Girl Scouts began in the Dallas area in 1920 – starting with only two troops of girls. Girl Scouts of the USA chartered the Dallas council in 1924. In the same year, Ms. R.M. Hammond donated 20 acres of land and Mr. Alex Sanger donated 13 acres of land to form a camp for girls in southwest Dallas.
1926 The Kiwanis Club builds a lodge and bath house on its property “Camp Kiwanis”
1927 The Kiwanis Club builds the first pool and first version of Tanglewood unit on the camp property
1930 The Dallas Girl Scout Council buys another 13 acres of property at the camp, bringing the total acreage including some leased acres from Dallas Community Chest to 53 acres
1950 The site is renamed Camp Whispering Cedars
1954 Tents are replaced with cabins for Cedar Lodge and Glen Oaks
1963 The Dallas Council and Chisholm Trail Council merge to form the Tejas Council
1975 Camp Whispering Cedars is refurbished
1991 Tejas Lodge is rebuilt after the building was destroyed by a fire
2007 Tejas Council, Cross Timbers Council and Red River Council merge to become Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas
2010 Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas enters into a master property plan. It was determined that Camp Whispering Cedars had exceeded its usable lifespan. Simultaneously, Texas Instruments approached GSNETX with a problem – there wouldn’t be enough women to enter the STEM pipeline by 2020. The idea for The STEM Center of Excellence is born
2013 GSNETX purchases approximately 36 acres of adjacent property from the Kirby family, bringing the property up to 88 total acres
2015 Community leaders and supporters celebrate during the STEM Center's official groundbreaking ceremony
2016 GSNETX CEO, Jennifer Bartkowski, joins donors and Girl Scouts for the unknotting ceremony, officially opening The Rees-Jones Foundation Welcome Center, The Hoglund Foundation Program Center, and The Moody Foundation Observation Tower
2017 Construction continues at the STEM Center
2018 Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas opens The STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars
