Bement Camp and Conference Center, also known as Camp Bement or just Bement, opened in the summer of 1948 and was in continuous operation for the next 60 years. Thousands of children passed through Bement's gates during those years. The camp grew through purchases and gifts of land. By the early 1970s it had grown to over 550 acres (2.2 km2). Following the untimely death of Camp Director Mark Rourke in 2004 due to a glioblastoma, the camp went through a rapid series of director and staff changes and enrollment plummeted.