Relaxing at YWCA Camp Wacona

Part of the Young Women's Christian Association program was finding suitable housing for young single women, often relocating from rural areas to work in cities. Rochester headquarters on North Clinton offered affordable housing, but the organization also wanted opportunities for recreational travel, to "healthy" locations.

As of 1909, a vacation house on Canandaigua Lake was available for a modest rental; it later became known as Camp Onanda. But YWCA staff sought a closer, more easily accessible location. A property known as the "Davis Cottage" near Sea Breeze had been loaned to the Association, then purchased and developed into Camp Wacona. 

A newspaper article at the time described its virtues like this: "Situated on a high point of a bluff within walking distance of the park, the cottage commands a fine view of the surroundings and back of it are attractive woods. The beach is excellent for bathing. Several teachers are taking Sunday school classes for three or four days" (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 3 Aug. 1909: 14).

In 1931 the property was sold and its proceeds used to build a dormitory at Camp Onanda.

Stone, Albert R.

Photograph

5 x 7 in.