The Early Rap-Shaw Club Camps

The Rap-Shaw Club camp has been located on Williams Island near the Stillwater Reservoir boat access ever since 1939. Few people, including many club members, are aware that between 1896 and 1938 the club camps were located on lakes a fair distance up the Red Horse Trail. All three of these early camps were built by the club’s first steward and principal guide, Jimmy Wilder [see my post of May 9, 2021].

On trips in 1896 and 1897 prior to the existence of their own fixed camp, the founding members of the club, with Jimmy Wilder as their guide, used temporary open camps at Big Crooked, Witchhopple and Salmon Lakes. During their spring fishing trip in 1897 the club’s founders entered into a long-term agreement with Jimmy Wilder. The founders agreed to hire Wilder as their guide for the indefinite future. In return, Wilder agreed to build a cabin for their headquarters.

 

Wilder’s Cabins at Beaver Dam Pond (1897 – 1901)

 

Over the summer of 1897, Jimmy Wilder, with the help of his brother-in-law Jay Smith, built the club a modest one and a half story log cabin on the north shore of Beaver Dam Pond. This small body of water is about a mile east of the Red Horse Trail. Although it was on Dr. Webb’s private Nehasane Preserve, it was not often visited. Wilder apparently thought that a small cabin used by a small group for only a few weeks during the year would go unnoticed. 

Only four club members used this camp for deer hunting in the fall of 1897. During the next four years, however, the number of club members who wanted to stay at Jimmy Wilder's camp at Beaver Dam Pond during fall hunting and spring fishing steadily increased. In 1900 Wilder added a second cabin to allow more club members access to the camp.

The increased usage inevitably drew the attention of the superintendent of the Nehasane Preserve. Early in 1901 Dr. Webb ordered Jimmy Wilder to remove the cabins from his private property. The club members did not want to give up their wilderness retreat so they opted to move the cabins onto state land at nearby Witchhopple Lake right along the Red Horse Trail.

 

The Rap-Shaw Club Camp at Witchhopple Lake (1902 – 1916)

 

To their credit, the club first tried to get permission to relocate the camp on state land from the Forest, Fish and Game Commission. They were told that the Commission could not grant permission for a private camp on the Forest Preserve, but if the club moved onto state land anyway they did so at their own risk. That was good enough for the founders.

Both cabins from Wilder camp at Beaver Dam Pond were relocated to near the outlet of Witchhopple Lake over the winter of 1901- 02. The two log cabins were combined and substantially expanded to form a new clubhouse. The new camp was used for the first time in the spring of 1902. The first record of women guests staying at the Rap-Shaw Club was in 1903. 

Over the next few years three small family cabins were added along with many other improvements such as docks, a boathouse, porch railings and wooden walkways. The club purchased the camp buildings from Jimmy Wilder in 1906 and hired him and his wife, Evelyn, to continue to operate the camp.

 

In early 1916 New York State gave the club notice that it must immediately remove the camp from state lands. At a board meeting in April, 1916 the club reached an agreement with Nehasane Preserve to rent about 10 acres of land at Beaver Dam Pond for their exclusive use. The club buildings were moved back to Beaver Dam Pond during the winter of 1916 - 17 under the supervision of Jimmy Wilder.

 

The Rap-Shaw Club Camp at Beaver Dam Pond (1917 – 1939)

 

The Beaver Dam Pond camp was remote and comfortable. The remodeled clubhouse was spacious with a majestic fieldstone fireplace in the living room. The kitchen was on one end of the clubhouse and a large dormitory room occupied the other end. The three family cabins were upgraded and given shingle siding. After a chimney fire, the buildings all got metal roofing.

Every year the club made gradual improvements to the camp. To assure members could easily keep in touch with the outside world, a telephone line was extended from Witchhopple Lake to the new camp. In 1921 water was piped from a nearby spring directly into the kitchen and was so copious that the water ran continuously. In 1922 a 52-gallon hot water tank was added. Electric lights came to the clubhouse in 1925 with the installation of a gasoline-powered generator. Once there were lights and hot water, an indoor bathroom with a shower was constructed. 

 

The Beaver Dam Pond camp was increasingly used by family groups during the summer as well as during the fishing and hunting seasons. Club usage remained strong throughout the 1920s and even during the depression years of the 1930s. Unexpectedly, the unoccupied clubhouse was struck by lightening in the early spring of 1939 and burned to the ground.

The photos included in this post are all from the Rap-Shaw Club archive.

 

Much more information about the early years of the club can be found in my 2019 book, The History of the Rap-Shaw Club. That book can be purchased for $20 by sending an inquiry to rap.shaw.history@gmail.com. A chapter in my forthcoming book, Beaver River Country, is also devoted to the Rap-Shaw Club.