Let's Go to Camp... David!

What It Covers

Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, traces its history from a 1936 New Deal land rehabilitation project through FDR's wartime refuge, Eisenhower's renaming, and decades of diplomatic summits — including the 1978 Carter-Begin-Sadat peace negotiations — to its current operational structure run by the Navy.

Key Questions Answered

• •Origins and transformation: Camp David began as a federally purchased 10,000-acre tract of depleted agricultural land in 1936, rehabilitated under the Works Progress Administration. FDR converted one camp within it — originally called Camp Hi-Catoctin — into a presidential retreat in 1942, renaming it Shangri-La after James Hilton's novel about a Himalayan utopia.
• •Naming and infrastructure evolution: Eisenhower renamed Shangri-La to Camp David in 1953 after his five-year-old grandson, added a helicopter pad cutting travel time from 55 miles to 30 minutes, installed a one-hole golf course with multiple tee boxes, a bowling alley, and a movie screening room — establishing the template for all future presidential amenities.
• •Nuclear preparedness beneath the pool: A presidential relocation facility — a hardened underground bunker capable of housing 50 to 150 defense personnel — was built during Eisenhower's tenure. Nixon later constructed a figure-eight heated swimming pool directly above it, requiring $260,000 in early-1970s dollars to reinforce the shelter's structure to bear the pool's weight.
• •Camp David Accords mechanics: Jimmy Carter hosted Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for 13 consecutive days in 1978. Carter deliberately used the smaller Holly Lodge for initial meetings to create intimacy, and the physical isolation prevented either leader from departing during tense moments — a deliberate diplomatic strategy that produced the most significant Arab-Israeli agreement ever reached.
• •Naval operational structure: Camp David operates as Naval Support Facility Thurmont, staffed by Navy Seabees on 36-month tours filling roles including cook, hairdresser, horse instructor, and lifeguard. Marines from the 8th and I Street Barracks handle perimeter security on 18-month tours. All personnel hold Yankee White clearance, the most thorough background investigation performed for anyone working near the president.