Camp Davis
From their earliest days, civil engineering educators the world over faced the problem of finding an appropriate location for 
students to learn and practice surveying. The best locale would have a considerable expanse of open, unobstructed area. University of Michigan civil engineering instructors decided the best solution was to find a suitable body of water so that students could use various points on shore to practice triangulation.
Under the supervision of Civil Engineering Professor J.B. Davis (BSE CE 1868, AM hon. '12), U-M set up the nation's first surveying camp in 1874 at Whitmore Lake, in Whitmore, Michigan. In the following years, the camp moved to a succession of other Michigan sites: Thornapple Lake (1875), Simpson Lake (1877), Clear Lake (1879), Clam Lake (1884) and several others. In 1912, Civil Engineering Professor Clarence T. Johnston took over administration of the camp, which was still in Michigan. In 1916 the U-M Regents recognized Davis' contribution to the University and named the surveying camp the Davis Engineering Camp, but people have always called it Camp Davis.
In 1929, Johnson moved the camp from Michigan to a scenic, 120-acre spot on the Hogback River, just south of Jackson, Wyoming. Today, Camp Davis hosts alumni weekends and field courses and offers internship opportunities to geology students.
