Yesteryear: Camps and Cottages
Little Cape Codder Cottages circa 1950, Laconia, NH.
By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper
Whether a family came to the Lakes Region to drop off their children for a week at summer camp or to settle in for a vacation, there were many options to suit every taste and pocketbook.
Vacationing during the summer in the late 1800s to mid 1900s was vastly different from today when we have easy access to all areas. However, in slower times, a good campfire, a cozy cottage, and a refreshing swim in the lake were all it took for a satisfying and memory-making family vacation. The same could be said for the simplicity and charm of a child’s summer camp experience.
On Newfound Lake, not far from Laconia, summer lodgings were plentiful. The Whip-O-Will had swimming, boating, and fishing, with a private beach. There were 30 pine-paneled cottages with fireplaces. Bungalo Village, on the west side of Newfound Lake, had 40 bungalow cottages and recreational opportunities galore.
If your family wanted to be on or near Lake Winnipesaukee, you might choose Proctor’s Pine Tree Lodge and Cabins in the Weirs Beach area, with charming cabins in a European plan. Another great place was Haley’s Birchland Cabins and Tea Room with housekeeping and a tea room serving three meals per day. The lodging establishment also offered boats.
Little Cape Codder’s Colony and Chick-A-Gami cottages had the attraction of the lake nearby. Mother Bear and Cubs Cottages and The Flaminco Motel were also well-known lodging options.
In the 1960s, The Shangri-La Motel was an extremely popular and upscale place to vacation. It originally opened in 1879 and overlooked the area from its vantage point high on a hill. In the 1950s, it was purchased by George and Mary Spanos and named the Shangri-La.
Alton and Alton Bay have been popular with vacationers for many years. In the early days of Alton, the Fifield House served as an important lodging establishment, according to Alton A Town to Remember. It offered rooms and had a dining room, as well as a saloon and a blacksmith shop with horses for hire. Over time, it was enlarged and renamed the Munroe House, and still later, it was called the Village Inn. Located on Main Street, it was a beautiful, large structure and probably a centerpiece of the village at one time. Like many old hotels, it eventually burned. However, it survived longer than most, not falling victim to fire until the 1970s.
A classy place to vacation was the Margate in Laconia. The Margate motel was AAA rated with over 30 brick units and a sandy beach. A travel brochure from the 1960s told readers some of the units had kitchens, and there were phones, televisions, and tiled baths!
A Little History of the Squam Lakes by Catherine Hartshorn Campbell mentions The Willows hotel on Little Squam Lake, which opened in 1895 and was run by Benjamin Pease and his family until 1964. Although the 40 guest rooms were simple, the establishment was popular with travelers and vacationers who returned every year for the good food and company at the hotel.
Summer camps of all sizes and in various locations sprang up around the area, from those privately run to non-profit organizations giving inner city children an opportunity to get away from urban areas.
The YMCA summer camps have a long and respected history and their programs originated in the late 1800s. Locally, YMCA Camp Belknap, located in Tuftonboro, started in 1903. At that time, roads to the Lakes Region were rough, and when kids arrived for the YMCA camp, they were there to stay.
The aim of YMCA Camp Belknap was to “make good boys better”. In its literature, Camp Belknap’s motto stated, “God first, the other fellow second, and myself last”.
Nearby, William Lawrence Camp sprang up a few years later in 1913. The boy’s camp has the distinction of being one of the oldest in the United States. Like many camps of the era, William Lawrence Camp was born from a religious affiliation. The Episcopal Church in Massachusetts had a respected Bishop, William Lawrence. The Bishop believed strongly in camping and good health for youngsters. When the camp was founded in Tuftonboro, it was named after the inspirational Bishop.
Girls were also provided for when Laura Lattoon started the first girl’s camp in the United States, Camp Kehonka. According to an early camp brochure, it was stated that Kehonka began in 1902 in Alton. For many years Kehonka was a complete summer camping experience for girls age 7 - 17.
Kehonka had swimming, sailing, canoeing, and mountain climbing. Also impressive was Kehonka’s dedication to offering diverse arts and crafts to its girls. A. Cooper Ballentine, a founder of the League of NH Craftsmen, was involved with Kehonka, and because of him arts and crafts were an important part of the camp.
The camp had weaving looms for the girls to use, some dating from the 1700s as well as modern looms. At Kehonka, the artistically inclined were as at home as sports minded youngsters.
Kehonka (which means “call of the Canada goose”) closed many years later.
The first girls’ camp in the Squam Lake area was St. Catherine’s in the Mountains, and it began in 1888. The camp was run by the Sisters of the Community of Saint John and was associated with a diocesan school in New York.
Social workers, clergy and doctors were deeply concerned about getting city children into the country for enriching summer experiences in the great outdoors. The “nature study movement” as some called it had an early advocate in Ernest Berkeley Balch, who opened Camp Chocorua on Chocorua Island in 1881.
Balch was from an influential Episcopal family who owned property in the Squam Lake/Holderness area. It seemed the perfect place to start a summer camp that would bring boys into the natural world. The first campers worked hard. As well as swimming, tennis, boating, camping trips and dramatics, the boys spent a portion of each day cleaning the tents and washing clothes.
The first summer of Camp Chocorua (1881) saw only six campers. Although it never had a large enrollment, the camp ran for nine years with Balch and his sister Emily in charge. Many look upon Camp Chocorua as the model for all other camps that came after.
Other Lakes Region summer camps soon followed, including Camp Algonquin (which taught grammar and other scholastic studies); Camp Asquam, which also stressed academics; the Groton School Camp, founded in 1893, and Camp Hale, begun in 1901.
Not far from Alton and Wolfeboro, a very special camp was established in 1989. Lions Camp Pride has a motto of “Where fun has no boundaries!” Located in the picturesque area of Merrymeeting Lake in New Durham, Camp Pride offers an escape from everyday life for everyone to enjoy. The camp particularly caters to hosting special needs groups but is also a venue for youth and corporate retreats and other special events.
Newfound Lake had a number of early summer camps, and many are still in existence. The first was Camp Pasquaney in Hebron, founded in 1895 by Edward Wilson of New York. He wrote of his camp, “Special attention will be given to physical development and the individual needs of each boy will be carefully studied, while the finest opportunities will be offered for baseball, tennis, fishing and swimming...”
Further, in an article in the Bristol Weekly Enterprise for Jan. 17, 1895, it was reported that Wilson would be “designing a camp to provide a spot where boys may spend their summer months in pure air and in the midst of beautiful environments.”
Also on Newfound, Camp Redcroft (for girls) opened in 1900. In 1911, its name changed to Camp Onaway.
In 1903, Mowglis Camp for Boys opened and was a companion camp to Onaway, being located just up the road. Mowglis was begun by Elizabeth Ford Holt, who purchased a farm on the shores of Newfound Lake. She was camp director from 1903 - 1924 and is remembered by those who knew her as “quietly dominant in bearing and character.” While always dressing simply and wearing a “dejected” old straw hat, she commanded respect from the boys under her care each summer. Early on, she obtained permission from author Rudyard Kipling to borrow the names of his Jungle Books, and named Mowglis buildings Toomai, Baloo and Akela, among others.