Sir Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement in England in 1907. Four years later in 1911, Port Townsend’s first Boy Scout Troup was organized. In the 1920s, a Port Townsend businessman donated the city
block at Quincy and Cosgrove streets “for use by the Boy Scouts of Port Townsend.” Community volunteers and scouts built a rustic log house on the property and began using the “Scout House” in 1931. Since then, the Port Townsend Elks Lodge has sponsored the local scout troops and maintained the Scout House as a meeting place and activity hub for scouts. The Scout House played a key role in the scouting experience in Port Townsend. For more than 70 years, the rustic character of the house meshed comfortably with the historic fabric of Port Townsend, serving as a focal point for the Morgan Hill neighborhood and an authentic backdrop for countless scout meetings, ceremonies, and camp-outs.