Home to generations of Camp Family
Rosa and Lee “Knubby” McLauglin started Camp Maxwelton, for boys, in 1949 near Brownsburg, Virginia. In 1952, they purchased the farm on which the current Camp sits, and, in 1954, they added the Lachlan (girls’) session. As many as four generations of campers and counselors have called Maxwelton home.
A breathtakingly peaceful 360 acres of rolling hills, forests, and creeks, Maxwelton backs up to (family-owned) Jump Mountain Conservation Easement Properties and, beyond that, tens of thousands of acres of national forest land. Camp is nestled at the foot of Jump Mountain, which is part of the easternmost ridge of the Allegheny Mountains, in the southern Shenandoah Valley. With stunning views of the North Range, a mile of frontage on Walkers Creek (and several smaller streams), a spring-fed pond, groomed and wildlife trails, fields for running, trees for climbing and hammocking, and grassy, rolling hills, campers are never without an opportunity to hike, fish, swim, or otherwise enjoy the outdoors.
The historic main house (of the German I-House tradition, for our architectural-history buffs) was built between 1813 and 1815, with bricks fired in the front yard, as a wedding present for ancestors of the McLaughlin family, and is the central hub of life at Camp. Rosa and Knubby added a large, screened-in porch which is used as the Camp dining room, and they outfitted the kitchen to cook (and wash dishes!) for a crowd. The house also includes the Main Office, the family bedrooms, and the infirmary. The beloved two-level, columned Front Porch, overlooking the creek, is a favorite perch for anyone seeking a quiet rocking chair.
Other structures include a 100+ year old bank barn, an extensive crafts shop, a granary (now used for storage and activities), a log cabin, several outhouses, a wash stand/shower house, and eight raised board and batten cabins. Additional improvements include tennis and basketball courts, a grill/cookout area, a large vegetable garden, an equestrian riding ring, sports fields, a baseball diamond, a rifle range, and an archery range.
