Camp Fire USA is a community-based non-profit organization that builds caring, confident, youth and future leaders. When it began in 1910, it was the first integrated, non-sectarian organization for girls in the United States. Camp Fire has evolved into a network of 120 councils nationwide, and together we serve over 750,000 boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 18 every year.

The Portland Metro Council of Camp Fire has served well over 100,000 youth since opening in 1912, making us one of the most successful and deeply rooted youth-development organizations in our community.

When Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 it became the first integrated, non-sectarian organization for girls in the United States.  Programming in the Northwest began in 1911 as groups in Forest Grove lead expeditions to a camp site at Rivera, on the banks of the Willamette River near the present site of Dunthorpe. The organization gradually evolved, and the Portland Council was officially chartered in 1921.



Soon after, a search began for a site that would host a full service resident camp. A 552 acre plot of forest land located at the confluence of the Sandy and Bull Run Rivers was generously donated to the Council by local lumberman Samual B. Cobb. This land would become known as Camp Namanu, which opened its doors in 1924 and has been in continuous operation ever since.



In addition to programming at Namanu, Camp Fire has long served the communities of Oregon and southwest Washington by providing high-quality youth development programming for nearly a century. In 1975 Camp Fire became co-ed and changed its name to Camp Fire USA, reflecting its inclusive nature and values. The mission, building caring, confident youth and future leaders, has remained solid throughout.



Currently, Camp Fire offers an array of educational and recreational programs and projects for youth in Washington and Multnomah Counties.

Pietro Belluschi was undoubtedly the most eminent architect to come out of Portland Oregon in the last century. In the late 1920´s and early 30´s as Namanu was growing in popularity, Belluschi was in the early stages of what would be a remarkably prolific and influential career. During that time he designed several of Namanu´s most attractive buildings, which are still in use today. These simple structures lend an air of rustic nostalgia to the camp, and helped to define the soul of Namanu in its early days.



Belluschi came to America from Italy as an exchange student in 1923 and made his home in Portland, Oregon. He worked for many years with the renowned architecture firm A.E. Doyle and eventually took it over under his own name. While in Oregon he designed such notable structures as the Portland Art Museum and the Equitable Building, the latter being considered one of his most important works as it is known as the first fully sealed air-conditioned environment.