Mount Vernon Dining Hall is built.
The Mount Vernon Dining Hall is one of the most iconic buildings, aside from the Jackson Mill, on the campus. Completed in 1926, the design of the Dining Hall was suggested by a group of 4-H boys who stopped to visit Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, on their way home from attending a camp in Virginia. The building was designed to look very similar to the original Mount Vernon. The large dining room, which has beams and supporting columns of chestnut, can comfortably seat 375. The kitchen has been remodeled several times throughout the years. The main floor was renovated in 1997 to meet ADA accessibility standards. Several historic paintings and photographs hang in the main room of the Dining Hall, as well as portraits of many of Jackson’s Mill’s past directors. There is additional meeting spaces and storage on the lower floor of the Dining Hall. At one time camp workers used the upper floor as a dormitory. In the early 2000s, the Dining Hall underwent a major renovation which saw the interior of the main dining room brought back to much of its original look, while the upper floor was renovated into three two-room suites. There is also a small conference room located on the upper floor as well. During the renovation, the basement was also renovated created a large meeting space and additional dining room as well as additional food storage and preparation areas. The Mount Vernon Dining Hall remains one of the most picturesque buildings on the entire campus.
The original location of the pool is built.
While there is a much larger and modern pool in another part of campus, the original location of the pool was located near the spot of the present-day flagpoles located just across the road from the front of the dining hall. This pool was largely hand-dug and part of that work was done by campers who attended camp in those early years. Eventually the original pool was filled in and moved to its present location, near the large picnic pavilions, in 1975.