The family of Judge Harvey Laird Parry of Atlanta purchased Little Scaly Mountain from the Talley family (who still live on the adjacent property off Highway 106). They established Camp Parrydise for girls as a project of Mrs. Alice Maud Parry, who was active with Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. Judge Parry's cousin, John Parry Laird and his family owned the adjacent Chinquapin Mountain property. After Judge Parry's death in 1930, the camp became a serious enterprise for Mrs. Parry (who later married Herbert Paul).

The buildings on the site at that time included the tower, with the first floor housing the camp office and the second and third floors serving as sleeping quarters. The adjacent building (our ASCENDER Home) housed the camp kitchen, where the campers gathered around the fire place for meals. The original REC Hall dated back to the 1920s and was in continuous use until its reconstruction in 1994. Staff cabins 1,2 and 3, Kinsman and the Planetarium are also believed to have been constructed during these early years.

Camp Parrydise campers Lodged in tents pitched on the sites of the current Lodge and Cabins 4 and 5. Getting to camp was an adventure as well - campers took the train to Dillard, Georgia and then came up the Dillard Road (Hwy. 106) by oxcart!

In 1942, Mrs. Parry discontinued the camp operations because of wartime shortages and travel restrictions. After the war, the property was used for family summer retreats. The grounds became overgrown with rhododendron, mountain laurel and understory growth. The "East Cliff House" (our Emerson House) was built some time in this period. Their mountain top trail went from the house to "Campfire Rock" (our Meditation Rock) and then around the edge of the cliff (where Cabins 7-20 are) to "Billygoat Cliff" (our Monkeyface) which today is off limits for safety reasons.

Laird Parry, grandson of the Parrys, reconnected with The Mountain in the late 1990's - at that time he commented on how "wide and straight" the road to the top seemed to him.

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1958-1973— Camp Highlander - The Wax Family and Pinecrest School

In 1958, Ben and Polly Wax, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, bought the property from the Parry family to fulfill Ben's dream of owning a summer camp for boys in the mountains. He called it Camp Highlander. Ben built much of the facility as we know it, including Cabins 6-20 (with bathrooms!), the first half of the Dining Hall, and his 'dream home' (our original Lodge) on the site of the current Lodge. Ben died in 1963, and Polly decided to sell the facility. The Wax family continues to reside in Highlands.

The Pinecrest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, bought the facility in 1964 and operated it as a co-ed summer camp, maintaining the name Camp Highlander. They greatly expanded the facility, adding Cabins 1-4 and the building used as The Mountain's Registration Office. Their offices and Director's quarters were located in the Lodge. They added on to the Dining Hall and made other improvements to the property. They outgrew the site and in 1972 they purchased a larger facility in Hendersonville, NC and took the Camp Highlander name with them.

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1974-1975 — Country Mountain

A Miami-based group bought the facility and named it Country Mountain. They put kitchenettes in three of the two-bedroom cabins and used the Dining Hall as a restaurant. They promoted Country Mountain as a resort and hoped to build a business with people coming for vacations. The economy was not favorable at the time, and they ran into financial difficulties, resulting in foreclosure.

The site sat vacant for almost four years.

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1976- 1979 — The Mountain & Unitarian Universalists

In the mid 1970s, a small group of individuals involved in the leadership of the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute (SUUSI) began a discussion about how their children loved SUUSI, regretting "that it was only a one-week experience." They thought that what was needed was a UU summer camp experience for their children. Out of these discussions, a Camp and Conference Center Committee was formed by the SUUSI Board of Trustees in 1977 and was charged with studying the feasibility of developing a permanent UU camp and conference center in the southeast.

On October 15, 1979, southeastern UUs purchased the 84 acre property for their camp and conference center at a purchase price of $490,000. In early 1980, a naming contest for the facility was held and the result was two names - an official one for the Articles of Incorporation (Highlands Camp and Conference Center) and the informal name (The Mountain) which was already in wide usage.

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1980 - Present — The Mountain Grows

In 1980, CBS proposed filming a television movie at The Mountain: The Mating Season starring Lucie Arnaz and Larry Luckinbill, with Swoozie Kurtz and Joel Brooks. For the movie the facility became The Highlands Bird and Nature Camp. The producers paid for the electrical work in the Dining Hall and Rec Hall, had table cloths and curtains made for the Dining Hall and furnished the Rec Hall with new interior walls which were stained and "aged." Many of The Mountain staff and friends served as extras in the movie.

In 1997, to reflect the growing vision and mission, the decision was made to change the official name to The Mountain Retreat & Learning Center.

By 1999, the expanding operations resulted in the addition of an “s” to “Center”, thus becoming The Mountain Retreat & Learning Centers

Also in 1999, the adjacent 12 acres to the west (known as the cabbage patch because of the crop grown there for over two decades) was purchased. In a two month period $400,000 was raised to meet the purchase price ($33,333 an acre for farm land). The fundraising appeal focused on a vision for the future, and on ensuring protection for The Mountain that this adjoining property provided.

The Mountain continues to operate as a year round Retreat and Learning Center based on Unitarian Universalist values and is actively engaged in interfaith work promoting issues of peace and justice.

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