in the Allegheny Mountains
Abingdon, Virginia
Frank R. Reade, Director
Founded 1901: The Oldest Camp For Girls
Purpose: This site is dedicated to the directors, employees, and thousands of campers who spent their summers at Camp Glenrochie, 1901 to 1951.
| History and Memories | Health | Pictures | Camp Prayer |
directed several generations of campers to this
summer retreat in the Virginia Alleghenies, near
Abingdon, is the former Miss Mary Ellen Compton
of Columbus, Georgia. A counsellor there in 1947,
she is now [1950] Mrs. Stanley Gasek of Utica,
New York, where her husband is pastor of the
Episcopal Church.
Camp Glenrochie is a mile and a half from the city limits of Abingdon, the oldest Virginia town west of the mountains, and two miles from Main Street, which is the Lee Highway.
Abingdon is in the extreme southwestern corner of the state, only 14 miles east of Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee. It is situated on an elevated plateau some 2200 feet above sea level, between ranges of the Allegheny mountains which, within from 10 to 25 miles, rise to 4500 and to nearly 6000 feet. Glenrochie enjoys ideal summer weather – warm, pleasant days, and delightfully cool nights.
Many parents drive their daughters to camp, and find lodging for the night at the Martha Washington Inn, the Barter Residence, home of the famous Barter State Theatre of Virginia, or at local tourist homes or camps. We are glad to have parents at camp for meals, but we do not have overnight facilities for them.
Through trains reach Abingdon, which is on the Norfolk and Western railroad, in the morning from New York, Washington, Alexandria (through Pullman from Richmond), Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and Roanoke; and in the early evening from New Orleans, Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Knoxville.
The Tri-City Airport (Bristol, Johnson City, Kingsport) is about 30 miles from camp. Abingdon has postal, telephone, telegraph, and cable facilities.
The information on this page is from Camp Glenrochie publications stored at the Valdosta State University Odum Library Archives and Special Collections. For more information, send a message through the Contact Me form.
published 07.20.2007, revised 02.20.2018