Camp Mystic

Camp Mystic
Image from 1926 brochure
LocationKerr County, Texas, US
Coordinates30°00′33″N 99°22′13″W / 30.0091°N 99.3702°W / 30.0091; -99.3702
Previous namesStewart's Camp for Girls
Campus size725 acres (293 ha)
WaterYes
Established1926
Websitecampmystic.com

Camp Mystic is a non-denominational Christian girls' summer camp in unincorporated Kerr County, Texas. It is set on a 725-acre (293 ha) campus consisting of two neighboring sites 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Hunt, near the confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek. The camp serves girls aged eight to seventeen.

The camp suffered heavy damage from the July 2025 Central Texas floods, with buildings being destroyed, dozens of campers reported missing, and 27 fatalities confirmed.[1]

History

The camp was founded in 1926 by E. J. Stewart, under the name Stewart's Camp for Girls.[2] It offered a single eight-week session each summer.[3] In 1932, the camp suffered a flash flood which washed away several cabins, but no fatalities were reported.[4] In 1937, the camp was purchased by the Stacy family, who have maintained ownership ever since.[2] Since 1939, the camp has been an all-girls camp.[5] By 1934[6] and until at least June 1942, the camp hosted a ten-day Aquatic School led by the Red Cross.[7][8] Although the camp is Christian, some Jewish Texans also sent their children there, as there were no Jewish summer camps in the area in the 1930s.[9]

The camp paused operations during World War II from 1943 to 1945,[2][10] when it functioned as a rest and relaxation site for soldiers, offering two six-week sessions.[11] Following the war, the camp began offering two sessions each summer.[3]

Inez and Frank Harrison, affectionately called “Iney and Frank,” were brought to Mystic in December of 1948 by then-owner Agnes "Ag" Stacy. They were directors of Mystic from 1948 until their retirement in 1987.[3]

The camp offered two camp sessions a year until 1983, when a third session was added.[11] By 1996, a session at Camp Mystic cost US$635 (equivalent to $1,273 in 2024).[12] In 2011 a 30-day session cost $4,300.[13]

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, camp leadership underwent a protracted family feud.[5][14] As of 2025, the camp was owned by Dick and Tweety Eastland.[15]

2025 flooding

Main article: July 2025 Central Texas floods

The camp was hosting 750 campers at the beginning of July 2025.[15] At 1:18 pm CDT on July 3, 2025, the National Weather Service office in San Antonio, Texas, issued a flood watch for Kerr County and other areas that would later be impacted by severe flooding.[16] At about 4:00 am CDT on July 4, flash flooding began in Kerr County; officials were unable to issue evacuation orders due to the speed of events.[15] The river rose 26 feet (7.9 m) in about 45 minutes.[17]

When the Guadalupe campsite flooded, campers took shelter on higher ground, where many of the older campers were housed.[17] The Cypress Lake site of the camp did not have intense flooding.[18] By dawn, the campers at the Guadalupe site had no access to food, running water, or power.[17] Rescue efforts were under way by the afternoon of July 4, with some campers being evacuated by helicopter.[17] The Cypress Lake campers were evacuated by military truck that afternoon.[18] The evacuated campers were taken to an elementary school in Ingram which was being used as a reunification center.[17]

On July 5, 27 campers were reported missing.[19] By July 6, 11 children and one counselor were still missing.[20] Camp director Dick Eastland died during the flooding,[21] as did at least five campers[22] and one counselor.[23][24][25] On social media, Eastland's family shared that he had died while trying to evacuate campers.[26] On July 7, Camp Mystic reported that at least 27 campers and counselors had been killed during the flooding.[27]

The camp's infrastructure was heavily damaged, with cabins swept away by the water.[17]

Facilities and administration

The camp is set on about 725 acres (293 ha) in Kerr County, Texas, 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of the city of Hunt. The campus consists of two neighboring sites near the confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek.[28][5][29] The camp serves girls aged eight to seventeen.[5]

The camp's recreation hall was built in the 1920s, using lumber from local cypress trees.[30]

As of 2018, the camp had 78 counselors.[11]

Activities and traditions

As of 2018, the camp offered three sessions per summer: two 30-day sessions, and a 13-day session in early August.[11]

The camp offers a variety of outdoor activities, including archery, canoeing,[5] cheerleading, fishing,[30] horseback riding, lacrosse, and riflery,[31] and indoor activities, including cooking, journalism, and "beauty—including classes in politeness training and facials".[31] Upon arrival, campers choose their activities and are given individual schedules.[11] Campers are divided into two teams, the "Kiowa and Tonkawa 'tribes'",[11] who compete through sports and games over the course of each session.[32]

Campers do not have access to electronics and are encouraged to write letters home. Parents are offered a one-way email service to contact their children.[11]

Sundays are "reserved for praise and worship on the waterfront and vespers on Chapel Hill".[32]

Campers are assigned seats in the dining hall, but arrangements are changed every week.[11] Fried chicken is served every Sunday.[5] Blue Bell ice cream is offered for daily dessert after lunch.[32]

The camp maintains ties with the boys' camps Camp Stewart and Camp Vista, and campers visit Mystic for dances and "a program of skits".[11]

Alumni

Some campers have been children or grandchildren of Texas governors Price Daniel, Dan Moody, and John Connally.[5][33] First Lady Laura Bush worked as a counselor at the camp while she was in college,[34] and Lady Bird Johnson attended events at the camp.[33]

Former campers

See also

References

  1. ^ Sundby, Alex (July 7, 2025). "Texas flooding victims include 27 Camp Mystic campers and counselors, camp confirms". CBS News. Retrieved July 7, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c Herring, Rebecca J. (December 1, 1994). "Camp Mystic: A Historic Summer Camp for Girls in Texas". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "Mystic History". Camp Mystic for Girls. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  4. ^ Burnett, Jonathan (April 2, 2008). Flash Floods in Texas. Texas A&M University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-58544-590-5.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Swartz, Mimi (July 2011). "The Not So Happy Campers". Texas Monthly.
  6. ^ Annual Report of the American National Red Cross. American National Red Cross. 1934. p. 98.
  7. ^ "Water-Safety Program". Beach & Pool. 14. Beach and Pool Publishing Corporation: 13. January 1940.
  8. ^ "Aquatic Schools". The Red Cross Courier. 21 (11). American National Red Cross: 8. May 1942.
  9. ^ Feuer, Hannah (July 7, 2025). "For the Jewish community in central Texas, deadly flooding hits close to home". The Forward.
  10. ^ The Army Air Forces in World War II: Services around the world. Office of Air Force History. 1948. p. 551. ISBN 978-0-912799-03-2. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Arnold, Bonnie (June 15, 2018). "Campers arrive in Kerr County, bring $32 million impact". hccommunityjournal.com. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  12. ^ Mackintosh, Prudence (January 1, 1996). Just as We Were: A Narrow Slice of Texas Womanhood. University of Texas Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-292-75200-9.
  13. ^ Harwood-Baynes, Megan (July 8, 2025). "Generations of Texas elite in mourning over Camp Mystic tragedy". Sky News. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  14. ^ MacCormack, Zeke (2012). "Camp Mystic survives six year family feud". My San Antonio.
  15. ^ a b c "Camp Mystic, the century-old girls Christian summer camp deluged by the Texas flood". NBC News. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  16. ^ Daryl Herzmann. "KEWX Flood Watch #3". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Schoenbaum, Hannah; Vertuno, Jim (July 4, 2025). "Texas families plead for information on at least 23 girls missing from summer camp after floods". AP News. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Blakey, Katy (July 5, 2025). "'It didn't look like Camp Mystic anymore': Dallas teen describes evacuation, devastation". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  19. ^ Badshah, Nadeem; Cooney, Christy; Clinton, Jane (July 5, 2025). "Texas flooding latest: desperate search for girls swept away at summer camp after dozens killed in floods". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  20. ^ "Camp Mystic: A girls' summer camp cut short by deadly disaster". www.bbc.com. July 6, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  21. ^ "Camp Mystic Director Dick Eastland among the dead in Guadalupe River flood". Texas Public Radio. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  22. ^ Rachel Wolf; Alexandra Koch (July 5, 2025). "Five deceased campers identified as death toll continues to rise after devastating Texas flood". Fox News. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  23. ^ Charalambous, Peter (July 6, 2025). "Camp Mystic counselor who died in Texas flooding remembered as 'loyal and beloved'". ABC News. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  24. ^ Plohetski, Tony; Heath, Keri (July 6, 2025). "8-year-old Austin girls, Linnie and Mary, among Texas flood victims from Camp Mystic". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  25. ^ Jenkins, S. E. (July 6, 2025). "2 Dallas girls killed in flooding at Camp Mystic, families say". CBS News Texas. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  26. ^ Sottile, Zoe; Dewberry, Sarah; Lavandera, Ed (July 5, 2025). "How torrential flooding wrought tragedy at an almost century-old camp for girls in central Texas". CNN. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  27. ^ "Camp Mystic for Girls". www.campmystic.com. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  28. ^ Rigdon, Renée; Fritz, Angela (July 7, 2025). "Children's camps in Texas were located in areas known to be at high risk of flooding". CNN. The camp is located at a dangerous confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek, where flood waters converged.
  29. ^ Snider, Mike (July 5, 2025). "Where is Camp Mystic, the Christian girls camp hit by flooding in Texas?". The Arizona Republic.
  30. ^ a b "Camp Mystic in Texas, Where 20 Children Are Missing, Is Nearly a Century Old". The New York Times. July 4, 2025. Archived from the original on July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  31. ^ a b "Best Summer Camps: Overnight Camps". Houstonia Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  32. ^ a b c Reynolds, Virginia (May 22, 2021). "Texas' Most Beloved Summer Camps — Storied Overnight Camps are a Tradition Like No Other for Generations of Texans". PaperCity Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  33. ^ a b Flahive, Paul (July 6, 2025). "Camp Mystic, now in ruins from Texas floods, was a pillar for generations of women". NPR. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  34. ^ Gormley, Beatrice (May 11, 2010). Laura Bush: America's First Lady. Simon and Schuster. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4391-1430-8.
  35. ^ a b Rodriguez, Paulina (July 7, 2025). "Inside Camp Mystic: The Elite Summer Camp Before the Flood". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  36. ^ "CNN anchor who attended Camp Mystic 'overwhelmed with emotion' visiting site of deadly Texas flood". The Independent. July 7, 2025.
  37. ^ Sullivan, George (1966). The Personal Story of Lynda & Luci Johnson. Popular Library. p. 39.
  38. ^ Martin, Mary (1976). My Heart Belongs. Warner Books. p. 163. ISBN 9780446893558.
  39. ^ Kaufman, David (July 12, 2016). Some Enchanted Evenings: The Glittering Life and Times of Mary Martin. Macmillan + ORM. ISBN 978-1-250-03176-1.
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