Scouting uses patches as means to recognize attendance, participation or accomplishments.
Patches have been used at Worth Ranch for all of the above reasons. While most of the original
central buildings were constructed in 1930 and Worth Ranch was dedicated in June, 1930, the first
council summer camp at Worth Ranch was in 1929.
One example of a patch from 1929 is known to exist. The patch, a small arrowhead shaped patch
with the troop number 4 and 52 and the WR brand in the design, was made of felt. Whether the
patch was issued by the council or made by the troop is not known. The patch is a record of the
first organized camping season.
The camp patch for 1930 was in the shape of an animal pelt.. The patch was dark blue felt and
included the WR brand and "30" stitched as the design. Three examples of this patch are known to
exist.
In the period from 1931 to 1940 there were a variety of round felt patches issued. Background
colors of dark blue, light blue, and red have been identified. The significance of the different colors
(if any) and even the exact sequence that these patches were issued is not recorded. Eventually
during this period a color design distinction was decided upon. Four white felt background patches
were issued with a distinctive color border and color interior design of the Worth Ranch brand
identifying the number of years camped: Green identified a first year camper, blue identified a
second year camper, red was for three years, and a red and blue stitching with a white background
was for four and more summer sessions at camp. Because of the rather elementary machine
stitching process used to make these patches, the patches came in a variety of different
circumstances. [ Note: contrary to long standing legend, Captain Kidd’s wife did not hand stitch
these felt patches. The Kidds did not arrive at WR until 1936 and by that time felt patches had been
in use for years. In 1968, when asked about the possibility of her making each patch on her sewing
machine, Mrs. Kidd laughed and said that there were to many patches for her to have made them
all.]
Two distinctive patches from the felt period have also been identified. One patch is in the shape of
an arrowhead, the other patch is in the shape of an arrow, with the date "36" in the design. Both
patches were manufactured similar to the round patches and included red and blue lettering on
white felt, however no one knows the reason these odd shaped patches were made. Only one of
each of these patches is known to exist.
In 1941, the camp patches changed from felt to twill cloth and were obviously professionally
manufactured. This series of round patches continued the green, blue, red, red-white-blue border
and lettering to distinguish the number of summer sessions camped. The central design feature is
the WR brand, but a noted addition are the words: "Fort Worth Area Council" at the bottom of the
patch.
Fort Worth Area Council changed its name to Longhorn Council in 1948. The Worth Ranch patch
was changed to reflect this council name change. All other features of the patch remained the
same and the four different color sequence continued also.
In 1957 the edge of the patches were changed from an unfinished or ‘cut-edged’ to a more finished
or ‘rolled-edge’ patch. This series of patches was used for only two summers.
In 1959, a significant design and material change was introduced. The patch was woven from a
synthetic "silk" cloth. The overall shape of the patch was square, but the design included a round
inner border. The central design included the WR brand and a head of a longhorn. The only border
color was black. This patch was used for only one summer, but because of the low cost, there was
an abundant supply made.
Beginning in 1960, the patch returned to being round. The patch had the same design as the 1959
patch, but the four border colors to distinguish the number of camping sessions returned. First
year camper patches had a black border, second year campers were given patches with green
borders, third year camp patches had red borders and for four or more camping sessions the
border color was yellow. A variety of the yellow bordered patch exists, some patches had a yellow-
gold colored border.
In 1964, the patch designed changed again. This time the design included Split Rock on Kyle
Mountain as the central design. The four border colors- black, green, red, and yellow were
continued.
In 1966, the patch design was changed again. For the first time the design was used at two
separate camps – both Worth Ranch and Leonard Scout Reservation had a set of four patches with
almost identical designs. The difference between the two sets of patches was only in the name of
the camps. The colors were somewhat drab and the borders were the black, green, red and yellow.
The central design was that of a head of a longhorn.
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