon had three daughters and many parents were requesting a place for their daughters to also attend camp, Chatuga became a boys and girls camp in 1979. Ten girls joined the boys that first coed summer. Today the numbers are evenly split between boys and girls, and many children of former Chatugans (even 3rd generation!) have enjoyed Chatuga vacations.

Coach Gordon's daughters, Angela Gordon Sullivan and Lucy Gordon Barnett ( and the late Kelly Gordon Moxley) and son-in-law Rick Moxley have now operated Camp Chatuga for over 20 years. We have also been accredited by the American Camp Association since 1990.

Our love for Chatuga and commitment to continuing its tradition are reflected in the fun-filled vacations still being enjoyed by new generations of Chatugans!