In 1950, the idea of having "camping" in a Christian environment for children in the Washington, D.C. area was realized. The first encampments were held at a rented facility called Skymont, which was south of Front Royal, Virginia about five miles. Although these early encampments were relatively small, they were very successful and a decision was made to purchase permanent facilities. Camp WAMAVA as a corporation was formed in 1955 to purchase the current 146-acre campus. It was purchased in 1956 for $4,500. Twenty-five dollar shares of stock were sold to area Christians to raise the capital necessary to purchase this land.

After construction of the administration building, now known as the Nelson and Lois Smith dining hall, the first camping session on the current Camp WAMAVA land was held August 11-25, 1956. It served 76 campers and 21 staff members. The boys "dorm"was an old converted school bus which was eventually converted to a tool shed and then later converted to a stable for the Camp horses (by the early 70's, it had deteriorated so much that it was removed from Camp). The girls were housed in the administration building (dining hall), with their sleeping quarters partitioned-off from the eating and cooking areas.

Both the boy's and girl's "A&B" dormitories were added in 1957. These were converted Army barracks from the South Post of Fort Myers in Arlington, Virginia. The old barracks were disassembled at Fort Myers, hauled by tractor-trailer to the Camp property and then reassembled. An infirmary (on the site of Nickell Hall) was added about the same time. It was a converted construction building, built for construction of the new Arlington Church of Christ building. This part of the Arlington Church of Christ building was the larger auditorium and additional classroom facilities that were constructed in the mid-1950's.

A building called South Quarters was also re-erected where boy's "C" dormitory is now located. A Baptist church in nearby Front Royal, Virginia originally owned it.

Late in 1956, the Virginia State Government constructed a 400-foot earthen dam. This dam created the lake. It was expanded to about 150% of the original size in 1996. After construction of the dam in 1956, the lake was used for swimming until the first concrete swimming pool was added in 1959 (near today's boy's "A&B" dormitories). This new pool kept the campers from leeches, snakes, snapping turtles and frogs that also occupied the lake.

The recreation hall was added in 1965 and the boy's "D" dormitory followed in 1998. Boy's "C"; is now used to store camp tools and other supplies. It is the small building located immediately up the hill from the current boy's "A&B" dormitories. It was only used as a camper dormitory for a few years because it had no bathroom facilities.

In 1971, two more girl's dorms were added -- the cinder block "C&D"; dormitories -- and a brand new horse barn was finished in late 1972. About this time, a new swimming pool using a plastic liner was built up the hill from the old pool. The original pool had been built over a spring which eventually caused a large crack to form in the in the middle of the pool bottom. This crack allowed large quantities of untreated water into the pool, which made pool health requirements extremely difficult to maintain.

The dining hall portion of the original Administration building was remodeled, winterized, and a Director's residence added in 1981. Soon after, it was dedicated to Nelson and Lois Smith who lovingly served campers for many years.

Nickell Hall, named for Everett and Eva Nickell who served the Camp for almost thirty years, was built in 1982 on the site of the old infirmary. Today, this building is often called "paradise" since it is one of the nicest buildings on campus.

The kitchen was remodeled and updated to meet emerging State of Virginia health requirements in 1986. It was dedicated to "Mama and Papa T" (Mary & Arthur Thomas) who also lovingly served campers from the kitchen for many years.

A new boy's "D"; dormitory was built in the place of old South Quarters in 1987. For many years this was the best dormitory on the campus.

A new Gunnite& swimming pool was built in 1991. This pool was dedicated to Mac Jacobs who served as a lifeguard and trainer of lifeguards for many years.

The new boy's "A&B"; dormitory was built near the site of the original "A&B" in 1997. And the new girl's "dormitory", identical to the new boy's dormitory, was completed in 1998. This brought an end to the memorable Army barracks taken from Fort Myers.

This history only deals with the Camp facilities. What it doesn't tell are the many stories of lives that were changed for Christ, nor the long lasting friendships that first began at Camp, or even the many first romances that began at Camp WAMAVA. For these, you need to talk to a camper or former camper -- there are many stories and fond memories.