Camps Newfound & Owatonna history

Newfound’s properties, and the buildings thereon, together with land connecting the neck on Bluff Point, were purchased in 1919 by Mrs.

A retired British Army officer, Colonel George Stanley, established Camp Ropioa, a Christian Science brother camp to Camp Newfound, on the Joseph Chaplin farm in 1922.

The naming of Camp Ropioa was given by taking the first letter in the sentence “Reflection of Perfection is our Aim.” A 1927 “Summer Camps” publication lists an enrollment of 60 with a staff of 14.

Around 1935, Newfound had an extensive riding program run by Leon Beck, Mrs.

Beck and Dorothy “Becky” Horton Beck were divorced in 1943.

Becky Horton then married George Cobb, a Maine Guide, in 1945.

Becky then took over the Camp Newfound ownership and operation in 1951 when Mrs.

He ran the camp until 1955.

The camp was renamed Owatonna, after a town in Minnesota meaning “straight as an arrow.” It reopened as a camp in 1957.

A 1960 booklet describes Newfound as a 115-acre campus lying on a wooded finger of land pointing into Long Lake, surrounded on three sides by shallow water and white sandy beaches.

Becky retired in 1965 after selling the camp to the trustees who were operating Camp Owatonna, the former Camp Ropioa, as an adjacent brother camp to Newfound.

It was not until 1968 that hot water showers were available at Newfound.

1977 – Hydrodyne ski boat making its debut.

1986 – A Ropes Course was installed on Boat Dock Trail.

The boys had wonderful food! Ervin retired in 1990 after 33 years of service as Head of Facilities.

1997 – The Climbing Wall and Zip-Line were built at Owatonna but are used by both Camps.

1999 – A new “Lighthouse” was built with eleven shower heads and a final cabin was built to complete the grove.

A new, enlarged dining room was built on this site around 2000.