“In 1916, Camp Miramichee was founded by Sophie Kraus of Memphis, Tennessee, on the banks of the South Fork of the Spring River in Hardy, Arkansas.
A few weeks at Camp Miramichee was a defining experience for generations of young women and girls from Memphis and the Mississippi and Arkansas Deltas.
The skills they acquired on the river went far beyond swimming, canoeing and weaving baskets. They gained self-confidence, self-reliance and leadership skills as they made lifelong friends. These friendships and the shared bonds of exploration and tests of courage and faith tie generations of Miramichee girls together to this day.”1
The camp operated at this location until 1978. It then moved to a more remote site, seven miles upstream on the South Fork of the Spring River. The last year of the YWCA Camp Miramichee was 1989.
Being a Camp Miramichee camper myself, I was drawn back to the area as an adult. I met and married my husband who was living at the old camp. In 2019, we acquired and renovated some of the original Miramichee stone cabins. While preserving as much of the camp history as we could, we added modern creature comforts to the original cabin experience. We offer 2 cabins on the river and 3 cabins on a wooded hillside for rent here at Camp Miramichee Falls.
Across from Camp Miramichee was the Girl Scout’s Camp Kiwani, also started in 1916. It relocated to Middleton, Tennessee in 1962.
We have 3 cabin rentals at Kiwanie Lake (the spelling changed after the camp moved) as part of our Camp Miramichee Falls experience.
My husband and I live here at the original Camp Miramichee and are stewards of the land. We love and honor its history and do our best to preserve and share it.
1. Phillips, Lyda. The Girls of Spring River YWCA Camp Miramichee 1916-2016. Spring River Press. 2016;1.
Photography of Camp Miramichee by Nadia Price. Collection donated by Nadia Price, Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center. For all requests, please contact the History Department at 901.415.2742 or hisref@memphistn.gov.
