Robert A. Josey donated $5,000 to the Huntsville Boy Scouts in the early1930s to build a lodge they could call home.

The money was used to purchase the original acreage and to fund the building of the Boy Scout Lodge.

The Josey Boy Scout Lodge was constructed in 1934 outside the Huntsville city limits.

The Gibbs Brothers & Co. donated 400 logs and the necessary rock to build the lodge and the majority of the labor for raising the building came from the Roosevelt Administration’s Civil Works Administration.

The lodge — located off Sam Houston Avenue across from the Huntsville Fire Department’s Station No. 2 — was dedicated June 17, 1934.

On Saturday morning, Huntsville Scouts celebrated the lodge’s 75th anniversary with a rededication ceremony attended by at least 250 people and the lodge was recognized as a Texas historic landmark by the Texas Historical Commission.

The rededication was held in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady of The Woodlands was guest speaker; Huntsville Mayor J. Turner proclaimed Saturday as Boy Scout Day; Eagle Scout Mac Woodward gave a history of the Josey Lodge; and Kay King Mitchell, who chairs the Robert A. Josey Lodge, talked about the Josey Foundation.

Will Oliver, chair of the Huntsville 100th anniversary committee, rededicated the Josey Lodge, reading Robert A. Josey’s original dedication speech from June 17, 1934.

The four speakers were each given a wooden hiking staff handcrafted by Eagle Scout Daniel Rosenberger of Troop 114. The staffs were made from Winged Elm.

“It’s an honor to be here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Scouting and the 75th anniversary of the Josey Lodge, but just think Scouting is Huntsville,” Brady said. “It started one year before Scouting of America. That is a remarkable achievement.

“It says a whole lot about this community and about how it looks ahead into our youths’ lives.”

“Scouting is important to me,” Brady said. “I was a Scout. My son is a Scout. My wife was a Girl Scout. Scouting has such a positive impact on the lives of young men as a Boy Scout.

“Those of you who were involved in Scouting know that it’s an important organization. It helps develop character traits and values that we as parents can instill in our children.

“I can’ think of a more important time in America’s history to be pushing those values to our young people and the leaders they become. I am confident that because of your hard work here in Huntsville in Scouting, especially the parents who volunteer throughout the year, to make sure our troops are moving forward in Scouting. You do such a tremendous job.”

Woodward, the curator of collections at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum and member of the Huntsville City Council, said the Josey Lodge is an amazing place.

“Robert Josey, a native of Huntsville, wrote to Mayor Tom Ball on Dec. 19, 1933, that he had a desire to place the Boy Scout movement in Huntsville on a permanent basis through the means of a Scout home,” Woodward said. “He sent a check for $3,000 and authorized them to spend up to another $2,000.

“Tom Ball and the executive committee wasted no time in taking advantage of Mr. Josey’s offer. Houston architect and Trinity native Mike Mebane drew the plans for the Scout cabin.”

Woodward said the executive committee approved the site selection committee’s proposal to build the lodge one mile south of the downtown square in Huntsville, just outside the city limits.

“On Jan. 20, 1934, the executive committee awarded the contract to Lewis Meekins of Austin to build the lodge in 75 working days.”

The CWA approved $8,400 for labor and over $2,000 for materials.

On Jan. 23, the executive committee agreed to buy 5 1/2 acres on the recommended location for $2,000.

On Feb. 21, Meekins reported that 50 workmen were working on the lodge.

On March 21, the executive committee passed a resolution to buy three additional tracts of lodge for the lodge.

Woodward said more than 1,000 people attended the dedication of the lodge in 1934.

“Robert Josey, who become successful in the oil business, often told people ‘tremendous profits are sometimes made on a small investment,’ ” Woodward said. “He was quoted as saying ‘I can think of no investment that I have ever made which has given me the most satisfaction or paid me greater dividends in happiness than the Boy Scout Lodge at Huntsville and the annual award to the outstanding Boy Scout of the year.’ ”

Woodward recalled the thousands of Scouts “who have come through this lodge. The dedicated leaders that have kept Scouting alive in Huntsville. I think of the parents and mothers and dads who have supported Scouting, the Girl Scouts and what the lodge has meant to this community and what it will mean in the future.

“I think Mr. Josey was right. Sometimes a small investment will give you huge dividends.”

Oliver said Josey’s dedication speech was predicated on his fundamental objective for a successful life — service.

He said that Josey believed so fervently in this that he told the boys that “your success and happiness will largely depend upon your loyalty to this one aim.”

Drawing upon this one goal, Josey highlighted the fact that the members of the building committee had volunteered their time and labor to serve the Scouts.

“In order to also exemplify this call for service, at the end of his speech, Mr. Josey explained that he felt so strongly about service that he was ‘going to offer annually a prize of $100 to the member of this lodge who has been voted by his fellow members to have given the most in service — not only to this lodge, but to this community — during the year,’ ” Oliver said.

The first recipients of the Josey Award were two Boy Scouts, Ray Lynch and R.L. Bunting.

Over the years, other boys would earn the $100 prize and honor, including Scouts such as Tommy Cole, Thomas Leeper, Sam McGee and Damon Burris.

Josey said in June 1954 at age 83. He was buried in the historic Oakwood Cemetery alongside the gravesites of his parents Mr. and Mrs. E.T. Josey. The Boy Scouts laid a wreath at the foot of his grave.

To start the rededication ceremony, Boy Scout Troop 114 color guard raised a United States flag flown over a U.S. military base in Afghanistan and the BSA 100th anniversary banner.