OKARA LAKES

Inscription

OKARA LAKES
FORMERLY KNOWN AS HELLGATE
PONDS. VACATION COMMUNITY
OF PRIVATE CAMPS DEVELOPED
NEAR HERE BY DE CAMP FAMILY
BEGINNING IN 1920.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2024

In 1920, the De Camp family began developing an Adirondack vacation community of private camps surrounding Okara Lakes, formerly known as Hellgate Ponds, located in the town of Webb in Herkimer County, New York.

In April 1920, brothers Lyon and Horace de Camp incorporated their real estate company named Ga-Wan-Ka and embarked on a plan to open for development land in the Adirondacks that had been privately owned by their family for generations. By May of that year, Ga-Wan-Ka was advertising “carefully planned, improved and protected camp sites” at Okara Lakes, noting that the site was easily accessible due to the state highway and included “specially built roads, with water piped to every plot with a recreation park … prepared for community use” (Binghamton Press, May 13, 1920).

The April 21, 1920 edition of the Utica Daily Press reported on the development that had taken place on the 640 acres of land on Okara Lakes, with plans in place to establish 200 camps on the land within the year. It noted that those purchasing a plot to build a camp had to use one of the camp designs furnished by Ga-Wan-Ka, or have their plans approved by a supervising architect prior to construction, and that a building service and portable sawmill had been set up for the construction of camps. The camp plots ranged in size starting at 100-feet lake frontage and up (New York Times, June 20, 1920).

In July 1922, it was reported that several new cottages were under construction (Utica Observer-Dispatch, July 21, 1922) and by 1924, numerous camps had been built at Okara Lakes. As of 2024, the Okara Lakes Association remains a private Adirondack vacation community.