Unirondack History
Unirondack found a home in 1951 when the New York State Convention of Universalists purchased 9 acres of a peninsula on Beaver Lake in the Adirondack State Park.
However, the camp really had its beginnings when Dr. Fred C. Leining proposed that the NYS Convention sponsor institutes. The first institute took place in 1947 at a congregational center at Oak Point. They continued and in 1950 an institute took place at Beaver Camp, across the lake from our site, and during that institute it was discovered that our site was for sale.
Fred Leining, Ralph Stoddard and Donald Beebe formed a committee to look into the purchase of the property. They were able to negotiate a purchase price of $19,000 and in February of 1951 the board of the New York State Convention of Universalists approved the sale. Later they also approved $6000 for renovations. The convention also agreed to raise half the money through the churches and succeeded in raising $12,000.
Zeke, our mascot, entered the picture in the very first summer. Some folks hold Fred Chadwick responsible for our raccoon friend, as he was rumored to have fed the raccoons while donating his skilled labor to help get the camp ready for its first season. No one knows how Zeke got his name, but the name for the camp was suggested by John MacPhee, the minister of the UU Church of Utica at the time.
After the Unitarian Universalist merger in 1961, the camp was operated by the St. Lawrence UU District until Unirondack was legally incorporated in 1966.