Incarnation Camp

Early history

In 1886, the Church of the Incarnation in Manhattan, located on Madison Ave. and 35th Street, New York City, rented a farmhouse in Mohegan Lake from R. Horne as part of a “fresh air” program sponsored by the New York Tribune. Children from the tenements of New York’s lower East Side, many of whom immigrated here from Europe with their families during the 1880s, were taken from often squalid living conditions to spend a week in the fresh country air of upstate New York. The Rev. Arthur Brooks of Incarnation persuaded his parishioners to rent the furnished farmhouse, and on June 19, 1886 25 young boys and girls from the east side of Manhattan became the first campers. Each summer, some 230 children benefited from the experience.

Eight years later, in 1894, Incarnation parish raised $7000 for the purchase of the farmhouse, an adjacent barn and five acres “to be used for the purposes of a summer home for the poor of the parish.” Also that year, a parishioner made a contribution to have a swimming pool installed, complete with pumps that replenished it with water from Lake Mohegan, half a mile away. A second home was built in 1895, called Brooks Cottage, which was used specifically for the parish’s Bethlehem Day Nursery. In 1925 Incarnation Camp was relocated to St. Johnsland in Kings Park, New York

Later history

In 1929, Incarnation Camp was relocated to its permanent site on the border between Ivoryton and Deep River in Connecticut.

In 1949, Incarnation Camp was incorporated as a non-profit. The first Chairman of the Board was John A. Bell.

The lake at the center of the camp property was created in 1873, when the Clarke family which owned the land at the time allowed the Comstock, Cheney and Co. piano makers to build a 20-foot dam that impounded a brook flowing through the property.

Water flowing from the lake powered the main shop of the company, which became Pratt, Read and Co. after a 1936 merger with a similar operation in Deep River. In early June 1982 the dam which held the mile long Bushy Hill Lake gave way due to heavy rain and drained the lake. That summer the camp operated successfully using remote swimming and boating facilities at Lake Messerschmidt. The following year Incarnation Camp was able to rebuild the dam because of a massive fund raising effort garnering donations from alumni and the local community including Katharine Hepburn

Programs

Incarnation Center hosts a year-round retreat and conference center, Bushy Hill Nature Center, Incarnation Camp (co-ed sleepaway camp for campers ages 6-13), Pequot Sherwood Day Camp (co-ed day camp for campers aged 6–13), Pioneer Village (co-ed sleepaway camp for campers aged 14–16), Nature's Classroom, Nature's Playground After School and a variety of community educational and recreational programs.

Naming

Although founded and now known as "Incarnation Camp", Incarnation has also been known as: "ECCC", & "The Episcopal Camp & Conference Center".

Camp life

Campers at Incarnation range from age 6 to 16. Overnight campers sleep in 16 foot platform tents with their tent mates and counselors. Meals are served in Gibney Dining Hall. If a Pioneer Village (see Programs, above) graduate is 16 or older at the start of the summer season, they may apply to become a Counselor's Assistant (CA) in an area of their choice. Many CAs go on to become Counselors once they are 18 or older.

Activities

Incarnation Camp offers many activities (see below) in which campers can choose to participate. In addition to more typical camp activities such as athletics and swimming, Incarnation Camp has full facilities offering expert instruction in arts and crafts, ceramics, culinary arts, woodworking, primitive skills and performing arts. Each area at Incarnation Camp is staffed by professional artists, performers, and teachers.

Selected activities: Boating and Swimming Instruction, Ropes Course, Archery, Hiking, Drama, Land Sports, Arts and Crafts, Horseback Riding

Facilities

Incarnation Camp is located in Ivoryton, Connecticut on 740 wooded acres, which surround a mile-long private lake.

Notable staff and alumni