The credit for starting Troop One goes to Reverend Charles M. Watson, minister of First Christian Church (Disciples) in Norfolk.  He helped organize Troop One in the summer of 1911.  In August of that year, the Troop held its first campout at a government reservation in Ocean View (on what is now part of the Sarah Constant Shrine on Ocean View Avenue).  Mr. A. Roy Williams served as the Troop’s Scoutmaster, with Reverend Watson and Mr. J. G. Holladay acting as the Troop’s first Troop Committee members.   

  Reverend Watson later recalled that because the Scout movement in America was so new (the Boy Scouts of America were officially organized on 8 February, 1910), he had difficulties obtaining a Scout handbook for the Troop.  He eventually wrote a letter to Sir Baden-Powell in England to request a scout book.  The book (entitled “Scouting for Boys”) and a personal letter from Baden-Powel arrived that summer.  During the Troop's first camping trip this book was used to teach scouting to the first twelve scouts of Troop One.   

  On September 11, 1911, Troop One was officially chartered by the Boy Scouts of America.  Mr. M. H. McArdle became the Troop’s first official Scoutmaster.  In 1920, Mr. McArdle moved on to become the Deputy Scout Commissioner for the Norfolk Council (the predecessor of the Tidewater Council) and Eugene Swingley, the Troop’s second Eagle Scout, became the new Scoutmaster.  

  By the early 1950s, the neighborhood where First Christian Church was located (known as Ghent) fell into a period of gradual decline.  In the 1960s, the city of Norfolk approved a major redevelopment plan to revitalize the neighborhood.  Starting in the 1970s, many homes around the church were demolished as part of the redevelopment, and the Troop literally ran out of boys to fill its ranks.  In 1974, the Troop was temporarily disbanded.  But First Christian Church kept Troop One’s charter alive each year, in the hopes that it would once again become an active Troop.    

  In 1985, Mr. Jeff L. Christian heard about Troop One.  At the time he was an assistant scoutmaster with another troop, but was looking for a troop of his own to lead.  He heard that First Christian Church wanted to bring back Troop One, so he jumped at the opportunity and quickly volunteered to be the Scoutmaster.  In September 1985, Troop One was officially re-chartered, with First Christian Church acting once again is its official sponsor.   

  Since 1911, Troop One has produced over 70 Eagle Scouts and has had thousands of boys pass through its ranks.  Come check out Troop One and see what scouting is all about!