Scouting in Tennessee has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment.

[citation needed] In 1917 the first girl scout troops in Nashville and elsewhere in Tennessee began meeting.

[1][2] Most Girl Scouts of the USA units were originally segregated by race according to state and local laws and customs.

In 1924, Josephine Groves then working at a shelter for African-American mothers and families in need in Nashville heard about Girl Scouting and attended a training course for leaders.

She married, becoming Josephine Groves Holloway, and left her job at the shelter but continue to encourage scouting.

The council's Skymont Scout Reservation provides year-round and summer camping opportunities on the Cumberland Plateau.

Kia Kima Scout Reservation, near Hardy, Arkansas on the South Fork Spring River, was founded in 1916 by Memphis philanthropist Bolton Smith.

The Four Rivers District of the Louisville, Kentucky-based Lincoln Heritage Council includes BSA units in South Fulton, Tennessee, located on the state border across from Fulton, Kentucky.

It serves 6,000 girls and has 2,000 adult volunteers in west Tennessee, north Mississippi and Crittenden County, Arkansas.

In 1958 a reorganization led to Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council covering 20 counties in Tennessee and southern Kentucky.