Day 11 of Jacob's Journey: The First American Camping Trip

Gunner Military Camp, circa 1863 (photo via Acacamps.org) June 1, 1819 Dear readers, imagine the crackling of a campfire in the quiet open plains, the slow popping of succulent popcorn, and the telling of family stories...you know, there's few finer things in life that can compare to camping. It's one of my favorite outdoor activities, even though organized camping as Americans recognize it didn't really originate until 1861. For it was during that year that the Gunnery Camp was founded. The Gunnery Camp is considered the first organized American camp. Frederick W. Gunn and his wife, Abigail, operated a home school for boys in Washington, Connecticut. In 1862, they took the whole school on a two-week trip. The class hiked to their destination and then set up their campground. The students spent their time boating, fishing, and trapping. Everyone had such a humdinger of a time that the Gunns continued the tradition for twelve years. Camping season is now officially here, and if you need to refresh your stock of camping equipment, then you've come to the right place! Jacob Bromwell makes a variety of camping necessities from heavy duty frying pans (one of our customers says that when you drop a Jacob Bromwell frying pan on your foot, you'll know it!) to rugged utensils to contraptions that help you toast bread and marshmallows. But don't take my word for it; visit the campfire section of our site to see what we've got in store. See you 'round the campground!