Camp Harding Park
Buildings, Grounds & Parks Department
240-313-2700

Welcome to Camp Harding Park. The fourth of Washington County’s fourteen park facilities was opened to the public in May 19, 1974. Located within this nineteen acre park are two picnic pavilions, restrooms, picnic tables, grills, drinking fountains, softball field, volleyball, basketball and horseshoe courts, parking and a boat ramp. Trout fishing and canoeing are available on Licking Creek, which represents the park’s southern boundary.

Located between Clear Spring and Hancock, access to Camp Harding Park is via U.S. Route 40 West, turn right on Pecktonville Road, approximately one mile to the park.

Area History:  The earliest residents of the area now known as Pecktonville were Shawnee, Susquehanna Piscataway and Iroquois Indians, drawn perhaps by the Potomac River. Records indicate that the first white settlers moved here in the early 1700’s, attracted by the river as well as the fertile land found along the many creeks in the region.

Pecktonville was originally known as "Licking Creek Mills," named by Reverend Jeremiah Mason, presumably after the grist mill be built beside Licking Creek. The area has also been known at various times as "Rosedale Mills" and "Peck’s Mill." Reverend Mason’s grist mill was destroyed during the flood of 1889, but was rebuilt at a higher elevation soon after the flood by Martin L. Peck, a school teacher interested in industry and regarded as a man of "unusual integrity." In 1892, the post office, originally located in Indian Springs, was moved to Peck’s Mill and area officially became known as "Pecktonville" named in honor of Martin L. Peck.

A close knit community, residents congregated yearly at "Peck’s Island" (now park of Camp Harding Park), to hold the Annual Pecktonville Basket Picnic, sponsored by the Parkhead United Methodist Church, in a tradition begun in 1898 and held annually to date. Prior to the picnic, Sunday School members, followed by the Pecktonville Band would march through the community arriving at the Band Hall, which was located at the entrance to the present Camp Harding Park (it was torn down during park construction as the building had fallen into disrepair). After the sermon and several musical presentations, the community settled in to eat and visit the afternoon away.

The community has changed little in the 200+ years since the first white settlers moved into the area. Many businesses no longer survive, but the ancestors of those original settlers remain.

Famous Visitors:  Camping at many locations throughout the country from 1914-1923, "The Vagabonds" (familiarly known to most Americans as inventor Thomas A. Edison, rubber industry pioneer Harvey S. Firestone, automobile magnate Henry Ford, and 29^th U.S. President Warren G. Harding), gave this tiny community a place in history books with their historic sojourn to Pecktonville in July 1921.

Photographs taken by area residents show these revered gentlemen engaging in many "normal" activities: Edison napping beneath a large tree and relaxing with his wife along Licking Creek; Henry Ford cooking and doing dishes; all four notables astride horses, participating in a sing-along and relaxing beside a huge campfire. The late Mrs. Hazel Revell, former owner of land now known as Camp Harding Park, once recalled that as a child she presented President Harding with a bouquet of peonies upon the dignitaries’ arrival and later walked hand-in-hand with the President to the local store where he bought candy for her and her playmates. The original land owner, Raymond Mason, was given a Model T Ford by Henry Ford for allowing them to camp on "Peck’s Island."

President Harding died in 1923 and the other campers never returned, but memories of that weekend in 1921 will never be forgotten and will be passed along to future generations to remind them of a simpler time when a president could walk freely among us. 

Come experience the rural elegance that charmed some of the most influential men in American history.

Park History and Development:  In 1968, Washington County began acquiring land for the development of a park in the western section of the County. This first land purchase included "Peck’s Island." In 1972, the park area fell victim to Hurricane "Agnes" and the Army Corps of Engineers assisted Parks Department personnel with debris removal from Licking Creek and the surrounding area.

The first phase of development included a paved entrance road, parking lot, walkway and steps to an elevated pavilion, restrooms, picnic tables and a boat ramp. When the park officially opened in 1974, it was named in honor of its most notable visitor, President Warren G. Harding. The second development added more walkways, grills, play equipment and a drinking fountain. Additional land was purchased in 1983 and 1985 and the third phase of development included a second picnic pavilion with restrooms, a softball field, basketball court, play equipment and related the volleyball court from it’s former location near Licking Creek. In 1992, area residents requested and were granted permission from the County Commissioners to name the newest pavilion in the memory of the late Hazel Revell, who had allowed residents to use "Peck’s Island" prior to it becoming a County park and who had made available for purchase most of the park’s acreage.

The official park season runs from the first Saturday in May through the last Sunday in October, from 9:00 AM until sunset. Walk-in access is permitted year-round.

We hope you enjoy your visit to Camp Harding Park and that you will return to visit often. Please, take only pictures and leave only memories. Put litter in its place.

Pavilion reservations and park information may be obtained by contacting the Buildings, Grounds & Parks Department at 240-313-2700.

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Last Edited:  May 29, 2007