History of Spook Rock- Former home of the Kane's Open. It was acquired in 1928 from a donation from the John P. Kane Estate to the Boy Scout Foundation of Greater New York. The donation was to be used to establish and maintain a weekend camp for Boy Scouts under the jurisdiction of the Manhattan Council of NYC. The camp included both tent and cabin sites with single and double-deck cots and straw
ticks. Heat was provided by coal heaters and cooking in oil or coal burning cooking stoves. While the camp was used primarily as a week-end camp, during World War II and its gasoline rationing, it was also used a summer camp do to its closer proximity to NYC. A full summer camp program was held at the camp including waterfront, handcraft and naturalist. This camp did not have a lake, but used a pool. During this time, Kanes Open also had a Kanes Open Scout program similar to the TMR Scout program. Due to the smaller size of the camp and the limited years it was used as a summer camp, these Kanes Open Scout patches are much more difficult to find than the equivalent TMR Scout patches. Kanes Open - KO FeltTo those who attended, the camp was affectionately known as KO. This is shown in one of the early felt issues from the camp. The camp was eventually closed as a Scout camp in 1956 and sold by GNYC in 1969 and is in use today as the Spook Rock Town Golf Course.
