Oregon’s 100-year-old Camp Namanu earns historic designation

Camp Namanu, a camp that’s been a summertime idyll for young Oregonians since 1924, was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The new district, on the banks of the Sandy River in the foothills of Mount Hood, includes lodges, cabins and community buildings that were designed to complement and blend in with the forest.

Nancy King first attended Camp Namanu in 1965 as an 8-year-old, and is now a member of the board.

“It’s a beautiful spot in the forest and there’s magic streams and flowers and a duck pond, and it was just such a safe place,” said King. “My home was not a safe place. So it was wonderful to go to Camp Namanu and be safe, and have the freedom to have fun and laugh and sing and play.”

King took the lead in filling out the 85 pages of documentation required by the federal government to gain the historic listing.