History | GSCTX

Blazing trails for more than a century.

Girl Scouts have always been leaders, in Central Texas and across the nation.

The Girl Scout movement was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savanah, Georgia, and spread across the country. Emerging in Central Texas just nine years after the organization’s foundation, Girl Scouts became deeply woven into the social fabric of their communities, leading service projects to make their hometowns better places to live, while igniting in girls their sense that they could do anything.

Today’s Girl Scouts continue to blaze trails as community helpers, leaders, and agents of change.

Austin Girl Scout Troop 1 was formed in 1921, organized by Mrs. Minter.

The first all-Black Girl Scout troop west of the Mississippi was established in Austin in 1936. Pictured is the first African American Girl Scout troop, cira 1930.

1920s

The first Girl Scout troop meeting in Central Texas was held in Austin on June 14, 1921, with 16 girls in attendance. This would eventually become Austin Girl Scout Troop 1. In late 1921, Austin Troop 2 was organized, and the Austin Girl Scout Council was formed. By 1922, four Girl Scout troops had been established in the Austin area.

Girl Scouts participated in the same kinds of activities members know and love today, including earning badges, camping, and serving the community.

In 1924, Rena Lee Giles of Austin Troop 1 became the first Girl Scout in the Central Texas area to earn the Golden Eaglet Award (now called the Girl Scout Gold Award), earning her a scholarship to the University of Texas. In 1925, numerous troops were organized in Belton, San Marcos, Georgetown, Pleasanton, and Childress, shortly followed by troops in the Waco area and Bryan in 1927.

1930s

In the early 1930s, the Austin Girl Scout Council established its first cookie sale to fund activities, with cookies that Girl Scouts baked themselves selling for 15 – 20 cents per box. The first sale earned $300 for Girl Scouts’ summer camping.

The first all-Black Girl Scout troop west of the Mississippi, Austin Troop 22, was established at Kealing Junior High School in 1936. Madeline Avone Moore became the first Black girl in the council to receive her Girl Scout pin. Two additional all-Black Girl Scout troops formed at neighboring L. C. Anderson High School later in 1936.

In 1934, Girl Scout troops in the San Angelo area were organized and the council was officially chartered in 1935. By 1936, Brownwood Girl Scout troops were operating on an independent basis. In 1937, the Bryan College Station Area Council was chartered. In 1939, Girl Scout troops were established at the Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for the Blind; Waco Troop 1 expanded to form three patrol units; and the Austin Girl Scout Council consisted of 34 troops in Austin and neighboring communities.

The first group of Austin Girl Scout hospital nurse aides graduated after four months of training in April 1944, starting their service at St. David’s Hospital.

Girl Scouts received Silver Wing Merit Badges at Goodfellow Air Force Base in 1951, having completed a six-hour course in aviation.

1940s

Girl Scouts joined the wartime efforts during World War II, packing supplies and selling war stamps and bonds. The American Red Cross taught Girl Scouts essential first aid classes, learning vital patient care in the hospital and at home, to support people returning from the war wounded.

In 1943, San Angelo Girl Scout Council announced the formation of Latin American troops at Sam Houston School and Blackshear. In 1945, Austin formed 27 new Latin American and Black troops.

Local communities made significant investments in Girl Scouting, including a Bryan Girl Scout Lodge built in 1941. In 1949, the LCRA leased 124.4 acres in Spicewood on Lake Travis to the Girl Scouts for use as a Girl Scout Camp, which was later named Camp Texlake.

1950s

Camping remained a prominent aspect of Girl Scouting, and Girl Scouts, with the support of their communities, invested in establishing and expanding permanent campsites across Central Texas throughout the 1950s. In 1954, Girl Scouts desegregated Camp Texlake. Camp Wood Lake on Lake Brownwood opened in 1956, partially funded by Girl Scout Cookie sale proceeds.

In 1957, 248 acres were purchased on Lake Belton to establish the campsite now known as Bluebonnet Shores Girl Scout Camp (formerly Camp Kachina). The Bluebonnet Council approved its first council-wide cookie sale and area Girl Scouts sold 900 cases of cookies, with proceeds funding the first buildings at Bluebonnet Shores. Open house for the new Girl Scout Camp was held in March of 1958, with Girl Scouts from Belton and Temple as tour guides. Taking advantage of lake access, Temple Girl Scouts organized the first Senior Mariner Girl Scout Troop in the area.

The decade also saw community service projects throughout the area. Girl Scouts volunteered to watch babies for mothers who needed to vote, participated in the Easter Seals campaign to raise funds for children who were paralyzed, supported the distribution of civil defense cards to school students, and launched “Operation Pots and Pans” to aid victims of the 1953 Lakeview Tornado. Globally, Girl Scouts participated in the “Kits for Korea” program—a service project to aid children in the war-ravaged nation.

Girl Scout camp counselor Sharon Wheat and camper Martha Wyche practiced archery at Bluebonnet Shores Girl Scout Camp (formerly known as Camp Kachina).

Girl Scouts went door-to-door selling boxes of cookies in 1974.

1960s

In 1960, Bluebonnet Shores Girl Scout Camp opened on Lake Belton. The camp program included swimming, canoeing, and hiking, with Girl Scouts studying weather forecasting, astronomy, lashing, outdoor cooking, and soil conservation. The Girl Scouts planned and cooked their own meals over campfires, under adult supervision, and routine camp chores were divided into Girl Scout “kapers.”

A mock disaster was staged at the camp involving a group of Girl Scouts who pretended to be injured so that other Girl Scouts could practice attending to their injuries. The event was enacted to put in place the Girl Scouts’ “Be Prepared” slogan.

A community service project for Killeen Girl Scouts involved the collection of supplies, personal items, and sweets to be packaged and sent to the troops in the Vietnam War.

1970s

Responding to the times, civil defense and medical self-help trainings were offered at the Bryan Scout House in the early 1970s at the height of the Vietnam War.

Throughout the decade, Girl Scouts across the council areas took on environmental issues as part of Girls Scouts’ national “Eco-Action” program. In 1975, members of Girl Scout Troops 99 and 346 of the Lone Star Girl Scout Council presented a program to the Texas House honoring Susan B. Anthony and women everywhere who contributed to society.

Community service projects included participation in Keep America Beautiful Day, hosting “Come Out and Vote” rallies, ecology projects, visiting nursing homes, making tray favors for hospitals, and more.

Girl Scout Daisies led a science experiment as part of Girl Scouts’ council-wide launch of STEM-based programming.

Girl Scouts try out different activities, including STEM experiments, at a 1990 “Girl Scouts on Parade” event.

1980s

Girl Scouts embraced new opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), participating in hands-on engineering, computer science, construction, auto repair, and video and film editing. These activities offered fun experiences for youth while connecting with women working in these “careers of the future.”

As programming adapted to the times, Girl Scouts continued to give back to their communities by leading and participating in community-wide service projects and supporting those close to their hearts. El Camino Girl Scouts launched “Project Safe Time,” a community-wide educational program teaching latchkey children, responsible for their own after-school care, necessary self-care skills.

In lieu of membership dues, San Marcos Brownie Troop 203 collected canned goods and delivered 140 pounds of goods to the San Marcos Area Food Bank. In a display of sisterhood, an El Camino Council Girl Scout troop donated their annual summer trip money to a fellow Brownie with cancer to help cover hospital bills.

1990s

A concerted effort to bring Girl Scouting to youth with barriers to access began in the 1990s. Troops were established at many Central Texas housing authority sites and council launched an in-school pilot program to deliver Girl Scouting at Norman Elementary School and Allan Elementary School in East Austin. In 1999, Girl Scouts organized a troop for residents of the New Life Treatment Center, a psychiatric treatment center for girls aged 11 – 17 where many of the girls experienced extreme physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, and Girl Scouts was used as an intervention in their treatment.

Girl Scouts continued their community service, with projects serving Habitat for Humanity, Adopt-a-Highway litter control, Humane Society and SPCA, and “Keep Austin Beautiful” litter control. In November 1999, Lone Star Girl Scout Council and Goodwill created a new partnership called Fill It Up. Over 2,000 Girl Scouts collected donations on behalf of Goodwill to raise money for people with barriers to employment. Girl Scouts' efforts increased Goodwill’s donations by 20 percent over the December 4 – 5 weekend, raising $67,000.

The program we know today as Operation Cookie began as a response to Operation Desert Storm, where Girl Scouts delivered cookies bought by local residents for soldiers, offering a taste of home for those overseas.

Girl Scout and mom of Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, a newly launched program created to break the cycle of multi-generational incarceration.

Girl Scout Daisies getting a hands-on robotics demo from The Lady Cans robotics team.

2000s

Girl Scout programs were established as interventions for under-resourced communities. In 2000, Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB), a program serving girls whose mothers are or have been incarcerated, launched in Central Texas to break the cycle of multi-generational incarceration. In 2006, a partnership was formalized with the Housing Authority of the City of Austin to provide staff-run Girl Scout troops at public housing sites across the city. In 2007, Stay In School To Enjoy Real Success (SISTERS), a program focused on school dropout prevention, launched in San Angelo middle schools and high schools. As of 2023, both programs boast a 100 percent success rate.

In 2007, Girl Scouts of Central Texas Council was formed through the national realignment of Girl Scout councils. Four area councils including Lone Star (Austin), Bluebonnet (Waco), El Camino (San Angelo), and Heart of Texas (Brownwood) were realigned into one new council.

In 2009, the Lady Cans Girl Scout Robotics Troop, also known as FRC Team 2881, began in Austin with one troop looking for more engineering activities. Their skills grew and more girls joined the troop to build robots each year in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). The team leads STEM experiences and summer camps for their fellow Girl Scouts each year and as of 2023, has won FIRST competition awards almost every season since their foundation. The Lady Cans are one of only a handful of all-girl FRC teams in the nation.

2010s

In 2010, Tech Girls launched in Central Texas, followed by Gamma Sigma’s launch in 2015, to serve girls at middle schools and high schools where 50 percent or more of the students were classified as at-risk or economically disadvantaged. Tech Girls is a cooperative and scalable STEM program that tasks participants with creating, troubleshooting, and evaluating complex projects to increase their scientific capabilities and confidence. Gamma Sigma Girls participate in a unique college and career readiness, advocacy, and service-learning program that enhances in-school learning and encourages exploration of their future possibilities.

As girls continued to be underrepresented in STEM fields, a number of large-scale council programs were introduced to increase girls’ STEM confidence and STEM interest, including the annual Samsung STEM Challenge, which launched in 2013 and continues today—an event that requires Girl Scouts to use the engineering design process to solve problems. Community-wide STEMfests were also launched in College Station, San Angelo, and Waco.

Providing girls with innovative opportunities, in 2017, Troop 40348, the first Girl Scout scuba troop in the country, was formed in Austin. Doing everything Girl Scouts do, but underwater, the troop focused on scuba diving, conservation, and building leaders in the dive community.

In 2018, five Girl Scouts from Central Texas were selected to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women serving as “the voice of the American girl.”

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