The forgotten Eagle Scout Lodge in Allegheny Countys South Park and its interesting history

A Mounted Eagle Scout Troop a deliberately forgotten piece of scouting history

As you travel past the rotting structures of the once proud Allegheny County  South Park  Fair which was permanently cancelled  in late 1960's you will come across an interesting building now called South Park Cottage but originally it was called Eagle Scout Lodge .

Why I wondered was it called Eagle Scout Lodge ?   I remember as an Alter Boy at St Basil's Church  in Carrick 29th ward of City of Pittsburgh Pa.  that we once held our alter boys appreciation  picnic  there for many years  till some of my fellow alter boys damaged one of the vacant buildings next to the lodge in early 70's and our group was no longer permitted there and that it was called Eagle Scout Lodge. Many in scouting I asked  thought it was to honor those who earned the Eagle Scout Award  one old timer told me it was to honor a group of eagle scouts who served as Calvary Scouts in WWI but the dates did not correlate as scouting had just started about that time . So I decided to find out why after never getting a satisfactory answer from any one in executive end of  scouting including the worthless  Allegheny Trails Council now known as Laurel Highlands Council .

entrance to Eagle scout Lodge

Well after doing some research it seems the building was dedicated to the first Mounted Eagle Scout Troop in Allegheny county in 1933
 when South Park first opened.

Mounted Eagle Scout Troop?    Like Calvary Troop ?
no not that but close you see in that time period when scouting first started  to be an Eagle Scout you had to show proficiency in Horsemanship because even up into the 30's horse's where still being used  for everything from delivering milk to farm use so it was a needed skill to be able to properly handle a horse. Especially during the depression when only the rich could afford cars in many areas .  You where  even required at one time  to earn the Horsemanship Merit Badge to get to Eagle Scout Rank and award .
 Horseman Ship skills also where important if you where considering becoming a military officer which many eagle scouts did back then because the US military still had mounted Calvary units  into the 40's .
 So this is what this building was all about was the training and advancement of Eagle Scouts to
become excellent in there horsemanship skill and become officer material in the process. kind of like an early ROTC program.  many do not know it but General George S. Patton started out as an expert horseman and Calvary Officer in his early career.
While doing my research on the Eagle Scout Lodge  I came across a couple articles on this which I have included below.
So mystery solved despite the facts scouting has hidden this excellent chapter of its history. Why it has been forgotten who knows why would a group be ashamed of this?  There was not even a mention of it when council held a huge council wide Bicentennial Camporee  in 1976 directly across from it where they held the  Saturday night bicentennial  show at the time.  

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1jcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NGkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1708,3181920&dq=mounted+eagle+scout+troop+allegheny+county&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EjIbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eUsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2011,2128688&dq=mounted+eagle+scout+troop+allegheny+

 

I wonder how many of the members of the mounted Eagle Scout troop went on to serve their country and I posthumously salute and thank you for your service those who did serve .