The Narrows Waterfront

Camp Boxwell at the Narrows of the Harpeth (Boxwell No. 2) was a summer at a great location. An enormous ridge, the Narrows themselves, local caves and cemeteries, the Montgomery Bell mansion and Tunnel, and even Native American Mounds made the location a great adventure land for Scouting.

Without question, the most popular part of the Narrows Boxwell for the boys was the waterfront. With wooden steps coming out of the water to a platform that served as a dock, the Waterfront was the site for swimming and boating. There were free swims before breakfast, before lunch, and before dinner. Scouts rushed to the waterfront as soon as they arrived at camp. The last day of camp also involved an all afternoon long Water Carnival, filled with swimming and boating competitions.

Oh, and there were no showers at the Narrows until at least 1941, so Scouts bathed in the river too.

Seen here is the Narrows Waterfront in 1930, its first summer. To the left, up the river, were the Narrows and the Tunnel. Up the dock and straight back up the hill was the dining hall, the assembly area, and the camp itself. The caption with the photo stated, “SWIMMING HOLE AT SCOUT CAMP ON THE HARPETH RIVER. The swimming hole is conducted under strict rules passed by the Scout’s own council [of boys].”

Nashville Tennessean, February 8, 1931, Rotogravure section

Parnell Dining Hall Under Construction

Boxwell at Old Hickory Lake opened for summer in 1960 on June 26, but it wasn’t finished. There was not administrative building (the Crab) in 1960 and some buildings were still in transition. Even building as important as a dining hall.

Shown here is the earliest known photo of Parnell Dining Hall. Taken either that first week or camp or soon after, the dining hall is clearly still under construction in this photo. While the details are difficult to see given the size, there are a few really interesting details here.

First, all the landscaping is clearly a recent construction site. Second, the door by the chimney appears to be a screen door, not the heavy solid door that came to be the side entrance. The third detail is the most interesting. Look closely at the side walls. A vertical steel beam is clearly visible near the front corner. If this looks odd, it should. Today it is covered with rock. Those rock facades have not yet been added.

Oh, and it looks like there is a sawhorse in the background, center left.

The Entrance Gateway

Currently, work is under way for a new gateway entrance into Boxwell. The designs have changed since the original concept, but the idea of a gateway that honors veterans remains. But this entrance gateway is not the first attempt at such an idea…

Seen here are blue prints for an Entrance Gateway designed by Burkhalter Hickerson and Associates. If you recall, this was the same company that did much of the early work on Boxwell Reservation. The gateway was to be made of stone with log gates. A bronze plaque could be found on the right of the gate. To the left and right of the gate were six foot wide recesses with wooden seats. The gateway would be approximately 10 feet tall and well over 50 feet long.

The blue prints lack a date, but we can make some assumptions. An early plan for the Reservation (1957) puts an “entrance gate” on the road just before the ranger’s residence. It seems likely these are plans for that location, but for whatever reason the gateway was never built. Sometimes that happens with capital campaigns…