Page 4 - Maryland Association of Campgrounds 2020 Directory

Camping on a presidential scale ha

As you anticipate your Maryland camping vacation in the
summer of 2020, the Maryland Association of Campgrounds
invites you to turn back the hands of time 99 years to the
summer of 1921, when 10 days in Maryland defined camping

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Warren Harding, Harvey Firestone
in that era. It was then that President Warren G. Harding
joined industrialists Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey
Firestone – a group of wealthy friends who referred to them-
selves as “The Vagabonds” – for a camping trip on a 200-
acre farm along Licking Creek, in Washington County. Their
campsite is commemorated today by a marker in what is
now Camp Harding County Park, an interesting stop for
history buffs.

Camping at that time was
not the rustic experience
that one might imagine.
Similarly to how wealthy
industrialists gravitated
toward exclusive destina-
tions such as Newport,
Palm Springs and Jekyll
Henry Ford fishing
Island, living in private
mansions that they referred to as “cottages,” the concept of
“roughing it” has always been somewhat subjective. The
caravan might include 100 vehicles, built by Ford and
running on Firestone tires. President Harding’s entourage
alone numbered over 40 people, including Secret Service
agents and 10 White House photographers. It is thanks to
those photographers that we have historical photos such as
these to document the event.

Although there was an extensive staff of cooks, drivers and
other staff members, Harding still found time to chop wood
and to ride along Licking Creek on the six horses that Fire-
stone had shipped in from Ohio. They all found time to read
the daily newspapers, dress in their suits and bowties, dis-
cuss world events, dine family-style around a huge lazy
susan that seated 20 people, and take the spontaneous
naps that had always been part of Edison’s daily routine.
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