Founded in 1918, Camp Winnataska, grew out of the desire of youth-serving organizations to serve city children during the summer months. The idea was to move children out of nearby Birmingham, Alabama, with its thick factory smoke and steel-making smog, to a wholesome, woodsy environment.
The site was used first in 1916 and 1917 by the Boy Scouts and the Boys Club. In 1918, the Birmingham Sunday School Association bought the land and started a pioneer effort in religious camps, offering sessions not only for boys, but also for girls.
The guiding spirits of early Winnataska were Dr. Elwyn Ballard, first commissioner of Boy Scouts in the Birmingham area, and his wife Florence. The Ballards first recognized the Winnataska location, on Native American hunting ground, as an ideal campsite, and they became vital forces in the founding and growth of the camp. Mrs. Ballard selected the name Winnataska from a list of Indian words, meaning “laughing waters,” alluding to the site's Kelly Creek and its delightful waterfall.
Daniel Ray Price, who married Ballard's sister Pauline, came to Birmingham in 1921 and was elected executive secretary of the Sunday School Association the next year, taking the running of Winnataska on as a personal challenge which lasted until his retirement in 1958. He stayed involved in the camp until his death, and his family is still active with the camp.
After the earliest sessions when campers slept in tents, Winnataska rapidly added rustic huts -- named for native tribes including Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Choctaw -- as well as a dining hall, chapel, nature hut, and other facilities. The Maltese cross is the official symbol of Winnataska, with its four arms representing the “fourfold life”: mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional.
A number of early traditions remain popular today, such as Indian Night and the pageant of the Holy Grail. Many of today's campers are fourth and fifth generation Winnataska family members.