A donation of 80 acres at Diamond Lake to the Spokane Council of the Boy Scouts of America by publisher William Cowles lead to the establishment of Camp Cowles in 1920.  Three years later, with funding from Spokane mining magnate John A. Finch, a lodge serving as a dining hall and camp headquarters was constructed.  Spokane architect Julius Zittel drew up the plans, employing a rustic design appropriate to the lodge’s role as a center for Scouting activities.  Although the building has witnessed some alterations over the years, the original form and much of the interior remains intact and the lodge stands as the oldest known architect-designed Boy Scout Lodge west of the Mississippi.