LebTown
December 10, 2020 4 min read
Part of the Camp Strause map as printed in the Lebanon Daily News, 9 Feb. 1929.
Lake Strause, nestled in the valley between Blue Mountain to the north and Little Mountain to the south, is today a small Bethel Township community. But in its past, it was Camp Strause a Boy Scout camp built thanks to the generosity of a lumber businessman.
The story begins with a man named Samuel Strause. Strause was born in Berks County in 1866 to Monroe and Hettie Strause. The family moved to Pottsville in Schuylkill County shortly afterwards, where Samuel would reside for the rest of his life.