It was 1932, just six years after Camp Mystic opened, when an early July rain began falling on the Texas Hill Country around the Guadalupe River.
At first, it was a “lovely, gentle rain,” one person said at the time. But the rain intensified, and the river quickly swirled past its banks, sending churning floodwaters through the idyllic girls camp. Archived news clips from that week describe campers rushing to safety, some shedding tears as they watched some of the camp’s cabins — and their possessions — swept away.
They survived, but were left stranded without food, forced to eat fish that had been tossed up by the floodwaters. Someone flew a plane over the site the next day and dropped notes to the group to tell them that help was on the way.
The event in 1932 was one of many dire reminders over nearly a century that Camp Mystic had been built in a location that could experience devastating floods. Since its construction in 1926, the camp — which promised cabins “snugly arranged” in a “picturesque bend” in the river — repeatedly experienced flood disruptions, including evacuations or damage to structures.
Some two dozen campers died last week when the Guadalupe River roared in once again.
Here is a closer look at the history of floods at Camp Mystic:
July 1, 1932
Nobody died at Camp Mystic during the 1932 flood, but four people were reported killed along the river during that flood event. Some 200 people lost their homes.
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