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Tejas Council History
Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. was founded
in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia. Over 2.5 million
members belong to the national organization, which is headquartered
in New York City. Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. maintains the Edith Macy
Conference Center and a campsite in upstate New York, as well as the
Juliette Low Birthplace in Savannah.
Girl Scouting began in Dallas in December 1920,
through the joint efforts of Mr. Elmer Scott and members of the
Business and Professional Women's Club. At a meeting held in January
1921, Mrs. Helen Palmerton was elected the first commissioner. There
were initially two troops of girls.
By 1922, the Dallas Girl Scout Council had grown
to 18 troops with 500 girls. A Girl Scout cabin was built at Bachman
Lake. In 1923, the Dallas Girl Scout Council became a member of
the Community Chest (now United Way) and in 1924 received their
charter from Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.
In 1963, the Dallas Girl Scouts merged with
the Chisholm Trail Girl Scout Council, and began serving in 11 counties
as the Tejas Girl Scout Council. In 1970, Tejas Girl Scout Council
welcomed a portion of the membership from the former East Texas
Girl Scout Council, expanding to its present size of 20 counties.
In 2000 the council's name was officially changed to Girl Scouts
of Tejas Council and there are now over 2,000 troops, more than
36,000 girls, and over 13,000 adult members.
From the original cabin built on Bachman
Lake, the Girl Scouts of Tejas Council has moved and expanded in
many directions. To serve its vast jurisdiction of Dallas, Anderson,
Cherokee, Collin, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman,
Marion, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Rockwall, Rusk, Smith, Upshur, Van
Zandt, and Wood counties, the council now maintains multiple facilities
for our Girl Scout membership.
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