After being elected in 1928, Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry wanted a retreat from Washington for relaxation. They personally purchased property in Madison County Virginia in what is now Shenandoah National Park. During the warmer months, the Hoovers very often visited weekends 1929-1933.
In 1929, the Hoover's first visited the camp. They envisioned a series of tents with wood floors. These would be called "yurts" today. However, that quickly was scuttled in favor of more permanent structures. The Marines, based on the property, built 13 buildings including two mess halls, a "town hall" social and recreation center, a lodge for quests, several cabins for guests and the Hoovers' cabin, known as the Brown House.
One of Hoover's first acts was to decommission the Presidential yacht Mayflower, saving around $5 million (2023 dollars) annual maintenance costs. The furnishings, dishes, flatware and the Filipino mess crew were transferred to Rapidan.
Rapidan Camp some became a place for presidential business. One of the earlier visitors in 1929 was Ramsey MacDonald, Prime Minister of Britain, along with his family. The cabin he stayed in (photo below) became known as the "the Prime Minister's House". A nearby cabin was named "Ishbel" since it was where MacDonald's daughter stayed. MacDonald and Hoover discussed naval armament limits.
In 1930, Senator Smoot and Representative Hawley met with Hoover to discuss tariffs on agricultural goods. The resulting legislation was the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
In 1931 during May and June, the Cabinet met on 4 successive weekends to discuss the US financial crisis and impending European financial collapse.
Charles Lindbergh, Henry Luce, Horace Albright, General McArthur, Edsel Ford and Theodore Roosevelt paid visits. Lindbergh brought a gift, an autographed parchment map of his Trans Atlantic flights made into a lampshade.
Prime Minister's House
Since the camp was privately owned, the President could keep the press away. The Marines were instructed to always say that the President was fishing and unavailable. This got reported and led to a negative view of the President as not being attentive to the duties of the presidency.
Hoover had a firetower constructed on nearby Fork Mountain. Almost daily hikes or horseback rides to the tower were a popular morning activity.
We toured the Brown House but were not able to photograph inside. From photos, the interior is furnished as it was during the Hoovers' tenancy. All cabins had running water, electricity and telephone service. Mail was dropped from a plane. Newspapers were delivered daily. The Hoovers added another bedroom in the Brown House so Lou Henry would not be interrupted during the night by urgent business that required waking the President.
The Brown House was decorated with Navajo rugs, hand crafted pottery and simple furnishings. Lou Henry wanted things simple and to blend with the woodsy surroundings.
What is left of the Town Hall
The Town Hall was a large building designed for meeting during the day and social and recreational events in the evenings.
Entrance to the Brown House
Visitors are welcome to hike to the site. There are several options to hike there from Milam Gap parking area. It's downhill, so the reverse is up. Once there, you can walk about the camp and enter the Prime Minister's House. The on-site employee, locks and unlocks. Another option is to take a guided tour which we did, beginning at the Harry Bird Visitor Center. Book ahead of time as this tour is only given 3 times a day Thurs-Sun. A 15 passenger van takes and 30 minute, 6 mile bumpy gravel road, closed to vehicles. Our tour was with Ginny who spoke almost nonstop for 2 hours. She was a true Herbert Hoover scholar. We heard the fascinating story of his life and much much more about the camp and meetings which took place there.
Rear deck of the Brown House
When Hoover left office, he donated the property to the government to be used as a presidential retreat. FDR took a tour and decided he didn't like it. He was wheelchair bound and had difficulty getting around. Besides, he didn't like Hoover. FDR built his own retreat Shangri-La in the Catoctin Mountains. Later that was renamed Camp David. Rapidan Camp was used by Congressmen, Cabinet members and high ranking military leaders for a number of years. In the 50s, the Boy Scouts leased the property. Finally in 2004, it opened to the public.
The President was able to fish in the nearby streams. The Marines diverted a stream to create a pool where Hoover's pet fish resided.
Creel House
One of the three remaining buildings is the Creel House. A park employee resides here so it is off limits to visitors. The employee is on the premises to protect the remote camp and to interact with any hike-in visitors.
Brown House
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