Camp Overlook was founded in 1965 by the Evangelical United Brethren Church Conference. The 117 acre property was purchased from the Reid brothers for $20,000. After two years of hard labor and lots of planning by some amazing people, Camp Overlook was officially opened for youth camp in 1967. So many people gave their time, talent, labor, and money to make Camp Overlook a reality that it would be impossible to name them all. Most of our buildings and areas are named after people who made camp what it is today.
Camp Overlook's name came from a conference-wide project where names were submitted and voted on. The name with the most votes was EUB Overlook but it was decided to omit the EUB giving us the iconic, Camp Overlook. To anyone who has been here before, standing on a hill and overlooking the Shenandoah Valley, it is clear that Overlook is the most fitting name.
Camp started off running five weeks of camp each summer, divided into two elementary weeks, two junior-high weeks, and one senior-high week. We had approximately 500 campers each year plus staff. In these beginning years, the cost for a camper to come to camp for a week was less than $20!
As Camp Overlook was previously used for farmland, the landscape was pretty bare. It was decided to secure white pine seedlings to cover the area. 800-1000 seedlings were secured from the US Forest Service with the intention of harvesting the timber after a number of years by selective cutting. However, the selective cutting never occurred, leaving us with the thick beautiful forests that are a staple of Camp Overlook.
This is just the beginning of our history as we believe that Camp Overlook will be here for a long time. Thanks to our wonderful donors, rental groups, campers, and other people who support Camp Overlook who help us to do what we love.