Historical Snippets from Hi-Catoctin, Shangri-La and Camp David

Shangri-La 1947.

Photo courtesy of John Kinnaird.

Historical Snippets

from Hi-Catoctin, Shangri-La and Camp David

By Theresa Pryor

Camp David is located sixty miles outside of Washington, D.C. in Catoctin Mountain Park. It is located east of Hagerstown and north of Frederick in the Catoctin Mountains of western Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg.

Originally known as Hi-Catoctin, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named it “Shangri-La”, taken from the James Hilton novel, The Lost Horizon. Ths fantastical story is about a group of plane-crash survivors who have landed in the mythical and beautiful Shangri-La, a valley hidden deep within the mountains of the Himalayas and when rescued, some didn’t want to leave. Great story, by the way.

Roosevelt’s idea for this once rustic wilderness retreat was to build a camp for federal employees and their families, a project completed in 1938 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the New Deal. On April 22, 1942, FDR selected it as States Naval installation operated by military personnel. In 1953, Camp David received its present name from President Dwight Eisenhower in honor of his father and grandson, both named David.

Camp David Entrance1972. Photo courtesy of John Kinnaird.

Backside of Aspen Cottage the President’s quarters when at Camp David.

Photo courtesy of John Kinnaird.

Camp David serves presidents and first families as a secluded getaway from the White House. Presidents have also used Camp David as a secluded setting for important, high-level discussions and decision making. For instance, after the failed Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba, President Kennedy invited former President Dwight Eisenhower to Camp David for a private consultation. This was Eisenhower’s fiftieth and final trip to Camp David. While at Camp David, on April 29, 1973, President Richard Nixon asked for the resignations of two top aides, John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman. In the days immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush hosted key members of his cabinet and national security team at Camp David to strategize. President Bush convened numerous meetings and discussions during his time there, engaged in private reflection away from the press corps, and attended Sunday church service at the grounds of Evergreen chapel.

Many other historic decisions were made, or almost made, by Presidents at Camp David. Jimmy Carter initially favored closing Camp David in order to save money. Once Carter actually visited the retreat, he decided to keep it and brokered the Camp David Accords there in September 1978 between Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin.

Ronald Regan visited the retreat more than any other president. In 1984, Reagan hosted British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Reagan also restored the nature trails that Nixon paved over so he could horseback ride at Camp David. George H.W. Bush’s daughter, Dorothy was married there in 1992, in the first wedding held at Camp David. During his tenure as president, Bill Clinton spent every Thanksgiving at Camp David with his family. In July 2000, he hosted the 2000 Camp David Summit negotiations between Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat.

The camp is reportedly one of the most secure facilities in the world, as reported by a Department of Defense journal in 1998. The facility is guarded by one of the United States Marine Corps’ most elite units, MSCCD (Marine Security Company, Camp David). Each Marine is selected from the infantry and sent through a battery of psychological and physical tests. He then must undergo specialized security training at the Marine Corps Security Forces School, in Chesapeake, Virginia. The Marines then report to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. Assuming the Marines successfully complete all their schooling, they still must, like their Navy counterparts, attain “Yankee White” security clearance. Only then will the Marines be eligible for the assignment at Camp David. After 12 months of service at Camp David, a Marine is awarded the Presidential Service Badge. Typically, tours at Camp David are 18-24 months.

For a great read and an interesting inside view, Rear Admiral Michael Giorgione’s book, “Inside Camp David: The Private World of the Presidential Retreat,” offers details that could surprise even the most avid Frederick County historians.

In 278 pages, Giorgione weaves palace intrigue, personal reflections from former commanding officers at the camp and histories of the retreat and Thurmont, including a tidbit about how the town was nearly named Blue Mountain City.