By Bill Pumford, Image from the ROWHS Collection
TITLE: THOUSAND PINES RESORT AND CAMP IN CRESTLINE
Thousand Pines has long been known as a Christian Camp but early last century it enjoyed life as a high-end resort. In 1913 Charles W. Brashear purchased 300 acres above Crestline where he intended to build a resort. Brashear was part owner of a road building firm called Brashear-Burns where the firm’s funds were key in building the Thousand Pines Resort. The photo above is a sign for the entry of Thousand Pines taken in 1914 or 1915. The resort had a dance pavilion, café, rooms or cottages to rent. In October of 1918 Charles Brashear died of the flu and in 1919 his widow began liquidating the assets of the resort. The resort appears to have been vacant for several years until in 1924 when a group of investors, including a realtor named B. Dade Davis, purchased the Thousand Pines property where they offered cabin sites for sale for $180, $1 down and $1 per month. The purchase of a cabin site also provided membership into the club which allowed use of tennis courts, swimming pool, and dance hall. Cabins and rooms were also still available for rent. This ownership did not last long because in 1925 the property was purchased for $65,000 by Leon Atwood and Arthur Gregory. The property at that time included 200 acres, 19 cabins, hotel, and dance hall with some of the property being set aside for sub dividing. In 1939 the resort was donated by Arthur Gregory for use as a Baptist camp where it eventually became what it is today – the Thousand Pines Christian Camp and Conference Center. The Christian Camp, associated with the Lake Gregory Company, put in a bid to operate Lake Gregory with Nathan Godwin, directing operations at the Thousand Pines Camp, becoming the new manager of Lake Gregory.