The McCormick grand Camp was located on White Deer Lake in the McCormick Track. This 17,000 acre wilderness is now a federal wilderness area formally designated in January 1988.

The McCormick Track was put together by Cyrus McCormick, of Chicago, who was the son of the inventor of the reaper, a machine which dramatically altered farm production methods and America’s place in both world trade and world history. Cyrus McCormick’s son, Gordon, inherited the Grand Camp and contributed significant artistic changes to it. Gordon donated the land and buildings to the US Forest Service in 1968. It sat empty, subject to vandals, weather and neglect. Hendricksen gained ownership of the buildings in the early fall of 1984 and finished disassembly in 1986.

Relocated items consist of nearly complete structures and artifacts which were carefully disassembled, coded, and stored. Approximately 77% of the logs were saved.

Originally there were 13 cabins, but six were destroyed by either fire or neglect and two were sold. The five island cabins were “determined significant” in 1978 by the Federal Office of Historic Preservation, of the National Park Service.

Six procedures have been used to ensure proper assembly of the Grand Camp:

1. Extensive photos, past and present
   
2. Two Journals, personal and working
   
3. Coding of logs and artifacts
   
4. Architectural drawings of the site
   
5. Original architectural drawings from McCormick
   
6. Film documentary footage