The land that became Camp Eberhart was originally owned by Joshua Corey, who purchased 200 acres at Corey from the government in 1836 and for whom the lake is named. Corey may have been a New York land speculator rather than a settler since records show that he never resided in the area; he often bought and sold properties in the Corey area -- always from a New York address. A five-room, two-story house on what is now Camp property was built before the arrival of the Knevels (the foundation still exists near the old stables).

It is not clear who built the house. According to one account, the original part of the home was built by an old Indian trader and that the orchard behind the house was from around the period when Corey bought the land. Between the original owners and the arrival of the Knevels, a squatter, the legendary Hesikiah Thomas, moved into the home and filled it with cobblestones, hoping they would turn to gold. One account mentions he was renting the home, from whom is not clear. During the final year of the Civil War (1865), the Grandville Knevels family moved to Corey from White Pigeon and purchased the home and farmland. The Knevels expanded what was by then referred to as "the old Corey house" from five to 11 rooms. Their son, George Knevels, 12-years- old at the time, had the task of shoveling the cobblestones from one of the rooms. It was George who owned the land when the Eberhart's provided the money to purchase the camping area in 1909. George became involved with Camp Eberhart from its very beginning, telling stories of the rich history and traditions of the surrounding area during campfires. He also hauled campers and their baggage from the Corey train station to Camp. Knevels went to school in the log schoolhouse, which used to stand at the end of Little Corey. He brought bushels of apples with him to Eberhart campfires and was a breeder of fine horses, which consumed so much of his time that he hired help to tend his farm.

Seventy-four years after Joshua Corey first bought the land, the Camp Eberhart brochure for 1910 described the area this way:

"Corey Lake is a spring fed lake two miles long and three-quarters wide with an excellent sand beach directly in front of the camp. This insures safe bathing. The fishing is of the very best as there are several other lakes within walking distance of the camp. Taken all in all Corey Lake is the very ideal place for a boy's summer outing. The buildings are placed on a high ground and will be dry and sanitary. The camp has its own water supply, there being on our property two new clean artesian wells."

Frank H. Cheley, age 21, was Boy's Work Director of the South Bend YMCA at this time. According to the 1910 camp brochure, he was "in charge" and therefore became Camp Eberhart's first director as the 1910 season saw camp officially dedicated. The Colorado Springs, Colorado, native was nicknamed "the Chief." Wallace Jerram, of the Y's physical department, headed up Camp's recreation program and he and Cheley were assisted "by an able corps of leaders," said the brochure.

On June 20, 1910, campers from South Bend boarded the Michigan Central, getting a round trip for $1.05. Stopping in Niles, Michigan, for a 40-minute lay over, the campers conducted an "advertising hike" throughout the town. Hanging a sign on their baggage declaring "I'm going to Eberhart, are you?" the boys make their way to a drug store for sodas and ice cream before boarding for the final leg of the journey to Corey Station. Arrival at Corey brought cries of "Corey! Corey! All for Corey!" and according to one account, "it didn't take that light-footed, light-hearted bunch long to disembark, only a minute to pile up trunks and gripes, for the wagon coming later, then off afoot over the two and a half mile road to camp."

Another account detailing the arrival of three campers to the Corey Station described the campers riding with Mr. Knevels along with their luggage on his wagon pulled by a magnificent pair of Dark Bays:

"...listening with breathless interest to Mr. George's (Knevels) descriptions of how the country had looked when he came into it as a boy...He told them story after story, as he had heard them, of the Black Hawk War, and of the purchase by the government of the Indian lands, until they were really sorry when the road turned sharply and they passed through the iron gate and on the lake road, which was a shady path along the north side of Little Corey."

The campers of 1910 arrived a Camp finding "the Camp spread out before them, the long line of trim steel rowboats, pulled well upon the white sand beach, and boys coming and going in every direction." A total of 64 boys between the ages of 12 and 18 camped that summer. Sleeping arrangements were as the summer before, however, this season included the Lodge (now Obenchain) on the hill overlooking the lake. The Lodge housed the dining room, kitchen, store, library and reading room, bank and post office. On the small second floor were six guestrooms. A boathouse on the beach was built in the same stucco style as the Lodge and the cook's cabin behind the Lodge. Also ready for this first official season were the icehouse, tennis courts, croquet grounds and baseball diamond.

The Camp was dedicated on Monday, July 4. "Dedicatory services of an elaborate nature have been planned," reported the South Bend Tribune. Chairman of the committee arranging the event was John B. Campbell and members of his committee included Dr. E.P. Moore, Kenneth Bears, Rollo C. Pifer, S.R. Arbogast, Elmer Rodgers, A.E. Beyrer, Ralph Harris, Charles Ward and O.E. Hupp.

At 7:30 that morning a special train chartered especially for this ceremony departed from Michigan Central Depot, located on North Emerick Street in South Bend. "Several hundred have signified intentions of making the trip while a large number have already gone," noted the Tribune story two days before the dedication. Attendance was also expected from Three Rivers and other nearby towns. "Our eyes are blinded by the dust of the passing hay racks as the farmers rush to the station for the crowds of visitors that are coming to the dedication exercises," according to one participant. "A great day...this camp is sure getting lively these days. The crowd swells with almost every train."

Meanwhile, the celebration at Camp was already underway with a "horrible parade" beginning at 4 in the morning. At 11 a.m. water contests were held including tug of war, egg and spoon races, tilting contests, three-legged swimming races, bobbing for corks, tub races, umbrella and obstacle races and plunging through rope contests.

Following the aquatic tournaments and the noon meal was the dedication at 1:30 p.m., with John Campbell presiding. The program began with the singing of "America," an invocation by Rev. William B. Freeland, and a song by the YMCA Quartet. Everett Eberhart presented the Camp to Cadmus E. Crabill, accepting the gift on behalf of Y president L.P. Hardy. Crabill "drew some strikingly beautiful analogies between the camp, its site, make up and prospects and the life of young Harris Eberhart...the saddest heart must have found comfort in his words," according to one witness. The South Bend Tribune called the Camp "the $7,500 philanthropic enterprise" of the Eberhart's in memory of their son. A speech was given by Dr. Francis J. McConnell, president of DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, and a friend of Everett Eberhart; Everett served on the board of trustees at DePauw and was a financial supporter of DePauw. McConnell later became a Methodist bishop, debated religion with lawyer Clarence Darrow and wrote 24 books.

A baseball game between the campers and the visitors followed the ceremony. At 4:30 the chartered train returned to South Bend while other visitors chose to remain for the evening fireworks. After one dry-run season in 1908 and the first official season in 1909, Camp Eberhart was finally dedicated in a first-class fashion with a noted speaker and fanfare from the press.

The daily schedule for the summer of 1910 was identical to the previous year's. The program included sports, fishing, hiking, and swimming; however, rowing was new this year with 15 new steel rowboats. An important innovation this season was the Honor System, consisting of the Camp emblem displaying the degrees of awards earned by the campers. The emblem itself was an intersecting brown triangle and large "E" with a green background and green bars added for each week spent at Camp. The emblem could be worn on the left breast of a shirt or sweater. The emblem by itself was the award for the first degree which campers received for attending one full week. The second, third and fourth degrees were noted by a small green star placed at the points of the triangle and were awarded for passing at least eight of the 12 requirements. These were all completed in the presence of a Camp leader:

Requirements for the Second Degree:

1. Catch a one-pound fish from Corey Lake;
2. Catch a one-pound fish from any lake while at Camp;
3. Row a boat, passing the rowing test; 4. Swim 50 yards;
5. Walk one mile in 10 minutes; 6. Run 100 yards in 13 seconds;
7. Start three consecutive fires with three consecutive matches in the woods with one of the fires to be built in a damp place (if one fire fails, the entire test must be repeated);
8. Catch five different butterflies;
9. Catch five different moths;
10. Capture five different beetles;
11. Collect and press 25 different wild flowers;
12. Jump seven feet in a standing broad jump.

Requirements for the Third Degree:

1. Start a fire with a fire drill, with fuel and material found in the woods;
2. Tell the correct time by the sun at least twice a day, Sun Time;
3. Swim 200 yards; 4. Row a boat one mile in eight minutes;
5. Measure the correct height of a tree without climbing it;
6. Tie and untie eight different standard knots;
7. Catch a two-pound fish;
8. Identify 15 different trees in the woods;
9. Perform on a stunt night acceptably;
10. Identify 25 different birds as seen around the Camp;
11. Lead in the evening devotions at least twice;
12. Run 100 yards in 12 seconds.

Requirements for the Fourth Degree:

1. Catch a three-pound fish;
2. Run 100 yards in 11 seconds;
3. Run 100 yards in 11 seconds (with #4 listed in the 1910 brochure as running 100 yards in 12 seconds, which may have been an error);
5. Teach one boy how to swim (test 100 feet);
6. Influence one boy into the Christian life;
7. Identify 25 different trees as found in the woods;
8. Make 12 standard knots in a rope;
9. Conquer one bad habit while at Camp;
10. Accomplish at least one definite piece of service as prescribed by the Camp;
11. Become a member of the Camp Council;
12. Jump 16 feet in the running broad jump.

Once the third degree was completed, the camper became a member of the Brown Rag Society. With the fourth degree came membership in the elite Green Rag Society, the highest honor in Camp. Members of the Green Rag could, by unanimous vote, make any camper a member of that order for saving a life "or for any other cause that they deem worthy," according to the Camp brochure. Both orders held regular meetings and initiations.

A Camp Summer School began this season, sponsored by the Camp's Educational Department. Classes were Monday through Friday, 9-11 a.m., at no charge. Subjects included math (arithmetic and algebra), English (grammar), geography and Latin. Tutoring was available in other subjects at a small cost. Optional classes were offered for grades six through nine, made "attractive in the utmost degree, " said the camp brochure. "Not like going to school, for the boys will not look upon it as work." Campers brought their own textbooks and took classes in a white tent, referred to as the "University," pitched in a quiet secluded spot on the shore of Little Corey. One report from the 1910 season has a camper saying, "Several boys are taking summer school work... the instruction is individual." One account has a tent leader and nature studies staffer, Mr. Verne, acting as dean of the Camp University during this period.

Some extra-curricular activities that summer included a Round Table. Several of the older campers ate supper together in the reading room at the Lodge twice a week and had a toastmaster. After dinner speeches were given on assigned subjects such as inter-high school athletics, prize fighting and ways of celebrating the Fourth of July. Another organization born this season was the Astronomy Club, begun during the third week with 15 members choosing "Look Up" as their motto. The group met twice weekly for stargazing and hosted a weekly lecture. Early members of the Club included Jewell Longley, as president, Donald Livengood as secretary, Lawrence Turner as treasurer and Mr. Yelton as leader and instructor.

Camp had an officer of the day that gave commands for flag raising and lowering. At night there was a night captain whose duty was to make the rounds of Camp following taps. Sunday was a special day with an extra half-hour before breakfast and an opportunity to dress in clean clothes (some boys even wore ties). The 9 a.m. Sunday inspection was the toughest of the week, although the work detail was canceled. Chapel was held at 11 Sunday morning featuring guest speakers. Sheep would still occasionally roam in front of the Lodge. Rainy days were spent in the Lodge with the fire blazing and campers busy listening to the gramophone, making kites, playing checkers and reading books. Each camper brought a book each season for the Camp library. On stunt nights, the 9 p.m. "all quiet" rule was suspended and campfire stories followed the performances.

Other routines of camp life included: cheesecloth to cover the aisle side of the tent bunks from mosquitoes; hikes in Big Bay; traveling to and from Camp dressed in coat and tie; sliding down the chutes (slides) into the lake; berry picking; hikes to Mount Misery; and a turtle hunt resulting in a turtle dinner following the "gory chore" of cleaning them. Cheley, described as a "great fellow" by Don C. Johnson, one of the earliest campers, used to dress in Indian war feathers and head dress; like Mr. Knevel, farmer Pulver transported camper luggage from Corey Station; tents fitted with bunk lights; concrete floors were added to the tents; low wooden fences were built between the tents and later tent frames with wooden sides were installed and the tent fit over the frame ("which was a great deal better"); each camper brought their own eating utensils and after each meal campers washed their mess gear behind the Lodge then hung their cloth bag closed with a draw string on a nail in the Lodge; campers played the "Army game" with the camp divided into two, each trying to get to a location held by the other side (perhaps an early version of Capture the Flag?).

George Arlo Cooper joined Cheley's staff in the 1911 season. The native Minnesotan came to South Bend's YMCA that spring from Grand Forks, North Dakota, as assistant physical director for the Y. J.B. Miller, formerly physical director in Grand Forks, had been South Bend's physical director for about two years and asked George to be his assistant. Nicknamed "Coop," the 21-year-old came to Eberhart as program director and head of physical activities. Coop had already made a name for himself in high school for wrestling, among other athletic pursuits.

Cheley described Coop as he appeared to the campers that season: "He was clad in khaki trousers and sleeveless jersey; his arms were burned to a beautiful brown, and his muscles -- the new arrivals stared in wide-eyed wonderment. They had never seen such a powerful man before." A reporter for a local newspaper observed that the 175-pound, almost six-foot tall Coop was "a lad with heavy, slightly rounded shoulders, long biceps, a fighting physique, wise blue eyes...(and) a square, wide mouthed face."

Coop spent three summers at Eberhart teaching athletics and swimming, along with his other duties, before taking three years off for college. J.B. Miller suggested to Coop that he ought to either go to medical school or Springfield College for physical education; Coop decided on Springfield, in Massachusetts. He continued to make his mark both in sports and in academics, lettering in four sports and serving as class president in his senior year.